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“Worship: Annoying Sounds or Vital Communication?” Tap-tap...tap-tap-tap...tap-tap-tap-tap...tap-tap-tap...
just annoying sounds? Captain
Eugene ‘Red’ McDaniel rapped on the walls of his cell in the
Vietnamese Prisoner of War camp commonly known as the Hanoi Hilton. The
taping was a secret code prisoners used to communicate with each other.
The number one rule at the Hilton was... "No communication with other
prisoners at anytime." Anyone caught in the attempt would be
tortured. Isolation
was the prime weapon of the communist captors. As the hours slowly turned
into days and weeks, Captain McDaniel came to fear the loneliness and the
silence far more than any threats of physical harm. The highlight of each
day was being taken to the washroom where he occasionally managed to
whisper briefly with two other Americans brought in at the same time. They
told him about the camp code, a series of taps (or other signals) to spell
out letters. McDaniel in his book, Scars and Stripes came to
recognize the code as his lifeline and only link with sanity. If a new
prisoner couldn't learn the code and communicate with fellow prisoners
within thirty days of arrival, he would gradually begin to draw inward and
deteriorate. Captain McDaniel saw nearly fifty of America’s best trained
enter isolation never to be heard from again. As the days dragged on, a
prisoner would slowly lose any will to live. "Little by little,"
McDaniel wrote, "he would deteriorate as that strange predator…
isolation, would suck the very life out of him."
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"Live the Light! Five Weeks to a Life that Shines!"
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Tap-tap...tap-tap-tap...tap-tap-tap-tap...tap-tap-tap...
just annoying sounds or vital communication? How do
secret codes and POW’s help us understand worship? One word:
communication. Worship represents one of our best opportunities to
communicate with God. Without it, the spiritual part of our being will
begin to draw inward, deteriorate and die. More than just a hymn, a sermon
and a prayer, worship is the camp code that becomes our lifeline and can
at times be our only link with sanity. Come
let us sing to the Lord! Let us give a joyous shout to the rock or our
salvation! Let
us come before Him with thanksgiving. Let us sing Him psalms of praise. For
the Lord is a great God, the great King above all gods. He
owns the depths of the earth, and even the mightiest mountains are His. The
sea belongs to Him, for he made it. His hands formed the dry land, too. Come,
let us worship and bow down. Let us kneel before the Lord our maker. For
He is our God. We are the people He watches over, the sheep under His
care. Oh,
that you would listen to His Voice today! (Psalm 95:1-7) I found
at least seven vital lessons in Psalm 95 that teach the value and meaning
of worship.
Worship
-- Tap-tap...tap-tap-tap...tap-tap-tap-tap... annoying sounds or vital
communication? Dr.
Charles Swindoll, author and preacher writes, "Worship is a human
response to a divine revelation." God speaks and we respond.
Tap-tap… through the quietness of a prayer. Tap-tap-tap… through
singing a hymn. Tap-tap-tap-tap… through the prophetic words of a
sermon. Worship is the camp code for vital communication with God. Without
it there is only spiritual isolation and… death. Next
read part 2: “Should Worship be Contemporary or Traditional?
Wrong Question!” Click here Last modified February 8, 2001. Would you like to subscribe each week? It's free. Click here and type subscribe. Other Recent Devotions: Under the Cross: A Divine Warning A River Journey, Waiting and A Button Called Faith A Letter of Faith: Pastor Held Prisoner in North Korea
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