The Role of Psalm 22:3 in the Making of Music as the New Sacrament

1. The Role of Psalm 22:3 in the Making of Music as the New Sacrament + A Look at the Impact of the Latter Rain Movement (with Jim Hart)

2. How Did The Sacramentality of Sung Worship Arise?

3. The History of a Scriptural/Theological Basis • On what scriptural or theological basis did this association of God’s presence with worship sets become established? • One scripture stands front and center: Psalm 22:3 “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” (KJV)

4. Whether in direct quotation or in allusion… …Psalm 22:3 is rampant.

5. The Variations • God/Jesus • Inhabits/Dwells/Is Enthroned Upon • The Praises • Of Israel/His People.

6. Different Scriptural Versions, A Sampling • KJV: “But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.” • NKJV: “But You are holy, enthroned in the praises of Israel.” • NASB: “Yet You are holy, O You who are enthroned upon the praises of Israel.” • Darby: “And thou art holy, thou that dwellest amid the praises of Israel.”

7. A Typical Use Ernest Gentile, a Pentecostal author, 1989: “As we fill the atmosphere with our praise and worship of the Lord, our adoration literally creates a throne whereupon the Lord is pleased to dwell…Yes! The King comes amongst us as we worship Him.”

8. Personal Sidebar • I’ve known this for the longest time: The Imperials, “Praise the Lord” from the album Heed the Call, 1979: “Praise the Lord. / He can work through those who praise him. / Praise the Lord / for our God inhabits praise.”

9. Other Songs Based on Psalm 22:3 • An early congregational worship song based on Psalm 22:3: “Don’t You Know It’s Time to Praise the Lord” (Judi and Bruce Borneman, 1981; Maranatha! Music) “He lives within / the praises of his people. / He loves to hear us / call upon his name.” • Other songs based on Psalm 22:3: “The Lord Inhabits the Praises of His People” (Jeannie Clattenburg, 1977); “Let There Be Praise” (Melodie and Dick Tunney, 1985); “We Will Praise the Lord” (Andrew Ironside, 1994); “You Inhabit the Praises of Your People” (Regina Hoosier, 2002); “The Lord Inhabits” (Constance Smith, 2003); “Inhabit the Praise” (Geron Davis, Joel Lindsey, and Wayne Haun, 2003); “Inhabit the Praise” (Sarah MacIntosh and Vicky Beeching, 2010) and, apparently, 28 other songs as listed on CCLI SongSelect referring to God inhabiting praise.

10. The History Who put this verse on the map? Certain individuals in the Latter Rain Movement.

11. The Latter Rain Revival & Reg Layzell • The commonly identified center of the revival: Sharon Orphanage and Schools in North Battleford, Saskatchewan, Canada. • Reg Layzell: minister at small Pentecostal church outside of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

12. Reg Layzell and Psalm 22:3 • The importance of the passage to him: part of a divine revelation in 1946 • Originally emphasized “you are the holy one” but no turnaround in his church • Began emphasizing “enthroned upon the praises of Israel” and his congregation experienced revival • Layzell became dedicated to the verse and the connection between praise and God’s presence: “God burned that verse into me, and I preached nothing else but praise, praise, praise.” • In Layzell’s original emphasis was upon any kind of praise by a congregation.

13. “The Apostle of Praise” • Howard Rachinski: “I consider myself as very blessed to have grown up under the ministry of Pastor Reg Layzell, whom some called an ‘apostle of praise.’ When I reflect back on the truths that were grounded in me as a child and observe the fresh awakening that is occurring regarding praise and worship, I realize how necessary it is to really understand the absolutes of this dynamic message.”

14. Ca. 1970: A Well-Established, Widespread “Doctrine” • Judson Cornwall, 1973: “This is why Psalm 22:3 declares that God inhabits the praises of His people. The place of His dwelling is in the midst of the courtyard of praise. If we desire to approach God, we must come through praise.”

15. At First, Any Kind of Praise • The initial emphasis through the 1970s was about praise generally, not just musical praise. • Sung, spoken (one at a time or collectively at one time), or shouted • Sung: congregational song, instrumental song, or singing in the Spirit • Physical expressions of praise: raising hands or dancing

16. Developments Over Time • Very early: link God’s presence with God’s active power: Where God is, God acts in power. • This result in a strong instrumental and causal notion for praise: God shows up if praised. God acts when God shows up. Therefore to get God to act here and now, praise. • By the late 1960s: fusing the teaching about praise with architectural categories from the tabernacle or temple • Importance of Psalm 100:4: Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. (KJV) • Developing sense of journey or movement: from thanksgiving through praise (during which God’s presence is made manifest) to worshiping God who is now present

17. Another Development: Distinguishing Between Praise and Worship • Systematizing biblical words for praise, worship, thanksgiving, and related concepts • Based on original Hebrew and Greek words • Standard set of words developed • Occurred in the 1970s and early 1980s • Converted earlier generic, Pentecostal liturgical term (“praise and worship”) into a technical term referring to a certain kind of sequencing or ordering of congregational liturgical acts Cornwall, 1983: “Praise is the vehicle of expression that brings us into God’s presence, but worship is what we do once we gain an entrance to that presence.”

