May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. Romans 15:13
I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High. -Psalm 9:2
During the time we were cloistered in our homes due to COVID, the goldfinches and house finches kept us company, outside our window. I heard them sing every morning. They had no idea our world had turned upside down.
I'm thankful for those little birds and their songs. They taught me to keep singing.
My daughter painted this beautiful picture of the goldfinch, and it's a wonderful reminder to me to rejoice and be glad.
Come, let us sing joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock
of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song.
Raise a hallelujah!
In the fall
of 1975, I joined several other 18 and 19 year-olds on the campus of Kentucky
Christian College. Fresh out of high school, we prepared to join the ranks of
freshmen in higher education. I knew a few of my fellow classmates and met a
slew of new friends. We gathered at least twice a week for campus worship,
where we heard preaching and raised our voices together in praise. One song touched
our class more than any other, It is Well
With my Soul. To this day it's my all-time favorite hymn.
Fast forward
40 years—several from our class gathered for a reunion. What a joy to
meet with these longtime friends. We ate and chatted, then had a time of
worship. And guess which song we all wanted to sing. It is Well, because even after all these years, we know whatever life
brings, our souls rest in the Lord.
The words of
the hymn may seem old fashioned, but they translate into peace, hope, and joy
for our troubled souls today. With all the grief, frustration, discontent,
doubt, and temptation, God is still watching out for us. Jesus still offers
grace and salvation. The Holy Spirit still lives and breathes in the souls of Jesus'
followers.
When I feel
down, I plug into music that praises the Lord, and then I sing like nobody's
listening. I'm thankful for the music written to praise the Lord, whether a
psalm, a hymn, or a contemporary piece. Thank you, Lord for musicians.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.
Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
Let everything that has breath praise
the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
The other day, two of my granddaughters rode in
the Jeep with me. From the back seat, I heard Ella Cate's sweet four-year-old
voice. "Grammy Penny, can we listen to music. You know that's what I like
to do in the car, is listen to music." I turned on the radio as we drove a
short distance to a restaurant. When the song that played ended, she requested
a song we both love called "My Lighthouse." We didn't have time to
plug that one in, but we'd sung it together before. I promised the next time
she's in the Jeep we'd play her favorite. What a joy to know that my grandchildren
enjoy music, especially when the songs praise God.
Exposing children to positive, uplifting music
gives them another tool to help them navigate this crazy world.
In Psalm 150, the author encourages us to praise
God with everything from a tambourine to cymbals. In Hebrew the term "Hallelujah"
means praise the Lord. When life goes great—praise the Lord, when life stinks—praise
the Lord. Sing hallelujah to the author of life, the Savior of souls, the One
who gives grace. No matter what life throws at us, we can find comfort in the
music that praises God. Maybe a psalm, traditional hymn, or
contemporary chorus. God has gifted some with the ability to write, sing and
perform music. He's gifted all believers to take those songs and lift them to
him as offerings of praise.
Song of Solomon 2:12
Flowers appear on the earth;
the season of singing has come,
the cooing of doves
is heard in our land.
In the summer, I enjoy the tiger lilies that
spring up in the ditches. Often accompanied by Queen Anne's Lace, and chicory,
they dance in the breeze and nod as I drive by. The vibrant orange trumpets
shoot from the slender green stems as if they want to sing. And why not sing?
God created such an amazing world filled with
incredible colors, shapes, and textures. Sing for the joy of summer. Sing for the
beauty of the earth. Sing for Jesus love. Sing to praise the Lord!
