God of Jacob

We sang God of Jacob during debrief this summer. The second time through it we sang it differently. Normally it is like this:

We bow our Hearts
We bend our knees
Oh Spirit come make us humble
We turn our eyes from evil things
Oh Lord we cast out our idols

So give us clean hands
Give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another
Give us clean hands
Give us pure hearts
Let us not lift our souls to another

And oh God let us be
A generation that seeks
Seeks your face
Oh God of Jacob
And oh God let us be
A generation that seeks
Seeks your face
Oh God of Jacob

The second time we sang it through it was like this:

They bow their Hearts
They bend their knees
Oh Spirit come make them humble
They turn their eyes from evil things
Oh Lord they cast out their idols

So give them clean hands
Give them pure hearts
Let them not lift their souls to another
Give them clean hands
Give them pure hearts
Let them not lift their souls to another

And oh God let them be
A generation that seeks
Seeks your face
Oh God of Jacob
And oh God let them be
A generation that seeks
Seeks your face
Oh God of Jacob

And I loved it! I really like this song and eventually will get to an even longer post about it. Just changing a few words gives the song such a different impact. Changing those few words made it not a prayer for myself but a prayer for all the lost souls. I'm having trouble getting into words how strongly I felt about it.

In Timor we didn't see a lot of idol worship and offerings to nonexistent gods but in just the few days I was on Bali I saw plenty of it. And it breaks my heart knowing there are all these millions of people destined to hell because they don't know Jesus Christ. They spend all this time sacrificing, and leaving offerings to gods that aren't there, gods that can't help them. I mean, how must it feel each day when you go to leave your offering and the offering from the day before is still there. Doesn't it feel like your gods are rejecting you. Don't they wonder if their is something else, something greater.

This needs to be our prayer for the people of every nation who are following after false gods, worshipping idols. That they would cast out their idols and cease to worship them. That they would come to know the One who offers salvation. The One who does not require the daily sacrifices because He gave His life as the ultimate sacrifice for us so we don't have to. The one who gives salvation freely to any who call upon His name. Jesus Christ.

I asked Stephanie, who led worship when we sang this song, if she came up with singing it this way as a prayer for others or if she had heard it that way before. She said she was talking to J&J and they mentioned how we too often sing about God and not often enough do we sing to God. Instead of singing "Him" and "His" and etc., singing about God, they would sing "You." And I agree whole heartedly when Stephanie said, "think about it...how true is it?" It is very true. It is good to sing about God but sometimes we need to just make it more personal and sing to Him. Here is more of what Stephanie said,"So, I started thinking about some of the songs that I really adore and decided to try a couple when I sang. It makes everything so much more personal and intimate when we can turn our prayers into songs."