18. Summary: Developments Through the Late 1970s • Use of Psalm 22:3 as biblical/theological basis to sacramentalize praise • God’s presence associated with all kinds of praise • Teaching spread widely through Latter Rain influence in Pentecostal and Charismatic circles • Association of praise (and thanksgiving and worship) with OT architectural models • Distinguishing between (thanksgiving and) praise and worship with the desire for a sequencing from praise to worship

19. Musicalizing Praise and Worship • The 1980s: Standardizing “praise and worship” as an pre-planned order for congregational song • From songs of thanksgiving to songs of praise to songs of worship • Once standardized, it could be taught. • Once it could be taught, it could become an ever widening phenomenon

20. Some of the Early PraiseChoruses Provide a Map Through the P&W Architecture • Leona Von Brethorst, 1976: “I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart. / I will enter his courts with praise.” • Kirk Dearman, 1984: “We bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord.”

21. Cornwall & Griffing: See the Development in the 1980s • Increasingly clearer, standardized teaching about how to construct extended times of congregational singing in order to experience the manifest presence of God • Judson Cornwall, 1983: • Taught on how to construct a sequence of songs fitting P&W • But used older terminology, e.g., “song leader,” “song service” • Barry Griffing, 1989 • Pentecostal “worship leaders” should set aside bias against planning and preference for spontaneity • Consider key, tempo, and lyrical fit to predetermine a set of songs

22. With Barry Griffing (l) and David Fischer (r), 2017

23. The Quest for Good (Musical) Flow:Constructing the Experience of Divine Presence • The actual (not just theoretical) experience of God was critical, it being Pentecostal liturgical spirituality at work. • Thus, as P&W grew into a musicalized system, the notion of good flow in the set became 1) more important and 2) the subject of teaching.

24. An Early Description of Flow • David Blomgren, 1978: • The flow should move continuously with no interruptions • The flow should move naturally by using connections from the songs’ content, keys, and tempos • The flow should move toward a goal of a climatic experience of true worship of God

25. By Mid-1980s, Multiple Models • Eddie Espinosa, 1987, 4 models: • Psalm 95: rejoicing songs to thanking, praising, and then reverencing songs • Psalm 100: Journey into the Holy of Holies of the Temple or Tabernacle (encampment outside through “fun songs,” then songs of gratitude, then worship songs as worshipers entered the Holy Place, and finally songs of intimacy with God) • About/to transition: from singing about God to singing to each other (in encouragement or exhortation) to singing to God • Relational (eventually known as the “Vineyard” model): invitation/call to worship, initial engagement with God, exaltation in glorifying God, love songs directed to God, to songs of intimacy with God

26. What Happened Since the 1990s? • Basic assumption about sacramentality of sung worship remains widespread, but…. • First In, First Out • White Pentecostals seem first to adopt specific teaching about Psalm 22:3 and praise and seem first to abandon it. • Use of Psalm 22:3 explicitly and by allusion as well as “praise and worship” as a technical term more likely to be found still among Asian, Latino, and African American Pentecostals and Evangelicals. • Never In, Never Out • White mainliners who adopted contemporary worship in the 1990s by and large do not reference Psalm 22:3 and its related theology of “praise and worship.”

27. Possible Impact of Latter Rain Strand? • Established as biblical teaching a sacramentality of praise (where the church praises God becomes manifestly present) • Emphasis on praise (extended, spoken, sung, and physical) as bedrock congregational liturgical activity • Established “praise and worship” as early term for contemporary worship • Development of the term “worship leader” • Writing of new scripture choruses • Development of extended times of congregational singing (a worship set) • Development of method for creating flow during sets

28. Both the proliferation of new songs and the manner in which they were used in sets led to the need for a new way to use legally (Starpraise leads to CCLI) • Normalizing the mass raising of hands during praise and worship • Singing in the Spirit’s spread through charismatic renewal movements • Dissemination of this new Pentecostal way of worship internationally through non-US students at colleges, distribution of cassette tapes, and attendees at conferences • Massive dissemination of this way of worship in Central and South America through Marcos Witt and his CanZion organization • Continuing influence through “hot” churches, e.g, Bethel Church/Jesus Culture