Priorities

     I met two people today, they were probably in their mid to late 50's, they owned a barber shop together, and they were so interested in what was going on in my life.

     Their names are Jedd and Bill, and they own a local barber shop here in Manhattan, Kansas. I went in to get my haircut and then leave afterwards. As I walked in, Jedd told me that he would gladly cut my hair for me after he cut the hair of the kid he wasn't currently cutting. After his current appointment left, I saw that he paid Jedd with cash, and no card. I didn't see a register anywhere, so I asked if they take credit and debit as well. I was informed that they only accept cash and checks, so I told Jedd that I would walk across the street to the ATM real fast to take out some cash. He looked at me with a soothing look and said, "None of that, sit down right here and let me give you a hair cut first. You can worry about that payment thing later." So I did just that and afterwards, Jedd trusted me to walk across the street and wait as the slow ATM gave me my money to pay Jedd for his service.

     Now, the only thing that really made meant to write this blog was what Jedd said to me before he gave me a haircut. He could have easily just told me to go get my obey before he cut my hair, but that wasn't his priority; Jedd's priority was to give me the haircut that I wanted, not getting paid for it. And even then, when he let me leave the shop to take out some cash, he trusted that I would come back. I didn't have to, we both knew that, but he let it happen anyway, and we both went on with our days after that.

     I feel like our priorities always need straightening. When we work somewhere, I'm sure that our priorities aren't to serve the people there, at least that isn't the top one, but our priority at the end of the day is to make the money that we earned and go on with our days. Jedd showed me that he had a heart that wanted to offer service to others, whether or not he was guaranteed payment. I really admired that about my new friend Jedd.

Dead. Wrong.

     I play for the worship band at my home church in Arizona whenever I get the chance to, and because I am a slight cynic and critical musician with my worship music, I tend to "dislike" many songs that we play, but I cast my displeasures aside for the sake of creating genuine worship for everyone to enjoy and to glorify God with. As I proceeded to look at the song list that the band was going to play tonight, I was very "displeased" when I saw that the last song that we were playing was "Open Up Our Eyes." For those of you who don't know the song or don't remember how it goes, the reason I don't like this song is because of the bridge line that goes like this, "Our God is fighting for us always, our God is fighting for us all." I just feel like there is no way that at all times God would be fighting for us, or would even bother to dedicate the power that He has to fight for us, His creation that fails Him daily and casts Him aside for our own pleasures away from Him. I practiced the song and have successfully learned it, despite my feelings for the song, and after that I decided to go through my Bible and pick a passage to read.

     My girlfriend told me about a little study that she is doing where she goes through a Psalm everyday and in it picks out a promise that God has for her. I really liked that idea, and have started that study myself. I haven't been incredibly consistent with it, but I am thoroughly enjoying it. Today, I read through Psalm 18, and it was this Psalm that God used to take my beliefs about the song "Open Up Our Eyes" and throw them away. It was Psalm 18 that God used to smack my hand and tell me that I was wrong, that I was dead wrong.

     Go ahead and read Psalm 18 right now if you want to. If you don't want to dig it out and read it, I'll post it down below for you to read. To be honest it is a little longer than most Psalms, but it will not be a waste of your time I can assure you. 

I love you, O Lord, my strength.
 The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer,
    my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge,
    my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.
 I call upon the Lord, who is worthy to be praised,
    and I am saved from my enemies.

 The cords of death encompassed me;
    the torrents of destruction assailed me;
 the cords of Sheol entangled me;
    the snares of death confronted me.

 In my distress I called upon the Lord;
    to my God I cried for help.
From his temple he heard my voice,
    and my cry to him reached his ears.

 Then the earth reeled and rocked;
    the foundations also of the mountains trembled
    and quaked, because he was angry.
 Smoke went up from his nostrils,
    and devouring fire from his mouth;
    glowing coals flamed forth from him.
 He bowed the heavens and came down;
    thick darkness was under his feet.
 He rode on a cherub and flew;
    he came swiftly on the wings of the wind.
 He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him,
    thick clouds dark with water.
 Out of the brightness before him
    hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds.

