Stones

I was listening to a song by Jason Upton called “Stones” this morning.  Now, if you’re not familiar with Jason Upton – he is one of the most unique worship leaders that I’ve ever encountered.  If I had to classify him in a genre, I’d probably put him into the “prophetic worship” category, which I understand means that I’ve lost at least ten of you reading because there’s a lot of craziness and silliness that is also labeled in that category.  But from listening to his music [I have 13 of his CDs] and also from seeing him twice live, I truly believe that he is someone who literally sings prophetically – singing God’s right-now heart over the people who are listening.  As you'll hear if you listen to "Stones," a good deal of the time he writes/sings spontaneously - this song wasn't written before he started singing it live, and it was only recorded once.  If you’re interested in starting to listen to him, let me know so that I can direct you to one of the more ‘normal’ albums first :).  He takes some getting used to :).

So anyway, I’m listening to “Stones,” which is one of those songs that made me say, “what on earth is THIS??” the first ten or so times that I heard it.  [This is not abnormal when listening to Jason Upton.]  But a couple of years ago, somewhere around the eleventh time that I heard the song – something just JUMPED out at me and smacked me in the face and it became one of the most profound songs that I’ve ever heard.  This song isn’t Scripture, obviously – but the principles that he talks about are Biblically sound and there are plenty of Scriptures that can reinforce them.

He starts off the song by singing “in the midst of the Presence, there’s the stones.” If you’re scratching your head and saying “huh?” – you’re in good company. But let me take you through it as it became clear to me…

He goes on to talk about the stone that the world’s rejected – the chief cornerstone. So okay, this isn’t too bad – he’s saying that in the midst of the presence of God, we find Christ.  So far, so good, right?  Then he starts saying that the stone kills the giant.  Okayyyyy, so now we’ve got David & Goliath imagery here alongside of Christ imagery… so… the stone (which is Christ) is found in the presence of God, and even though that stone is what the world has rejected, it’s that very stone that we’ve been given to use to kill the giants in our lives.

Deep… deep… but he’s not done.

Then he starts defining the stone in another way – yes, it is Christ – but then he also begins to define the stone as the way of the Lord, the fear of the Lord. And “fear” not meaning terror or anxiety – meaning complete awe of the majesty and glory of God that produces in us absolute honor, respect, reverence and confidence.

Well, that definitely makes sense in the David & Goliath context.  When David picked up those stones to kill the giant, I always used to think “wow, that took an ENORMOUS amount of faith to do that!”  But now I think a little differently.  Of course, yes, it still did take an enormous amount of faith – but I don’t think David saw it that way.  I think that David feared [respected, revered, honored] the Lord so much… and his view of God because of that fear was so BIG… that it felt perfectly normal for him to grab five stones and a sling to take down the man that had paralyzed the entire Israelite army.

Think about it in terms of our own lives.  When we’re afraid or hesitant to do something, it’s usually because of a lack of confidence in the outcome.  I remember at the transitions retreat watching people completely freak out before going on the Giant Swing [literally exactly what it sounds like if you aren’t familiar] because it looked so intimidating… so high… so dangerous.  And then I watched those same people come back the following year, and the following, and by the third or fourth year they were strolling up to that swing with total swag and zero fear.  What changed?  The swing didn’t.  No, their confidence level in that swing did.  They had experienced it for themselves time and time again and they began to truly know that the swing was not going to fail them.

And David, after he had experienced the Lord for himself on so many other occasions, had gained that same confidence.  This was the same God who had helped him kill a lion and bear that threatened his flock – so why would this “uncircumcised Philistine” be any different?  To David, picking up those stones wasn’t this huge, gutsy move – it was logical.  His fear of God, his confidence in God, was so big that he couldn’t even understand why the Israelite army was even afraid of this guy.

In other words – because he feared the Lord… he feared nothing else.

So back to our song… in the midst of the presence of God, we find the stone – which is Christ, because it’s only through Christ that we even have access to God – but specifically, we’re asked to PICK UP the stone that the whole world has rejected – which denotes picking up the fear of God. And it’s in picking that up that we… WE… are able to kill giants.

My absolute favorite, favorite line in this song is this:

There it is!!
In the midst of the Presence, the giant-killer
It’s the way of the fear of the Lord
Pick it up!

