Selah Saturday
February 27, 2021
Holy, Holy, Holy!
Live Version By Keith and Kristyn Getty
Holy, holy, holy! Lord, God almighty!
All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea.
Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and mighty,
God in three Persons, blessed Trinity!
From doing the 10,000 Blessings Challenge over the years, I have learned how to find joy in the simplicity of life. Whether it’s the sound of a baby’s laugh, the smell of freshly cut grass, or the taste of vanilla ice cream, I have discovered that the most beautiful things this world has to offer are often the simplest. In an age where the world is constantly competing for our attention, the spectacles of life can get in our way and cause us to miss out on the beauty that surrounds us.
One area of our lives we tend make more complicated than it needs to be is in our worship, especially when it comes to our musical forms of worship. For example, some church music leaders may put on more of a concert or performance for the congregation rather than a God-centered invitation to participate in congregational singing. This can be found in many large churches with fancy lighting and sound equipment. But small churches with small bands like ours can also do the same thing. I have made the mistake of attempting to play the piano outside of my skillset to make a song sound fancy, instead of just playing simple chords and notes that invite the congregation to sing along with me and focus on God instead of the music.
Our protestant ancestors understood the importance of simplicity in worship. A big push during the Protestant Reformation when it came to music was that the Church should only sing songs that came directly from Scripture, particularly the from the book of Psalms. They would even sing these songs acapella. Pianos, guitars, violins and drums are all great instruments and can add to one’s worship, but nothing beats that God-given gift of the voice.
For today’s song I chose a very specific version of “Holy, Holy, Holy!” because of its acapella nature. I’m not sure if there will be instruments in heaven, but I know there will be voices lifted up in praise to God and I imagine it sounding something a lot like this congregation. On Sunday we will be getting back to our Protestant roots as we will also be singing without music.
May the simplicity of our worship magnify the Lord.
O Lord, my heart is not lifted up; my eyes are not raised too high. I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul, like a weaned child with its mother; like a weaned child is my soul within me.
Psalm 131:1-2
