Sing
Who me?
Yes, you!
Sing unto the Lord
“O sing unto the Lord a new song:
sing unto the Lord, all the earth.
Sing unto the Lord, bless his name;
shew forth his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the heathen,
his wonders among all people.
For the Lord is great, and greatly to be praised:
he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the nations are idols:
but the Lord made the heavens.
Honour and majesty are before him:
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Give unto the Lord,
O ye kindreds of the people,
give unto the Lord glory and strength.
Give unto the Lord the glory due unto his name:
bring an offering, and come into his courts.
O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness:
fear before him, all the earth.
Say among the heathen that the Lord reigneth:
the world also shall be established that it shall not be moved:
he shall judge the people righteously.” Psalm 96:1-10
Singing from your heart is beautiful to the Lord
Honoring Him in song
Glorifying His name from the depths of your being
by humbling yourself,
by singing praise to Him
Even the heavens and the earth,
and the sea and their fulness
the fields and all that is in them,
the trees of the forests,
not to mention the stones,
all of these exalt the Lord
“Let the heavens rejoice,
and let the earth be glad;
let the sea roar, and the fulness thereof.
Let the field be joyful,
and all that is therein:
then shall all the trees of the wood rejoice
Before the Lord: for he cometh,
for he cometh to judge the earth:
he shall judge the world with righteousness,
and the people with his truth.” Psalm 96:11-13
“When he came near the place
where the road goes down the Mount of Olives,
the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God
in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
“Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus,
“Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
“I tell you,” he replied,
“if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”” Luke 19:37-40
God looks on the heart
He sees your intent
So, sing
Even if you’re not a singer
Even if you can’t hold a tune
Cast down that pride and sing!
Let it out!
Let the song of your heart be evident
If you’ll notice, the above scripture didn’t say the disciples sang,
it said they praised
So praise if you are singing
And glorify the Lord
Sometimes praise music can help
if you’re not comfortable yet with singing to the Lord
David was an harp player and when He played for Saul,
the evil spirit that vexed him was quieted
Singing or even listening to praise music can calm our souls,
and helps us to focus on Jesus who does all things well
When we are in despair,
When we need a touch from God,
When we are broken,
When we are tired,
When we think we can’t make it through another day, or even an hour,
Singing to Jesus can help
Jesus said during the sermon on the Mount
To rejoice and leap for joy when you are persecuted
Have you ever tried that, literally?
It helps you forget yourself
and realize that it is indeed Jesus they hate
The act of praising and rejoicing that your name is written in heaven
can remind you that the things this world values
along with their blindness is not worthy of our Lord
and is only a temporal home for us
Try it during the hardest moments
even if you can’t sing yourself,
listen to others
We are exhorted to fellowship in Jesus’ sufferings.
Embrace and join in?
How can that be?
“That I may know him,
and the power of his resurrection,
and the fellowship of his sufferings,
being made conformable unto his death“
Philippians 3:10
There are many reasons Jesus allows us to suffer,
I’ll touch on a few:
To purify us, consecrate us unto His service (Ezekiel 43:26)
To humble us (Romans 8:17)
To remind us He is our source (1 Corinthians 8:6)
To remind us that He is God
and able to work all things together for good (Romans 8:28)
To help us to learn contentment (Philippians 4:11)
That our joy is not in or dependent on anything in this world
I suspect sufferings in Christ is a prompt for another writing
When you are overwhelmed,
look to Jesus the Rock, (Psalm 61:2)
even when you don’t understand
Here are two songs that I go to when I’m in the depths of despair,
when I can’t get a peep out.
When the groanings and sighs are too deep for words, (Romans 8:26)
when I literally cannot speak because I am so broken
and I cannot get any words out.
When listening to each one, in the right attitude of prayer,
whether you’re happy or sad,
you will find yourself at the throne of God: