Tools for Monday: When Outlaw Country Music meets Worship
**The following article is a reflection from Pastor James on Psalm 58. It is one of the “imprecatory psalms.” Imprecatory psalms are emotional with brutal honesty. They give us an outlet for those times when we may be dealing with raw emotions. God certainly understands! Before reading the article below, it may be helpful to read and reflect briefly on Psalm 58
The imprecatory Psalm 58 sounds more like an outlaw country song than not. Can you recall a recent worship service in which participants corporately called upon the Lord to knock out the teeth of the wicked? Waylon Jennings would have been proud of this one. The level of honesty makes some modern worship appear quite awkward.
Consider our worship gatherings today in light of the psalmist’s requests. Western Protestants have been accused of being too formal and rigid in their worship. Anything that smacks of emotionalism may be terminated as socially unacceptable or downright blasphemous. The biblical narrative suggests otherwise. For instance, note the psalmist’s dripping sarcasm. Like John the Baptist, he calls out the violent snakes who, instead of fulfilling their God-given responsibility of treating others fairly, go around asserting that might makes right. They even stop up their ears, tuning out the voices of duty and virtue. Our Old Testament brothers and sisters seem to be saying, “Add raw honesty to your worship, even if it’s awkward.”
Yet, the emotion of candid worship may be tempered when our sinful bent towards revenge comes to the fore. The psalmist clearly leaves the adjudication of religious and civic manipulators to God. While he suggests God melt them like the Wicked Witch, the writer places firm hope in the ability of God alone to right the wrongs in due course.
After assessing Psalm 58 and its corollaries, one may find a refreshing call to more than static worship. Instead of “Classic” or “Contemporary” options, perhaps we can simply say that our worship service is “honest.” It may very well be our calling to design services which include both Handel and Haggard.