Sharing Scripture — March 23, 2024

If you’ve ever driven a group of kids on any road trip—your family, church youth group, school class, or club— you’ve more than likely been subjected to “The Song That Doesn’t End”:

This is the song that doesn’t end
Yes, it goes on and on, my friend
Some people started singing it not knowing what it was,
And they′ll continue singing it forever just because….
(Repeat about 1000 times)

We can thank children’s entertainer and puppeteer Shari Lewis for that happy little earworm. Bernard Rothman, Lewis’ producer, wrote the song, and she popularized it in her 1988 Lamb Chop’s Sing-Along album and video.

Of course, kids being kids, there are some variations to the lyrics that have developed through the years— “This is the song that killed my friends” is one of the more popular iterations. Somewhere along the line, someone came up with the idea to sing “doesn’t end doesn’t end doesn’t end” like a record skipping (remember vinyl records?) as a way to end the song.

When Lewis developed the PBS show Lamb Chop’s Play-Along, she used the song as the closing theme. She would attempt to end the song while the kids and puppets powered ahead with it. Once she shoed them all off the stage, the puppet Charlie Horse jumped back in to restart the song. Shari covered his mouth, ordering him to “go away.” Then while she told him “And don’t slam the…” he slammed the door on his way out.

Even the most innocent and joyful things in this life can become irritating when we’re overdosed on them. That’s why we have a challenge grasping that there are things in eternity that we’ll never tire of. In fact, Revelation 4:8 describes a group of heavenly creatures who continually repeat the refrain “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.” As lovely and true as that statement is, if someone did that here on Earth, we’d have them committed. And yet, in heaven we never tire of that constant chorus.

The psalmists describe worship that never ends. As much as we can enjoy our worship experiences with God’s people every Sabbath, we eventually must return to our homes and get on with everyday life. We can, however, carry an attitude of worship with us no matter what we’re doing. That’s why the psalmist can truly say “I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live” (Psalm 104:33). Every aspect of human life can be an act of worship when God is foremost in our thoughts.

And someday in the kingdom, we may be privileged to continually sing a song of praise that doesn’t end.

Sharing: Psalm 134 instructs us to “Lift up your hands in the sanctuary and praise the Lord.” Doesn’t that encourage irreverence during the worship service?

1. No—we can lift up our hands reverently
2. Well, yes—Isaiah, Daniel, and John the Revelator all bowed low in the presence of heavenly beings, and we should also when we come into God’s presence
3. It’s biblical, so how can it be irreverent?
4. The danger is in what it can lead to—swaying, clapping, etc.
5. Our worship expressions are as varied as our different human personalities. We shouldn’t judge or restrict how others may choose to worship, even if those practices differ from what we are personally comfortable with
6. Other:

Applying: Sabbath is sometimes described as a taste of heaven on Earth. Do you ever see anything happening in your corporate worship that hinders that taste of heaven? How can you, as a group, help others in your congregation have the best Sabbath experience possible?

~ Chuck Burkeen

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