Pilgrim Heart

Hallelujah - the song we were born to sing?

I've just listened to a documentary on Leonard Cohen's Hallelujah by Guy Garvey of Elbow on Radio 2. You can hear it on BBC iplayer.

By any measure it's a great song. The focus of the documentary is on how the song seems to have a life of its own, being covered by a multitude of artists each bringing out new depths and meanings (with the possible exception of Bon Jovi). The documentary asks why this should be, and through the many insightful comments often comes to the almost sacred nature of the song, which is not just a product of its biblical imagery.

In recognising this the commenters are discerning that in some sense this song is "everysong," - the song of everyman. At the heart of every song is the contrast between the "broken" and the "holy" hallelujah, but whether broken or holy, every song is a Hallelujah. This is because "Hallelujah" is song: it is the word God created for creation to express worship to him (it means praise the Lord); whenever someone sings it, it is a musical celebration of life. Even the shape it forms on the lips and the sound it produces from the vocal chords has a sense of joy, release and perfection.

For those who know God this celebration of life is full and complete - "life in its fulness". For those who don't know God it is still a celebration of life, still "holy," but also it is a sigh of longing for completion or fulness, of union with God, it is "broken."

The song isn't itself worship, the sexual imagery, though artistic and tasteful by many standards, is inappropriate for sacred music, and the framing of the song as searchful and questioning also mean it is not a song that can be lifted in praise to God. Yet it is a cry to God nonetheless; it captures the heart of humanity and the determination of the human spirit to sing its Hallelujah even when separated from its intended audience.

Seeing Jesus (4)

And one of the elders said to me, "Weep no more; behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has conquered, so that he can open the scroll and its seven seals." And between the throne and the four living creatures and among the elders I saw a Lamb standing, as though it had been slain, with seven horns and with seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. (Rev 5:5-6 ESV)

Sometimes a new translation brings out new treasure from the Word of God. Others say that Jesus the Lamb was standing in the middle of the throne - well that certainly is rich pickings. But I also like the idea of John seeing Jesus between the living creatures and the throne.

Christ is the great "In-Betweener", the Advocate, the Reconciler between God and his creation. Clearly the throne speaks of God; but have you ever considered what the living creatures represent? Without going too deep at all,

it's not to hard to see that they are in some way representative of earthly creation.

In this vision, John sees Jesus between God and his creation; our means of access and association with God, and God's means of communicating his life and blessing to us!

Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. (

Heb 4:14,16)

Seeing Jesus (3)

Now there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon, and this man was righteous and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord's Christ. And he came in the Spirit into the temple, and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him according to the custom of the Law, he took him up in his arms and blessed God and said, "Lord, now you are letting your servant depart in peace, according to your word; for my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and for glory to your people Israel." (Luke 2:25-32)

I love the story of Simeon - only a few verses but it tells a whole life-time. What I also love is how Simeon got to see Jesus, it was by an anointing of the Holy Spirit. In these few verses we find that Simeon heard from the Spirit, that the Spirit was upon him, and that he responded to the promptings of the Spirit to go to the temple that particular day. This seems to me to be a man who lived intimately with the Holy Spirit.

What we are not told is how Simeon identified Jesus. There would have been dozens of 8-day-old boys with their parents at the temple that day; Joseph, Mary and Jesus would have looked like any other family. They didn't have halos, there were no angels accompanying them; so how did Simeon know Jesus when he saw him?

I believe the clue is in what we've already said about him - he was a man of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit of God within him would have leapt for joy as Simeon's eyes scanned the room looking for the baby he'd lived his life believing he would see.

Simeon's story illustrates for us a simple yet important truth - if we are full of the Spirit we will see Jesus! If Jesus starts to look lost amongst the Christmas revelry, get full of the Spirit and I'm sure you'll see him again!

Have a wonderful Christmas!

Seeing Jesus (2)

Then I turned to see the voice that was speaking to me, and on turning I saw seven golden lampstands, and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest. (Revelation 1:12-13)

At the opening of the book of Revelation John hears a voice like a trumpet and turns to see the source. What he first sees when looking for the voice of God is seven golden lampstands, and then, almost immediately afterwards, the son of man. The seven lampstands are a picture of the church (see Rev 1:20), the son of man is, of course, Jesus himself.

For Church History Buffs

I've just read an interesting paper by David Hilborn on the Evangelical Alliance Website on the history of the Charismatic movement in the UK. What is most interesting is that he starts in NT times and traces charismatic manifestations in the life of the church through the centuries.

There is a lot of recent historical detail on the second half of the 20th century, with many names familiar to regular readers here. It ends with the Toronto Blessing move of the mid-90s. Click on the link in the sidebar to read it or download it from the EA's website.

Seeing Jesus (1)

Have you ever considered what the ultimate manifestation of the presence of God might be? I have been doing a preaching series on the presence of God and when I came to consider the ultimate manifestation of God's presence on earth today, I was slightly surprised by where the scriptures took me (that's one of the things I love about the Word of God!).

Lessons from Lakeland

If you've been following the move of God in Lakeland, Florida you will probably have been saddened by the news of Todd Bentley's marital problems. Two extremes of response (I'm ignoring those who don't believe that this is a move of God) would be, "the actions of one man won't make any difference to a move of God" or "that's it - it's all over."

Chandrakant is Back Online

My good friend Chandrakant has just started blogging again. His new blog can be found here Amazing stories of miracles and God's goodness in India will stir your faith!

Want to see a Resurrection?

This is what the Kingdom of God is all about!

"The kingdom of God does not consist in word, but in power" (1 Corinthians 4:20).

I believe the Todd Bentley paraphrase of this scripture is "Bam!"

Useful Website

I've just come across this website www.bible-researcher.com

It has a wealth of resources from some excellent writers - check it out!