Hallelujah (Easter Edition)

Hallelujah (Easter version)

Tune: Leonard Cohen

Lyrics: Mike Ainsworth with minor edits by JD Longmire

V1:

C                   Am

I heard about a baby born

C                         Am

Into a world that sin had torn

             F                           G                         C          G

You’d wouldn't think He'd do too much to save ya

             C                             F           G

But His Father planned and made a way

      Am                               F

He knew that there would come a day

G                                     Em              Am

When all the world would need a hallelujah

F                   Am           F                C  G  C

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

V2:

C                                 Am

I’ve heard about what Scriptures frame,

C                       Am

He grew into a man and came

     F                           G                  C          G

To bring the hope of Living Waters to ya

      C                                     F           G

He brought good news, the people came

         Am                   F

The leaders all just turned away

      G                        Em           Am

But others followed crying Hallelujah!

F                   Am           F                C  G  C

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

V3

C                            Am

When they saw all He had done,

         C                        Am

The leaders knew the time had come

     F                       G                         C          G

To make a plan to stop the One sent to ya

     C                              F         G

He knew that He’d give everything

         Am                   F

They knew that must kill the King

       G                   Em           Am

And put an end to all those Hallelujahs

F                   Am           F                C  G  C

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

V4 :

C                                           Am

They thought that they had brought Him down

                   C                               Am

When they made Him wear their thorny crown

       F                           G                          C          G

And hung Him on the Cross - a message to ya

      C                                 F             G

But two days passed, the third one came

         Am               F

And Jesus Christ arose again

       G                   Em           Am

Now all of us are singing Hallelujah!

F                   Am           F                C  G  C

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

(Rising)

F                   Am           F                C  G  C

Hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah, hallelujah

A brief apology against Exclusive Psalmody and for Inclusive Psalmody

I hold to the Regulative Principle of Worship, but do not hold to exclusive psalmody (since the Psalms themselves are not exclusive "sing to the Lord a new song...") and find the rationale towards it a hyper-scrupulous interpretation of the Regulative Principle - that is "what is not commanded is forbidden" - the problem is that there is a corollary that is often ignored - "what is commanded is required" - the hyper-RPW'er spends so much energy following the first rule that they ignore the second, to the exclusion of the liberty the New Covenant believer is given in this area.

A brief apology for Inclusive Psalmody:

Colossians 3:16 (New American Standard Bible)

16Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God

This Scripture is a cornerstone to defining the RPW in terms of music to the Lord's worship.

The reasoning goes something like this:

"Let the Word of Christ dwell richly within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another.."

This obviously directs us to fullness of God's word as our ultimate authority and source of all wisdom - including the source of our worship in song - sola Scriptura. In this the IP-EP debate is in full alignment.

"with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs..."

This is the crux of the IP-EP debate - we are perfectly able to understand how we may worship with psalms; there are 150 of them right in the middle of the Bible (coincidence?).

This, to both sides, leads to the next question - "How then, holding scrupulously to the RPW, are we to worship with hymns and spiritual songs?"

Many EP'ers look at this and concludes, in summary, "Since there is seemingly no clear exposition in Scripture of these 2 additional types, following the analogy of faith, one must conclude that this is a reinforcement of the first object - that is - the rendering could easily be "with psalms, psalms, and psalms" - exclusively.

The IP'er (at least this one!) - rejects the EP interpretation and instead looks at the same passage and concludes, "since we are commanded to sing the 3 types of songs, how best may one fulfill the commandment, align to Sola Scriptura and not dishonor God by worshiping with "strange fire" (Leviticus 10:1-3)?

The rationale is thus: Since the NT does not go into detail concerning specific templates for hymns or spiritual songs, then a) there is some liberty in the composition of these songs (much as there is liberty in the composition of prayers and sermons) and b) we should search the Scriptures to see if there is clearer guidance for our praxis in this area.

And, oddly enough, the Lord has been gracious enough to deliver to His Church a source for these templates - the 150 Psalms. That is certainly not to exclude the fullness of Scripture as source material, since the Psalms themselves utilized the then available Scriptures as content sources, but certainly to look to these inspired songs, or psalms, to guide us into God honoring and newly composed hymns and spiritual songs.

Thus may we align to the fullness of the RPW and, in our practice and understanding, have confident assurance that we are singing with thankfulness in our hearts to God.

Thoughts on Adam and Eve, Original Sin, Self-Awareness and True Faith

Pre-fall, A&E were in a state of sinlessness and circumstantially aware, but not fully self-aware.

Circumstantially aware of God, so they had belief, but demonstrably not full of true faith that God was who He revealed Himself to be.

This lack of true faith caused them to succumb to temptation and sin in pride and selfishness. They grasped for equality with God and disobeyed.

Once they sinned, they received self-awareness of their true place before God and their position within His Creation. Naked, vulnerable, insufficient and hopeless outside of His sovereign benevolence and love.

I think this may be when they received true faith, as well.

The prime cause of Original Sin is lack of true faith, even in the face of God's immediate and visible imminence - self-pride and disobedience were results.

That is, God makes a material example of how we are by nature sinners and doomed to sin apart from His intervention, even though we were created without sin in the beginning.

Also, the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil is self-awareness. This enables the ability to understand God's goodness and still disregard it willfully, but also the capacity that the Holy Spirit uses to guide us toward true goodness, once regenerated.

In the same way, Satan is circumstantially aware (along with all those who do not receive true faith), but not self-aware, not until final Judgement.