 The Lord also thundered in the heavens,
    and the Most High uttered his voice,
    hailstones and coals of fire.
 And he sent out his arrows and scattered them;
    he flashed forth lightnings and routed them.
 Then the channels of the sea were seen,
    and the foundations of the world were laid bare
at your rebuke, O Lord,
    at the blast of the breath of your nostrils.

 He sent from on high, he took me;
    he drew me out of many waters.
 He rescued me from my strong enemy
    and from those who hated me,
    for they were too mighty for me.
 They confronted me in the day of my calamity,
    but the Lord was my support.
 He brought me out into a broad place;
    he rescued me, because he delighted in me.

 The Lord dealt with me according to my righteousness;
    according to the cleanness of my hands he rewarded me.
 For I have kept the ways of the Lord,
    and have not wickedly departed from my God.
 For all his rules were before me,
    and his statutes I did not put away from me.
 I was blameless before him,
    and I kept myself from my guilt.
 So the Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,
    according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

 With the merciful you show yourself merciful;
    with the blameless man you show yourself blameless;
 with the purified you show yourself pure;
    and with the crooked you make yourself seem tortuous.
 For you save a humble people,
    but the haughty eyes you bring down.
 For it is you who light my lamp;
    the Lord my God lightens my darkness.
 For by you I can run against a troop,
    and by my God I can leap over a wall.
 This God—his way is perfect;
    the word of the Lord proves true;
    he is a shield for all those who take refuge in him.

 For who is God, but the Lord?
    And who is a rock, except our God?—
 the God who equipped me with strength
    and made my way blameless.
 He made my feet like the feet of a deer
    and set me secure on the heights.
 He trains my hands for war,
    so that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.
 You have given me the shield of your salvation,
    and your right hand supported me,
    and your gentleness made me great.
 You gave a wide place for my steps under me,
    and my feet did not slip.
 I pursued my enemies and overtook them,
    and did not turn back till they were consumed.
 I thrust them through, so that they were not able to rise;
    they fell under my feet.
 For you equipped me with strength for the battle;
    you made those who rise against me sink under me.
 You made my enemies turn their backs to me,
    and those who hated me I destroyed.
 They cried for help, but there was none to save;
    they cried to the Lord, but he did not answer them.
 I beat them fine as dust before the wind;
    I cast them out like the mire of the streets.

 You delivered me from strife with the people;
    you made me the head of the nations;
    people whom I had not known served me.
 As soon as they heard of me they obeyed me;
    foreigners came cringing to me.
 Foreigners lost heart
    and came trembling out of their fortresses.

 The Lord lives, and blessed be my rock,
    and exalted be the God of my salvation—
 the God who gave me vengeance
    and subdued peoples under me,
 who delivered me from my enemies;
    yes, you exalted me above those who rose against me;
    you rescued me from the man of violence.

 For this I will praise you, O Lord, among the nations,
    and sing to your name.
 Great salvation he brings to his king,
    and shows steadfast love to his anointed,
    to David and his offspring forever.

     Psalm 18 was a Psalm that King David wrote before he became king of Israel, after God delivered him from the current king of Israel, Saul. Psalm 18 is a giant description of God's never ending fight for David's life because of David's trust, faith, and refuge that he took in the Lord in his time of need. All this time I told myself not that God wouldn't fight for me, but that God was not always fighting for us when we betray Him all of the time. I was taught differently by God Himself who directly spoke to me through this Psalm today.

     When we work hard to be righteous in God's eyes and when we work hard to be blameless before Him and when we seek refuge in no one else but Him, God will fight for us. He will fight for His people. He will fight to the ends of the earth if He has to. For all of us, always. "Open Up Our Eyes" has now become one of the most influential and most meaningful worship songs I will ever play now. Thank you God, for opening up my eyes.