“Never forget what Jesus did for you. Never take lightly what it cost Him. And never assume that if it cost Him His very life, that it won't also cost you yours.”
~Rich Mullins

May 26, 2010

Sing To The Lord

For those of you who have been reading my blog, I have posted way to much silly stuff on here and not nearly enough "good" stuff! So, here's what's been on my mind lately.....

I have been struck lately with how many times the Bible commands us to "sing." About a year ago, Iwas listening to a tribute to my favorite artist, Rich Mullins, and he made the comment that "the command to sing is the most repeated command in Scripture." Since then, whenver I am reading my Bible, I am really aware of this because at the time, I doubted the veracity of Mullins' statement. Well, what do you know - he was right!

Reading through the Psalms is where this is most evident. In most circumstances, the writer is singing out of a joyful heart, but there are also times when he sings even though his world is crashing in on him. Psalm 13 is a rather short psalm compared to some, but in it, David starts by showing that he is in anguish. His life is being threatened. He's in less than ideal circumstances. Things aren't good. But, even in the midst of all this, he says in the last verse, "I will sing to the Lord because He has dealt bountifully with me."

One incredibly striking example is in Acts 16 - the story of Paul and Silas in prison. Imagine it: These two men have just freed a young girl from an evil spirit. Instead of rejoicing for her, her masters see that her "money-making abilities" are gone, and, enraged at that, drag Paul and Silas to the authorities who strip and beat them. They are then thrown into prison where, despite being bloodied and bruised, the jailer locks them in the stocks. After he leaves, the two prisoners do the most extraordinary thing ...they start singing! And, they weren't just humming quietly to themselves. They were locked "in the inner prison," and they were singing loud enough that "the other prisoners were listening to them." What a testimony of faith! Here they are, they've been tortured and are locked in jail, and they're singing at the top of their lungs. Incredible!

I have found it to to be true in my own life that if I can sing, my attitude will change. Whatever is going on - if I'm sad, angry, afraid, discouraged, or even just tired, singing to the Lord really helps me get a new perspective. The Lord "inhabits the praises of His people." (Ps. 22:3) One of my favorites to sing is All For Jesus by Robin Mark. I love the part where it says, "All of my ambitions, hopes, and plans; I surrender these into Your hands." Our ambitions can range from merely wanting to go riding with some friends to big things like college, life goals, etc. If we can surrender ALL of our ambitions (big and small) to God, He will take care of them.

Oh - and just because I was curious, I counted and found out that "sing" appears 121 times in the Bible, and goes up to 209 in the New English version. It is also the most recorded command!.....just kidding, I googled it and found out. No way I could count that :)

So...how many times did I use the word "sing" in this post? (That includes sang, singing, sung, etc.)

I will hopefully be putting videos of all of us at our piano recital last weekend on here sometime soon.

Lisa

5 comments:

  1. That is so good Lisa! It's so true that we can get caught up in the silly stuff and miss the best stuff. I woke the other morning with Psalm 147 on my heart and began my quiet time with that passage. I also was struck with the fact that we are to sing our praises to the Lord! That Psalm is full of reasons why too. God is so good to give us a command and explain what we need to know too. Keep singing! I am reminded of the Hymn that goes: Singing I go along life's road, praising the Lord, praising the Lord!
    Mrs. G
    He is surely worthy of our praise!

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  2. Great post!
    I counted 16 "sing" words including the title. Is that right?

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  3. I got 15 the first time I counted! Guess I'll have to count again....!

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  4. I counted again and got 16! :) Mom also counted and got 16.Did you count the one in the title?

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