Give ear to my words, O LORD, Consider my meditation. Give heed to the voice of my cry, My King and my God, For to You I will pray. My voice You shall hear in the morning, O LORD; In the morning I will direct it to You, And I will look up. (Psalms 5:1-3 NKJV)
I grew up in the “Hippy Era” as a teenager “free love”, “flower power”, “peace”, etc. It was an interesting time as young people were rebelling against society and tradition and wanted every thing to be “groovy.” (I’m almost embarrassed to admit all of this but it is the reality of my upbringing.)
Out of this era spawned another great revival that came into many of the churches during this time. Young people by the thousands were realizing that there was still an emptiness in their lives as they were needing spiritual direction.
Not all churches received them but many (like the one I attended) embraced these precious young people with open arms.
During that season we saw hundreds of young people come to the Lord and eventually many found their way into ministry all across the United States. Recently I sat down and counted how many people came out of that ministry and were serving Jesus and the number I came up with was 79. They became pastors, youth leaders, worship leaders, missionaries, etc.
I will never forget being at church on a Wednesday night when about 100 young people just walked in and sat in the service. They were part of a cult and realized that something was missing. One of the young men said that his grandmother went to church so they all decided to go to where his grandmother went (our church). My dad and mom opened their arms to these young people and a great revival broke out touching hundreds of young people.
During this time Calvary Chapel was exploding on the youth and music scene. Maranatha Music was making inroads to this cultural uprising and having huge impacts. They had tent meetings where thousands of young people were flocking to and receiving Jesus as their Lord and Savior.
There was this singer who was name “Big Bill” (I believe his name was Bill Sprouse, Jr.) who I really enjoyed listening to. We was a really BIG DUDE (very overweight) with long black curly hair.
One night I went to one of the Calvary Chapel meetings and we were told that Bill had died in his sleep that past week. But here’s the cool part of this story. Before he died, he woke up in the middle of the night not feeling well but Psalm 5 was on his heart (our above scripture). There was a tape recorder by his bed. He picked it up sang Psalm 5 into it and then died.
After he died, someone pushed play on the recorder and heard this song that he sang. They played it to their friends and it became a hit across the Christian music scene over the next few years. (Look it up on You Tube – Psalm 5 – Give Ear To My Words/ Maranatha Music). It became one of my all time favorite worship songs.
So, as I reflect and reminince this morning I am so thankful that God “listens” to us when we pray and meditate. I am so glad that He still hears us in the morning and that He is always with us. I’ve had a good life and am so blessed with all that God has done for me over the years and how He has used me.
How about you?
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