Undignified

    There is a song sung by Dunsin Oyekan entitled, “Undignified (Excuse Me).” The title in no way appears to be about worship, but it is. It is in fact a song about thanksgiving and giving crazy praise to God for what He has done. And, here is the reason why:
    Many battles, many struggles
    But God has been there for me
    Fighting for me, winning for me
    He has never lost a fight.
It can be so easy to focus on the battles and struggles and how numerous they are. However, the verse isn’t about the challenges, but about the fact that God has come through for the writer each time and has never lost. The reality is, many times we focus on the battles and as new ones appear, we feel defeated. We don’t feel very thankful. In fact, we may feel bitter and discouraged. Yet, the song writer, by inserting the word “but” after the first line, immediately shifts our focus to God, the One who fights for us and always wins! At the end of the day, it’s not about the battles we face but about the God who is not fazed or intimidated by those battles and who will help us overcome each time.
    I love the pre-chorus which says:
    The number of my scars
    Are the number of my victories
    That’s why my praise
    Can never be the same as yours
Once again, the writer shifts our focus from the negative to the positive. Yes, the scars are real and are a reminder of the pain endured but, they are also an even more poignant reminder of the victories that came out of them. What the enemy meant for evil to destroy us, God turned it around for good! On top of that, it’s also a reminder that the scars may be numerous but so are the victories! In short, there is absolutely no reason not to praise God. God is to be praised in spite of and because of the difficult times we go through. Instead of allowing the difficult times to be a reminder of pain, let them remind you instead of battles fought by God and won! Let them be a reminder in the present season of trial, that the God that won the battle for you before, will certainly also  win this present battle for you!
    We finally get to the chorus where we are introduced to that seemingly contradictory word, “undignified.” 
    Excuse me if I get undignified
    You don’t know 
    Like I know what He has done for me
The chorus brings to my mind the story of king David when he danced before the Lord with all his might (2 Samuel 6:14-22). David had finally managed to successfully return the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem after some setbacks. David and all of Israel are overjoyed at the return of God’s presence to them. There is a lot of shouting and trumpet blowing, not to mention dancing. Unfortunately, his wife Michal, king Saul’s daughter, is not pleased because of the way he chooses to express his joy and admonishes him for debasing himself. David defends himself by saying: “And I will be even more undignified than this, and will be humble in my own sight” (v.22a New King James Version) David did not care how he looked or what anyone said. He was happy to have the ark of the Lord back where it belonged and he was going to let the Lord, and everyone, know exactly how he felt!
    Like David, we need to be thankful and be willing to express it. God has been too good and too faithful to us. God has healed us, restored relationships, provided what we needed, protected us, and blessed us in numerous ways. God has been faithful and instead of focusing on the problem, let’s choose to remember all that He has done and is still doing for us. God does not get tired of helping us. He loves us too much. We should not become weary in giving thanks to Him whenever we can.
    If you have not accepted Jesus Christ into your life as your personal Lord and Saviour, I encourage you to do so today. God is good. In spite of all we have been through, God is good and continues to be good. Let’s be grateful to a God who works hard on our behalf and who never fails us.

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