The anointing.
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Bethel’s worship team is going through the book “Exploring the Mysteries of Worship” by LaMar Boschman. I confess I haven’t been all that faithful keeping up with the reading, but the discussions are always thought-provoking. |
We got into a couple of things last night that I have continued to wrestle with this morning: the definition of “the anointing,” and the act of entering the King’s gates and going further into his courts.
Mr. Boschman defined “anointed” as the tender heart that results from being in the presence of God. He presented a forumulaic definition of the anointing as what people see when we fast, pray, and repent.
The worship team pretty much decided that Mr. Boschman’s definition was incorrect, or at least incomplete. I did some more research on this and have made the following obersvations:
- Dictionary definition: Mr. Webster defines “anointed” as consecrated, set apart as by divine intervention, dedicated to the service of God. It also means to smear with any liquid. I like that
- The anointing is given sovereignly by God. It is completely external and has nothing to do with us. There are numerous references in the Old Testament indicating that God anointed this person or that person as king, or priest, or captain of an army. He anointed David to rule. He even anointed Jehu to destroy the house of Ahab. The anointing is often symbolized by oil, and it is put on a person by another person. I couldn’t find anywhere that fasting and praying resulted in oil coming out of somebody’s face from the inside.
- When you accept Christ, you are automatically anointed to (1) make disciples, and (2) fulfill the command to love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself. These are supernatural commands, but the anointing is also supernatural and gives us the ability to do such things. Just as the anointing in the Old Testament consecrated priests and kings to rule, that same anointing enables us to fulfill God’s commands.
- God protects his anointed. The psalms are rife with examples of the favor, blessing, and protection afforded to the Lord’s anointed ones.
- God allows us to move in the anointing even when we are in sin. We can quench the Spirit, and we can harm ourselves when we sin. But as we discussed last night, the gifts are without repentance. God can, and has, anointed my own actions to His glory even when I am in sin. A biblical example of this is the story of David. God’s anointing over his life still held even when he had an adulterous affair and sent the woman’s husband off to be killed.
Our worship leader asked an important follow-up question about the anointing: Is it appropriate to ask for a fresh anointing, a new anointing? After all, the same anointing from the same Almighty God is available today just as it was yesterday.
I think there are two parts to the answer. First, the anointing itself isn’t “new,” but we might need a “renewed” anointing every day. The Bible encourages us to renew our minds continually with the Word of God. If we ask for a fresh anointing, it’s because we ourselves have been consumed by life’s issues and feel dry.
The second part of the answer is, there are times when that anointing enables us by the Holy Spirit to do miraculous works, lead people into a deeper place of worship, etc. It is those times that when we ask for a fresh anointing, we are really asking for God to show up in power and heal, make His glory known, and manifest His presence (which, by the way, was another topic of discussion in the book).
Well, I think I just opened up more questions in my own mind than answering anything, but it helps to write about it. Second topic, entering His praise with thanksgiving, coming up next.