They have seen your procession, O God,
The procession of my God, my King, into the sanctuary. Psalm 68.24

The culmination

It is not by coincidence that David ends Psalm 68 with a vision of the people and nations at worship. The worship, praise, glory, and honor of God must be the end of every vision, or that vision is not worth pursuing.

Psalm 68 is a psalm for worship. It begins in a picture of God’s people worshiping Him, and ends in that same place (cf. vv. 4, 24-26, 35). David wrote Psalm 68 for the chief musician, so he wanted it to be arranged for instruments and voices, to make it as full and glorious and powerful for worship as possible.

But he also wrote it as song, one the people could join to sing. Songs stick with us. Their melodies and phrases come to mind at all times of the day and night. And this makes singing not only a powerful discipline for the worship of God, but for settling God’s vision for His people in their hearts and minds as well.

Worship, therefore, is the beginning, end, and purpose of Psalm 68. And this is precisely as it should be, for worship, of all the activities a community of believers might engage, is the context for communicating, nurturing, enlarging, and deepening commitment to the Lord’s vision for His people.

Worship as the context for vision

Psalm 68 helps to see why this is so.

First, here, as in all his psalms, David shows us that the focus of worship is upward and beyond. Worship is about God, His greatness, majesty, enormity, glory, and power, and all that God has promised and intends to do according to His plans. Worship is not about people and their needs. People come with their needs to worship, but unless the focus of worship is upward – to God – and beyond – to the joy and peace and purpose that come from God’s promises – people will leave worship, not with a compelling vision but a temporary fix for whatever ails them.

Worship reinforces this upward and beyond focus by resorting to examples of God’s work in the past, both in Scripture and the history of the Christian movement. For an example of the latter, let me simply insist that it is a mistake for church leaders to jettison the liturgies and hymns of the past in an effort to make worship contemporary, “relevant,” or hip. What kind of vision does that communicate? That we can be just like the rest of the world? How does rejecting our Christian heritage in worship remind us that, in the past, God has used specific practices of worship and even specific hymns to strengthen, support, equip, motivate, and send His people in mission for His glory?

Even the singing of a simple hymn like “Kyrie, Eleison” can have a powerful effect on worshipers, when it is rightly understood. The Latin words of this hymn are not difficult to remember. They translate to, “Lord, have mercy! Christ, have mercy! Lord, have mercy!” We need mercy for everything in our lives, as all God’s people always have, and only our powerful, loving, forgiving, and saving God can grant the mercy we sorely need. If we also knew that this hymn was originally a children’s song, when it was introduced in the fourth century in Milan, we might think to ourselves, “If even children need mercy from God, then what about me?”

Worship that does not bring forward the great works of God in the past, using great liturgical forms from our Christian heritage, will have a difficult time projecting a vision of how our covenant God might work in and through us in the present.

The inevitability of the Kingdom

Finally, worship is the primary context in which we review and recommit to our calling to the Kingdom and glory of God (1 Thess. 2.12). In worship we come before God, bringing our gifts, our praises, and our broken and contrite hearts, and here we are reminded that we are His temple, His nation, His servants and ambassadors, and we receive the equipping we need to go as light, salt, and leaven to a needy world.

Worship should take us upward into the presence of God and beyond our present experience and selves, toward the precious and very great promises of God in Christ (2 Pet. 1.4; 2 Cor. 1.20). In worship our vision is clarified and enlarged, and we take our place in that long train of faithful witnesses and worshipers through whom God’s Kingdom is advancing on earth as it is in heaven.

David used worship to cast God’s vision for His people; and the people embraced that vision with joyful hearts.

Visionary leaders understand that how we worship will determine what we aspire to in our walk with and work for the Lord. And they will, like David, craft and lead worship in such a way as to shape the minds, revive the hearts, and refocus the daily lives of all those who join them in the presence of the living Christ.

Next steps

Would you describe the worship in your church as “visionary”? Why or why not? Talk with a church leader about these questions.

Additional Resources

Download this week’s study, Visionary Leadership.

Sign up for ViewPoint Leaders Training and start your own ViewPoint discussion group.

Need vision for a revived church? Order a copy of T. M.’s book, Preparing Your Church for Revival, from our online store.

And men, download our free brief paper, “Men of the Church: A Solemn Warning,” by clicking here.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

But let the righteous be glad;
Let them rejoice before God;
Yes, let them rejoice exceedingly. Psalm 68.5

Elements of an effective vision

It’s clear, even from a casual reading of Psalm 68, that David was a master at casting vision.

O God, You are more awesome than Your holy places.
The God of Israel is He who gives strength and power to His people.
Blessed be God! Psalm 68.35

A magnificent temple

It’s interesting to speculate about how David communicated his vision for the temple to the people of Israel. We know that he had written plans and diagrams which were approved by God Himself (1 Chron. 28.19). Were these copied and sent around to all the villages of Israel? Were local leaders brought to Jerusalem to hear the plans and perhaps see a mock-up?

O God, when You went out before Your people,
When You marched through the wilderness, Selah
The earth shook;
The heavens also dropped rain at the presence of God;
Sinai itself was moved at the presence of God, the God of Israel. Psalm 68.7, 8

Bible times and our times

I get the impression that some Christians think there are two kinds of history, two kinds of time.

Blessed be the LORD,
Who daily loads us with benefits,
The God of our salvation!
Selah
Our God is the God of salvation... Psalm 68.19, 20

Psalm 68

I think it would be fair to describe many of the psalms of David as “visionary.” Consider Psalm 110, with David seeing his Lord seated at the right hand of God, sending His people out over all the earth like refreshing dew, while all His enemies are being put under His feet.

ReVision studies are designed for individual or group us and explore various aspects of the Christian worldview. A typical study is seven lessons long and includes questions for discussion or reflection and action steps designed to help bring what you are learning into your walk with and work for the Lord Jesus. All ReVision studies are available in free PDF format and may be duplicated for group use.

Now David said, “Solomon my son is young and inexperienced, and the house to be built for the LORDmust be exceedingly magnificent, famous and glorious throughout all countries. I will now make preparation for it.” So David made abundant preparations before his death. 1 Chronicles 22.5

Astonishing success

By any measure, the last years of David’s reign over Israel were astonishingly busy and fruitful. It is unlikely any king or leader of any enterprise has accomplished so much in so short a time as David did during that sundown season of his life.

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Foundations of a Worldview

“Now therefore, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the people of Israel.” Deuteronomy 31.19

Foundations of a Worldview

“…if he has sinned and has realized his guilt and will restore what he took…” Leviticus 6.4 (ESV)

Foundations of a Worldview

“Surely My Sabbaths you shall keep…” Exodus 31.13