"Clap your hands, all you peoples;"--Psalm 47

As I continue to reflect upon my time in Costa Rica, one theme continues to reverberate within my soul.  That is the theme of true Christian worship.  Now, let me state from the outset that I am not one of those who relegates worship as the time that the congregation sings songs to the LORD.  I have come to understand that worship is so much more than that.  Worship is the very act of breathing in and out the breath of God and realizing from whom that breath emerges.  However, this post is not about the nuances of worship or when it occurs.

This post is more about part of the act of worship that I experienced while I was in Costa Rica.  Obviously, the language barrier was something that I could never fully breach.  Even though I was able to follow about 50% of the sermons and songs, that left 50% that remained a mystery to me.  Despite this wall that was erected between me and the Costa Ricans, there was a sense in the worship experience that was without walls.  One thing that impressed me so much during the worship times was how incredibly vocal my brothers and sisters were.  When the leader called for a time of prayer, he or she would begin to pray and everyone would join in.  Even in the most "contemporary" services I have attended here in the United States, I had never seen or heard anything that compared to how these people pray.  Of course with my limited Spanish, it made it that much more difficult to discern what was being said by the pray-er.  But in reality, I came to appreciate the fact that it really didn't matter whether I understood or not.  What mattered was that these wonderfully vocal people were pouring out their hearts and souls to the savior of the world and did so without an ounce of embarrassment or hesitancy.   I have come to relish that time of prayer that I had while in Latin America.  I miss the shouts of joy, the cries of pain, and the willingness to be filled with a joy and peace that wrapped my heart within it.  I realize that in most of the church settings I will find myself, this kind of prayer is not acceptable and yet I yearn for it.  How do I recapture that and balance it within the cultural setting in which I find myself?  I'm not sure I can...

Along the same lines, I found the time of singing to be rejuvenating and exciting.  One thing that was fascinating about the times of worship in song that was different for me was that many times, the Costa Ricans will begin their time of singing with slow and heart wrenching songs.  Songs that cry out to the LORD for salvation and for intercession.  Songs of lament that explains the deep sorrow that we find ourselves in when we are disobedient to the calling that God has placed on our hearts.  At the end of those songs, with the tears still wetting the checks of those in need, there would be a drastic change in direction.  A direction that took us from the pit of despair to the joy of salvation.  The last song before the day's lesson was always upbeat.  It always had the beat of a war march; the cry of victory coming from the same lips that had recently confessed sins and cried out for mercy.

However, no matter what kind of song that was being sung, I was a little remorseful.  I was relegated to the sidelines, unable fully to participate in the time of singing or praying.  The most I could do was clap my hands and periodically shout an "Alleluia!"  Throughout my time in Costa Rica, Psalm 47 became my psalm.  It became my expression of the emotions that were wrapped up within myself.

"Clap your hands, all you peoples;
     shout to God with loud songs of joy.
For the LORD, the Most High, is awesome,
     a great king over all the earth.
He subdued peoples under us,
     and nations under our feet.
He chose our heritage for us,
     the pride of Jacob whom he loves.

God has gone up with a shout,
     the LORD with the sound of a trumpet.
Sing praises to God, sing praises;
     sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is the king of all the earth;
     sing praises with a psalm.

God is king over the nations;
     God sits on his holy throne.
The princes of the peoples gather
     as the people of the God of Abraham.
For the shields of the earth belong to God;
     he is highly exalted."

Even though all I could do was clap my hands, I was united with these beautiful people of the God of Abraham.  He was our king and we were united in our diversity.  We were united in our sinful past and in our journey of sanctification.  We are the people of God and we certainly shouted loud songs of joy together...theirs with their lips and mine from the heart.

Just in case you're curious, here is one of the songs that we "sang" together.

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