Friday, September 23, 2005

Mock--ing--bird--yeah


Yeah! Thanks for the reminder of reality in regards to our reflex response of thinking God or His ways can be understood by our feeble minds. We see but one fleck of paint of the Sistine Chapel and think we understand enough to describe the entire, magnificent, awesome masterpiece.

Job's confession, "Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know..." is something I must often confess in shame, myself. I'm excited to be learning so much right now about sanctification and knowledge of God...but pride introduces itself so sublty, quickly and poisonously and I think I sufficiently "understand" this God who pursues me, who formed me.

We should all fall in the dust in trembling humility when we hear God ask us: "Who endowed the heart with wisdom or gave understanding to the mind?" (Job 38:36). We know the answer, it is written in the depths of our heart. He is the owner and bestower of all things. Wisdom and understanding are His to give and His to withhold. Praise God for condescending to us with "baby talk"...it's the only tounge we comprehend.

Derek Webb has an analogy he uses in one of his songs coming out in December (a few of us went up to see him at Covenant College, Chattanooga last weekend): we are all mocking birds. The mocking bird has no song of its own, it simply repeats the songs of other birds that it hears around it. Funny thing is that if no other birds are around, the mocking bird doesn't sing. In a way, old Derek's right, we 'sing' only that which we hear the Spirit singing. Apart from mimicking what we've received in gracious revelation, we have no song to sing. Oh, that we'd listen more carefully to the songs of God's Spirit in us, that we might remember the tune and sing it for others!

"He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD." Psalm 40:3

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