Rescue Me – David and Keith Lancaster

 

He felt his life was in danger. Does risk get any more personally menacing than that? It’s safe to assume that this hazard dogged David for a good portion of his life, both before and after he became king, so pinpointing just when he cried out “Rescue Me” is really an exercise in guesswork. (It might have been any of the multiple times he was fleeing from Saul, as shown here in this 17^th Century painting by Jusepe Leonardo). That this desperate, foxhole-like prayer was a psalm (17) suggests that it became widely known, and that is one assumption we see underscored by a 21^st Century composer named Keith Lancaster. His musical rendition of David’s cry is intense, unlike probably any other psalm that you or I have sung. So, when he echoes the words of the song title, you best be prepared. It calls upon the worshipper to put him- or herself in the most unfamiliar place – calling for vengeance from God upon a fellow human being. It might make you wonder, ‘Is this worship that God will accept? How could this be one of my fragrant sacrifices (see the book of Exodus, for example) to Him in song?’

 

Perhaps Keith was emboldened to write ‘Rescue Me’ for a couple of reasons, though there’s not any record of what he was thinking about when he wrote it (perhaps he might share that, if he reads this!). Keith was one of the large team of people involved with something called the Timeless project, as the first decade of the 21^st Century neared its conclusion. This group is still at work (as of 2023) to bring new life to all of the Psalms, so skipping any of them is objectively a departure from their purpose. Just how Keith drew, or gave himself, the Psalm 17 assignment would be an interesting question for him! That it is one of the psalms may have been reason enough for Keith to tackle Psalm 17, to ‘pounce’ on it with vigor, as David might have said regarding his enemies’ pursuit of him, with similar words in this prayer (like verses 11-12 in the psalm). It certainly seems to break some new ground, musically attacking the words of the psalm – like ‘…bring them down’ (chorus). It could be relevant for anyone who feels like David did at the time. Just think of how Dietrich Bonhoeffer might have felt in Nazi Germany in the 1940s, or today imagine how you might react in worship if you are Ukrainian. Did Keith have some circumstance like that, maybe one on a smaller scale even, on his mind? Among the vindictive psalms (otherwise called imprecatory or cursing psalms), Psalm 17 is in fact tamer in light of some of the others. Try on Psalm 58, which is more bitter and has virtually no words to praise God, and is still more startling in that some of the superscriptions in its title provide firmer evidence, compared to Psalm 17, that it was sung corporately (words like ‘for the director of music’, ‘to the tune…’, and a potential musical term ‘miktam’). Could it be that David, like others before himself, had concluded that it did no good to try hiding his feelings, vicious and raw as they may be, from God?

 

Some authors have called Psalm 17 and others like it ‘problem’ Psalms, because of their malicious tone.  How am I to square singing Keith’s ‘Rescue Me’ with good Christianity and ‘loving my enemies’? Answer that with another question, perhaps. Did God punish Job further for his spleen-venting tirade? One author, Philip Yancey, suggests that Christians can use these psalms (you might in fact call them pslams, as you demand that God slam someone to relieve your distress) to good effect.  Yancey reminds us that God demands authenticity in our relationship with Him. So, bring Him these spiteful feelings, lay them at His feet, and ask Him to mete out justice and righteousness on His own schedule. And, there are plenty of verses in the New Testament also, in which the Savior Himself or someone else brings strong imprecatory language to bear on people (see John 2:13-17 >> Ps. 69:9 and Acts 1:20 >> Ps. 69:25 and 109:8) for their wrongdoing. You and I need be only as real with our Creator as our forefathers and our Lord were, so don’t think you’ve improved upon the human model with your reticence and apparent tolerance of wicked enemies. God’s not impressed with your attempt, and He really knows that deep inside you feel differently, OK? Is unsuppressed anger toward others eating at your gut? Try giving that to the One who made you, and see if His remedy doesn’t help you.

 

Read here about the Timeless project, which includes the song that Keith Lancaster wrote for the Praise and Harmony group to sing as part of that project: https://timelesspsalter.com/pages/about

 

Source of the picture of David fleeing from Saul: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Jusepe_Leonardo_001.jpeg  

Public Domain status of picture: {{PD-US-expired}}

 

See also Philip Yancey book The Bible Jesus Read, and chapter 4 (Psalms: Spirituality in Every Key), pages 133-39, Zondervan Publishing House, 1999.

Hide Me Away, O Lord -- Keith Lancaster

 

Part of him may feel like he’s in a protected space, but another part must feel that what he wants more than anything is to reveal the most crucial part of himself to others who would listen. Those two polar perspectives both seem to characterize Keith Lancaster’s musical personality when he says “Hide Me Away, O Lord”. It’s a song that Keith wrote in the mid-1990s, probably at least in part when he was at home in Cullman, Alabama (see map-picture), a place from where he launches multiple efforts to spread the musical message of God. So, just how hidden does Lancaster really want to be? He founded something called Acappella Ministries that has spawned the various facets of Keith’s vision as a ‘musicianary’, so he’s far from an obscure figure. And yet, the words he wrote and the ways in which he carries out the life’s calling in which he finds himself suggest that Keith has focused himself into a specific space that he feels his Creator has carved out for him.

 

And so, Keith Lancaster has been part of a mission for Godly music since his mid-20s and the year 1982, when Acappella Ministries was launched. Someone might say that Keith has sought his Creator’s protection – a hidden space – from that point forward. Can you hear Keith responding that he has been more blessed there as compared to any other place he could have been? One can imagine that Keith must have taken to heart ancient songwriting about finding safety ‘in the shadow of your wings’ (v.1), a key theme in ‘Hide Me Away…’. Was he, in fact, reading several Psalms at the moment he penned those song-title and verse one words (like Psalm 17:8; 36:7; 57:1; and 63:7)? If Keith took note of that songwriter’s feelings, he would have noted that David experienced a special place in God’s eyesight, and found His love and ‘refuge’ there. Did Keith find a special kinship with his songwriting ancestor as he echoed David’s exultation that he could ‘…sing in the shadow of your wings’ (Ps. 63:7)? Keith’s poetry indicates he also asked for his Lord’s peace (v.2) in his endeavors, certain that there would probably be ‘the day of trouble’ on occasion (v.2). There’s no hint of anxiety in Keith Lancaster by verse three of his ode, in which he declares he’s ‘safe in your (the Lord’s) dwelling place’. It’s almost as if Keith is saying something about the shelter he’s found for himself in the verses he wrote; and yet, by writing the words for others to sing, he’s inviting countless others to join him in that place. ‘Many mansions’ (John 14:2) may be what Keith and the rest of us believers wait for with such great expectation, right? It’s great to find security in His home, but the sense of gratitude is magnified when multitudes can come along.

 

From what you can see on one of Acappella’s sites, Keith’s family is likewise deeply involved in the musical place where he has been active for the last several decades. At least one daughter and one son are involved in worship ministry alongside their dad. His wife, Sharon, is also part of the venture – something that makes this couple refer to both of themselves as musicianaries, particularly when they’ve traveled to conduct workshops or other singing ventures for Praise and Harmony, one of the offshoots of the Acappella Ministries. Keith’s family is a living example of those who’ve been ‘hidden away’ – they’re ‘beneath His wings’, but not because of faint-heartedness. It’s just a place where they’ve found a certain strength that cannot be found elsewhere. Have you found a better hiding place today?               

 

See this site for information on the author: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Lancaster

See some information on the author’s musical ventures here: https://acappella.org/worship-leader-institute/

Covenant of Love -- Keith Lancaster

Anybody who calls himself a “musicianary” is really serious about his role in music in the Creator’s world. That much can be said about Keith Lancaster, a guy who’s in touch with the “Covenant of Love” that he feels compelled to proclaim through the gift of music he teaches to others. It was around 1996, and whether Keith was in Cullman, Alabama (see the map-picture here) – where he lives currently – or somewhere else is not clear. Did he actually conceive the song while there, or was it during one of his many ventures on the road to teach acapella music? Cullman is just a point of contact for Keith and what he does, really, as his biography makes clear. He has what he calls ‘…the greatest instrument of music ever created’. He’s not boasting, but instead recognizing Him who gave and still guides Keith in what he does. He – God -- is the keeper of the covenant.

Keith Lancaster’s life has multiple facets that all lead back to the music and the God who has given him this role as a ‘musicianary’.  @Musicianary is how you can reach him, the culmination of what began even before 1982 when 25-year old Keith established the Acapella Ministries. It was an outgrowth of the singing group ACAPELLA that Keith and three friends started in Tennessee, and which has spawned several other groups – Acapella Vocal Band (AVB), Vocal Union, The Lancasters, and Durant. So, in 1996 during the midst of this burgeoning music ministry, Keith wrote about the covenant embedded inside a Divine love that he was experiencing and communicating in all his travels. What had become crystal clear to the middle-aged Keith, some 14 years after he began to form his vision for his life’s work, was that God was still at work to ‘keep His covenant of love’, a refrain he has us sing to remind us that God’s still active in each of us. What precise circumstances motivated Keith to write ‘Covenant…’ is not clear from any of his online information. Yet, just read a bit, and you surmise that he must feel his cup overflowing, and that when he and his wife Sharon (his co-musicianary) travel to conduct Praise and Harmony workshops, Worship Leader Institute gatherings, or “Singing at Sea” cruise vacations, they are conduits of a special bond with God. It’s not surprising that they’ve been to all 50 states of the U. S., as well as provided training for worship leaders from other nations through the worship institute they facilitate.

Do you suppose that the Lancasters feel just an obligation to travel and do what they do to make better singers among those they meet? It’s much more than that, wouldn’t you say? They must feel that God’s mission in their lives is something in which they’ve become emotionally and spiritually invested – God’s purpose is theirs too. A life spent joining voices together in a common adoration is a pretty special thing. In fact, it’s probably pretty hard or nearly impossible to adequately describe it; it has to be experienced. And, once you have that sense of exhilaration wash over you, you keep coming back for more. That would certainly explain what has been going on with Acapella and its offspring since 1982. The Lancasters didn’t invent this, but they’re doing their part to underscore the phenomenon…and its real origin. It’s all Him.

See this site for author/composer’s story: http://www.keithlancaster.com/

Also see here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_Lancaster