The Colonial Hills tragedy and a new hymn: "I Am With You"
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“At the request of the families, the song was introduced first during the prelude of the funeral for Chad, Courtney, and baby Phelps. We were honored by the inclusion. Now we’re introducing the hymn version, which includes a dedication to Colonial Hills.” Chris Anderson and Greg Habegger
Discussion
Remembering to Bless God
We have been studying 1 Samuel in our Sunday night Bible study. In 1 Samuel 1:28, we read of one who “worshiped the LORD.” In the context, this one seems to be the very young Samuel, perhaps as young as three years old.
The text reads (ESV), “ ‘Therefore I have lent him to the Lord. As long as he lives, he is lent to the Lord.’ And he worshiped the Lord there.”
In Genesis 24:26-27, when Abraham’s servant was blessed in his search for a mate for Isaac, we read, “the man bowed his head and worshiped the Lord and said, ‘Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master. As for me, the Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.’”
There are other similar examples throughout the Old Testament (e.g., Gen. 24:48, Exod. 4:31, Exod. 12:27, 1 Chron. 29:3, Neh. 8:6).
There seemed to be two elements to worshiping the LORD in the above contexts: (1) bowing down, (2) blessing the name of the LORD for some reason. In the case of Abraham’s servant above, the reason is stated: “ ‘who has not forsaken his steadfast love and his faithfulness toward my master…. The Lord has led me in the way to the house of my master’s kinsmen.’” The blessing defines what is meant by “the man…worshiped.”
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