From the Pastor…God Will Take Care of You

When singing hymns, it is important to consider to whom we are speaking. Very often we speak to God as we sing. “Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty!” “How great Thou art, how great Thou art.” “O God beyond all praising.” This could be a long list, to name the times we sing, speaking directly to God, in worship. But other times we speak to each other as we sing. I think of the gospel song “He touched me.” Or the testimony-giving gospel text “blessed assurance, Jesus is mine, oh what a foretaste of glory divine.” This could be a long list as well.

Last Sunday we sang the gospel song “God Will Take Care of You” as the final hymn in worship. It is certainly a song in which we were communicating with one another in our sanctuary. “Be not dismayed whate’er be tide, God will take care of you…”. The refrain repeats that affirmation to each other, “God will take care of you.”

As I looked around at the faces in our sanctuary singing that hymn, I knew what you (we) were saying (singing) to me and to each other is true. I knew that your words were genuine, because I know that your lives back it up. I know that many singing that hymn on June 13th had been through, or are currently going through, difficult and trying times. And yet you sang with confidence, “God will take care of you.”

There is much talk these days about online church, virtual congregations, and worship via computer. While these are great tools that we will use for evangelism and for those who cannot be in the sanctuary, to me they fall short of a fully authentic worship experience. If, for no other reason, if we are worshiping alone in our homes, we miss the opportunity to sing and proclaim our testimonies to one another in song. I could sing “God will Take Care of You” while alone, and I have been doing that since last Sunday, but singing it alone is not the same. It doesn’t have your voice, and your face, and your life affirming the deep truth that we proclaim together.

Remember, God will take care of you.Last Sunday I heard nearly 100 people proclaim it.And I trust them, I trust their testimony, and I trust the God who has taken care of them.