New psalms

Last Friday I taught about praise and worship to a class of 21 young men and women in our YWAM DTS (Discipleship Training School).   Many of them came from strict traditional churches and some are probably still in shock about the expressive ways we worship the Lord at Heidebeek. 
The DTS leader asked me specifically to teach about the biblical foundations for worship, using the original Hebrew words.
The words: yadah, towdah, tehillah, halal, zamar, ruwa, barak are some of the words we translate into English and Dutch as "praise" or "thanksgiving".  As we looked deeper into their individual meanings the students discovered a world of creativity, color, movement, expression and celebration - all right there in their own bibles!

Towards the end of the morning I took some time to explain how candid and real King David was in expressing his heart to God, never realizing that we would be reading his psalms centuries later.  "God's not afraid of our honesty", I said as I encouraged them to open their hearts to God fully. 
We examined how most of the psalms, especially those illustrating struggle or sadness, had a turning point when the psalmist made the choice to turn his heart to God with gratefulness, praise and determination.
Then they set about penning their own psalms and I saw God move in their hearts, teaching them first-hand how to express their hearts to Him.

Every now and then I am blessed to get some feedback from students.  So, when I opened my email this morning I read these words from Hans:

Thanks so much for Friday's lesson.  As someone growing up in a reformed church home I appreciated the way you gave us such a strong biblical explanation for worship.  I was also inspired to pen my first psalm...

Psalm 151  

Lord, I'm not feeling all that great right now.  
I'm uncomfortable, insecure, and often rude towards others.  
I've got a lot of questions about money, who I'm going to marry, 
and about how important my profession or hobbies should be in my life.   
One moment I'm intensely happy and content but the next  
I feel aimless, tired, depressed and burdened with all my feelings.  
Mostly I feel ashamed and anxious and even sinful 
because it looks like I'm stuck with all this and there's no way out.  

But You, Lord, are my Deliverer, my Savior and my Creator.  
I can see the everlasting greatness of Your creation.  
You have designed every tree, each leaf, and every sprout of grass. 
You created every mammal, bird and person as unique, one by one.  

Thank You for making all this.  Thank You that You created me.  
I want to cling to Your Father-heart always in total surrender.   
You can deliver me from any situation, no matter how I feel.  

Thank You that I can cast all my cares on You. 
And this is why I long even more for Your closeness, warmth and love.  
Thank You for being there for me.  
Hallelujah!

Yes, hallelujah!
___________________________
Hallelujah:  (halal + Jah) means to celebrate Yahweh with much emotion, movement, color and sound much like King David did when the Ark of the Covenant, God's presence, was returned to Jerusalem in 1 Samuel 6.