Oh HAPPY DAY!!!

Here is a blog post from Trevor Schmidt, our former worship ministries leader. You can find it on his blog here.

Verse 1: The greatest day in history, Death is beaten You have rescued me Sing it out Jesus is alive The empty cross, The empty grave Life eternal You have won the day Shout it out Jesus is alive He’s alive

Chorus: Oh happy day, happy day You washed my sin away Oh happy day, happy day I’ll never be the same Forever I am changed

Verse 2: When I stand, in that place Free at last, meeting face to face I am Yours Jesus You are mine Endless joy, perfect peace Earthly pain finally will cease Celebrate Jesus is alive He’s alive

It may seem weird that I am posting this song today, it would seem to be more suited for Easter rather than just before Christmas but when the Holy Spirit places things on our mind the time of year does not matter and to Him it is not weird at all.

This song has such an incredible anointing, as I read the words alone they send chills down my spine and bring to mind the passage from Luke 24:6 “⁶ He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead!…”NIV, I can only imagine how the women must have felt after their initial shock and disbelief passed, they must have been singing Oh happy day….. Death is beaten…. Yah... Praise God.... Hallelujah.

When Pastor Kevin and I lead this song at LifePoint Church I was blown away by the congregation’s response. The Holy Spirit filled us with so much excitement and such a strong desire to worship Him, that as the song progressed everyone started singing louder and louder as if they had sang the song for years and when we moved into the Chorus this excitement burst out and as the congregation danced, jumped for joy, clapped with all their might and sang at the top of their lungs to the Lord our Saviour Jesus Christ, He brought to mind how King David danced before the Lord in only a linen cloth while the Ark of the Covenant was brought to the City of David. The scripture tells us that not only did King David worship the Lord but all of Israel that David brought with him were praising God as well, read here; “¹⁴ David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, ¹⁵ while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.” NIV.

If you look a few verses back when King David first went out to bring the Ark to the City of David you will see another example of how serious the people of Israel took worship. “^3-7 David and the whole company of Israel were in the parade, singing at the top of their lungs and playing mandolins, harps, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.” The Message. Now imagine a whole company of men which is 30 Thousand men, praising God in this manner, gives us something to strive for doesn’t it!

When David’s wife saw him dancing and praising God in this manner she got mad at him and more or less told David that he had made a fool of himself (I would imagine that she was thinking more of her self and how David had made her look like a fool) read her response to him; “²⁰ When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, “How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, disrobing in the sight of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!” NIV. Now David’s response to her is priceless and one we all need to take serious note of and apply it to our time of public worship; “²¹ David said to Michal, “It was before the LORD, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the LORD’s people Israel—I will celebrate before the LORD. ²² I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor.”NIV.

Here is another translation “^20-22 David returned home to bless his family. Michal, Saul’s daughter, came out to greet him: “How wonderfully the king has distinguished himself today—exposing himself to the eyes of the servants’ maids like some burlesque street dancer!” David replied to Michal, “In God’s presence I’ll dance all I want! He chose me over your father and the rest of our family and made me prince over God’s people, over Israel. Oh yes, I’ll dance to God’s glory—more recklessly even than this. And as far as I’m concerned…I’ll gladly look like a fool…but among these maids you’re so worried about, I’ll be honored no end.” The Message.

Praise God that Death is beaten, Praise God that He has rescued me, Praise God that both the cross and grave are empty and that Jesus Christ is ALIVE so jump up and down, shout out at the top of your lungs and sing Oh Happy day, happy day you washed my sin away….. Forever I am changed…. Enjoy being in the presence of God as you worship and do not worry about what the person beside you might think, this time is between YOU and GOD, although you may get some funny looks if you strip down to your underwear, I highly recommend that you don’t do that……