Glory and Joy

"I have set the Lord continually before me; because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my glory rejoices; my flesh will also dwell securely...You will make known to me the path of life; in Your presence is fullness of joy; in Your right hand there are pleasures forever."
(Psalm 16:8-9, 11)
"When the Lord is before him (David) and at his right hand, his "glory rejoices." The word translated as "rejoice" also means "tremble." This makes me think of a tuning fork that vibrates when its note is sounded. When God is before us, when we are close to Him, we resonate with the same sound that is God. We rejoice in His presence, for in His "presence is fullness of joy." Our glory rejoices - the substance that we share with God is expressed in the intimacy and exchange of being with Him as Father and children, and that expression is joy."
Paul Manwaring, What on Earth is Glory? (P.62)


I started reading What on Earth is Glory? a couple of days ago and then this morning I came to this passage and I was just so overwhelmed and amazed by it that I just wanted to share it. The idea that in the presence of our Daddygod we just can't help but rejoice and tremble in His presence is just incredible. 


When you think about all the brokenness, hurt and betrayal in this world that we are exposed to on a daily basis and then you contrast that with this Father that when you're with Him just envelops you in Love and Joy it just takes my breath away. 


David writes that he has "set the Lord continually before me," from that he is able to say with complete confidence that "he will not be shaken," when we have God set right before us we have no reason to ever doubt, worry, or fear again, whatever the world can throw us our God is Bigger, Stronger and He will never, ever, ever leave us. His overwhelming, all-consuming love for us means that He will always be there. When we have this mindset we are then free from the constraints of this world, we are free to rejoice in our Father, to rest in His presence and be daily overwhelmed by His joy. 


I love the image that Paul Manwaring gives of us, as tuning forks, so that when we can feel the presence of God we can't help but be filled with His joy. This makes me ask the question, how can I be more tuned into His presence? How can I fine-tune myself so that I can have more of this joy and feel more of His presence? 

Garden - Misty Edwards

This is a link to a video with this song. The video contains footage from the film, The Secret Garden; it is powerfully relevant to the song.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zUW5dkoCjnU

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lyrics:

It's You and me alone God You and me alone
Here it's You and me alone God You and me alone

You've hedged me in with skin all around me
I'm a garden enclosed a locked garden
Life takes place behind the face

So come into Your garden
Come into Your garden

Here O Lord! Have I prepared a place for You!

I'm no longer my own I'm Your garden

I don't want to wasted my time living on the outside
I'm going to live from the inside out
I don't want to waste my life living on the outside
I'm going to live from the inside out

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

They say there are 1000 words in a picture and 1000 pictures in a word. This is definitely true of this song - each phrase with enormous depth and significance - almost as if there are worlds to be explored and gifts to be opened in every line. It is a wonderful picture of intimacy with God, inspired by Song Of Songs; our relationship is described as a garden, even that we are the garden, His garden. The song starts with lines of poetry. The whole song is infused with life, and the video attached to this is perfectly suited to the song, as if it is the song in visual form!

The music is atmospheric and enchanting, with beautiful electric guitar work, vocal meoldies and atmospherics with a clean, liquid feel. What I love is the sense of treasure that we are as God's possession and masterpiece, made in His image. We are gifts unwrapped and we can give ourselves to Him to unwrap us.

Above everything else - Rend Collective Experiment

Here is a link to this song. Scroll down through the others to find it.

http://www.myspace.com/rendcollectiveexperiment/music/albums/organic-family-hymnal-14948595

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Lyrics:

You rule over distant seas over every part of me
You raise the day from night and the song inside of me
You watch all the planets spin and my eyelids flickering

Beyond everything else You are, You are
Above everything else You are

Greater than life itself
More precious than perfect health
Finer than friendship or romance
More needed than oxygen
More pleasing than thrill or fame
Stronger than death or gravity

You speak and the waves obey, but You whisper peace to me
You hold the skies in their place and my past and destiny
You reign over war-torn lands, over famine, fear and kings

King Jesus You are victorious, You are
King Jesus You are victorious

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The whole song is packed with gems. While some of the lyrics sound strange on execution, the themes echoed out resonate deeply with the heart of a worshipper. In this song, the supremacy of God is not just an abstract idea but brought right home to every aspect of our lives and who we are. Complemented by driving yet contemplative music (you have to hear it) this song is bursting with passion and delight in the infinite.

However, what really does it for me is the last section, 4 minutes into the song, when the music drops down and builds powerfully with the lyrics, "King Jesus You are victorious, You are King Jesus You are victorious". Sung by a choir of children. The power and anointing in this final 2 minutes of the song bursts through. There is nothing quite so beautiful and pure as children singing of the power of their creator.