-Are You Singing?

Are You Singing?

“David … the sweet psalmist of Israel.” —  2  Samuel  23:1  NKJV

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David had the ability to write songs and to sing. His songs were “sweet.” When he played his harp, it soothed Saul’s troubled spirit. When we read his psalms (or songs) our hearts are refreshed and we are brought into close communion with the Lord. His songs must have touched the hearts of those who heard them.

David was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). This meant that he was always loyal to the Lord and was never tempted to serve other gods as most of the other kings of Israel and Judah did. While David made mistakes, he always loved the Lord with all his heart, soul and mind (Mt. 22:37). His love for the Lord made him happy and his songs reflected it. The Lord must have really enjoyed hearing David sing, and I am sure that the Lord enjoys hearing us sing as well.

Did you know there will be singing in heaven? Revelation 5:9 says, “They sang a new song, saying: ‘You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; For You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation.’” In spite of what some of our hymns say, we are told that angels don’t sing because they were not redeemed from the slave market of sin. But we who are saved have reason to sing that they do not have.

If we are happy, James says we are to sing Psalms (Jas. 5:13). And Paul tells us that if we are filled with the Spirit and if the Word of God is dwelling in us richly, we will make melody in our hearts to the Lord (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16). Our singing will be from the heart and while others may enjoy it, the real key is that we enjoy it. Why is it easier to use our tongues to complain, gossip and slander others when instead we should be singing about the fact that we are the redeemed by the Lord? The mountains and hills will be singing in a future day (Isa. 55:12). Even if this prophecy is allegorical, singing is shown to be the natural and spontaneous response of those who are overwhelmed with the awesomeness of God. Because singing out loud seems so unnatural to many in our culture, be warned that if you break forth into song people will probably think you’ve “lost it.”

Today we put headphones on and people sing to us, and often it moves us. But do we ourselves sing? I remember a man who worked in a lumber store many years ago. He was poor and in constant pain, in need of hip surgery. He had every reason to be unhappy. One day, I stopped in to see him and found him at the back of the store working. He didn’t see me come in. As I approached, I realized that he was singing. There was no audience, other than the Lord. But he was happy in the Lord and he was showing it. I think the Lord was impressed. I know I was.

One of the best ways to attract others to the Lord is to be truly happy with Him. Surely, in these difficult days we would like to have others find out what it means to be saved or born again. We would like to see them flee from the coming wrath. And we would like to see them turn from sin, from self, from worldliness and from false gods, and turn to the the living and true God. We would like them to be saved because we know that eternity is long and time is short. Perhaps if there were more heartfelt singing, there would be more people attracted to the Savior we love. We don’t just need choirs performing for an audience, we also need simple people who can’t help but sing because they are enjoying the Lord.

By Bruce Collins

With permission to publish by: Sam Hadley, Grace & Truth, 210 Chestnut St., Danville, IL., USA. Website: www.gtpress.org

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