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“David Sings the Blues”
by Tom Goodman
June 8, 2005
Note: Wow! Thanks for the great turnout for Sunday’s business meeting where eighty-five percent approved the change to our adult Sunday night programming (the applause was a nice touch)! I thank you for your
confidence in my leadership on this issue! We will begin the new schedule at the end of August, so watch for more information about our schedule as the summer closes.
Last week we began a series of messages called David Sings the Blues. During the month of June we’ll look at four “Blues Psalms” written in crisis times. If you missed the first message in the series, you can listen to it online at
Click here.
One of the traditions and superstitions that has built up around weddings has to do with the items a bride ought to have as she walks down the aisle:
Something old
Something new
Something borrowed
Something blue
The Bible pictures the church as a bride walking down the aisle of history toward Jesus her groom. Christ’s bride carries something old—the Old Testament. We carry something new—the New Testament. We carry something
borrowed—Christ’s righteousness imparted to us for our salvation.
And, yes, we carry something blue. We all experience the blues of life. Isn’t that was Paul said in Romans 8? He wrote, “We ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, sing the blues (groan inwardly) as we wait
eagerly for our adoption as sons” (Goodman translation).
John Fisher quoted that verse in one of his articles and then asked:
“What makes us groan? Our sin. Our insensitivity. What our sin costs us and others. How long it takes for us to learn. The sin and desperation of the rest of the world. The distortion of the truth that
leads people astray. All these things should make Christians sing the blues. Real sin; real guilt; real frustration; real longing for something better—these are the gritty realities the blues are made of. Instead, we sing warm and
fluffy songs about how much God loves us. God’s love is becoming just about as fluffy as a California soufflé. We need more Christians singing the blues—hot, sweaty, earthy blues. The kind that makes your bones ache.”
We can carry everything—everything—to God in prayer. Our tears as well as our laughter. Our fears as well as our confidence. Our complaints as well as our praises.
If they do nothing else, the Blues Psalms in the Bible remind us that God wants to hear it all when we pray to him!
Come this Sunday and learn how a believer sings the blues.
—Tom
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