I love how there’s even an element of revelation in the song itself – as if suddenly a light switch had been turned on.  “There it is!”  “Hey look, here’s our weapon!”  If we would truly, truly, truly learn to fear God… there is absolutely NOTHING that would cause us fear in our lives, and there would be no giant that could not be taken down.  We would go anywhere, do anything for the Lord no matter how crazy or radical or even dangerous.  There would be nothing that Satan could hold over our heads and say “ah, but I’m holding you back here.” But this fear of the Lord, according to this song, isn’t just something that is given to all Christians just because they’re saved.

We have to pick it up.

And one of those most interesting things that this song brings out is HOW we do that.  Not by striving.  Not by begging God to give it to us [although prayer plays a role].  In fact, it’s not so much a HOW, but a WHERE… in the midst of the Presence. Intimacy.  Solitude.  Time sitting before God and just simply KNOWING Him.  I can imagine that this was probably imparted to David during the many long hours he spent alone with his harp and his God as he tended the sheep.  The fear of the Lord isn’t something that we can achieve, it’s something that must be imparted to us – and the only way for impartation to happen is through sustained intimacy.  And it’s not a quick process, for those of you who are like me and are long-sufferingly-challenged.  As much as we’d like spiritual growth and understanding to happen like Neo’s kung-fu instant download in The Matrix – it doesn’t most of the time.  But it’s only through this process that we can begin to truly experience the fear of God – which not only is a giant-killer, but also the beginning of wisdom… which is another blog post entirely :).

Do you have giants in your life?  Are there circumstances on the outside, or strongholds on the inside, that seem absolutely impossible to defeat?  Are you battling the same battle over and over again to the point where you’ve actually began to accept it as simply part of who you are?  Don’t do it!  There is no giant that can’t be brought down with the right stones – and that very stone is the fear of God that is found in His Presence through Christ. 

If the giant is internal – the fear of God is absolutely the answer. If we fear God truly, we cannot fear or desire anything else but Him.  Through a true, genuine fear of the Lord – other strongholds/temptations/desires will just naturally fall by the wayside.  We won’t have to strive and wrestle – we will no longer even DESIRE those things once the fear of God has taken its rightful place in our hearts.  If the giant is external – there’s no guarantee that the fear of God will instantly solve whatever problem you face – but God is more interested in changing your character than changing your circumstances.  In His Presence, YOU will change.  Your circumstances will no longer affect your joy or your praise when you truly pick up the fear of the Lord, and you will be able to boast in your afflictions as Paul did – because you will delight that His power is actually perfected and brought to fulfillment through those very circumstances.  Your circumstances will be the very thing that will bring Him glory – and with the fear of the Lord, that alone will be your deepest desire.  And once that happens, whether the external circumstance changes or not, the giant has been slain.

It’s such a simple thing, a stone.  It’s no wonder that the world has rejected it.  But it’s waiting for us if we are willing to look for it.  That first line now makes a little more sense…. “in the midst of the Presence, there’s the stones.”  And those stones can only be found there – the fear of God can only be found in the presence of God.  It cannot be taught or even caught – it must be imparted from the Lord Himself.

I believe that a true, genuine fear of God is the only thing that will be able to truly change US, our ministries, our city, our nation and our world.  I’m so far from it.  At times I feel like it’s almost unattainable.  But most of the time, when that feeling occurs, it’s because I’m not spending enough time in the Presence… so the stones seem distant and small.

Are you, like me, tired of being intimidated by your giants?  Do you strive to be like David and not the Israelite army?  Enter into His presence through the name of Jesus and pick up the stones… the fear of the Lord… and watch those giants begin to fall.

from Jason Upton's 2005 album "Open Up The Earth."

Background vocals by Jason's wife Rachel Upton.

Lyrics below are often repeated, only main lyrics are written.

Listen to "Stones" by clicking here. 

in the midst of the Presence, there’s the stones
in the midst of the Presence, I give you stones
in the midst of the River, I give you stones
that will kill the giant

in the midst of the presence, there’s the stones
that the world’s rejected
that the world’s discarded
in the midst of the presence, there’s the stones
that the world rejected
there’s the stone, the chief cornerstone
in the midst of the presence there’s the stone that the world rejected

and it kills the giant
there’s the stone that killed the giant
do you see what I see?
there’s the stone that the world rejected and it kills the giant

there it is!
pick up the way of the Lord
pick it up!
the way of the Lord
the fear of the Lord

there it is!!
in the midst of the presence, the giant killer
it’s the way of the fear of the Lord
pick it up!