SING - a verb. dozens of scriptures telling us to sing!
Is it reasonable to say that God is giving us a ‘good idea’ when He tells us to sing? What about a strong ‘suggestion’? How about a ‘command’?
Psalm 32:1-11 v11 “Rejoice in the Lord and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!” We shouldn’t hear the word, command, and see it as being forced to do something any different than viewing a command to ‘love our neighbor’ as something unpleasant or negative. To be commanded by God to sing is just joyfully following His direction on anything that will enhance our lives and fulfill our Spirit. This is a GOOD thing! Like loving our wife or husband or children; it’s not a burden but an amazing privilege. Psalm 33:1-3 “Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.” In other words, it fits and simply makes sense for those of us who understand and believe that God, our Creator, made us, forgave us, took away our shame, made us righteous and upright, gave us hope and a future, so that our natural response would be to give Him thanks and praise! It is fitting. He even gives us a few specifics on how. “Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.” “Sing to him a new song.”
Why new? “Play skillfully.”
Why skillfully? I thought I could just be a ‘joyful noise’. “Shout for joy.” So you DO get to make some noise! Did you know that the act of singing does something to us physiologically? The act of singing releases endorphins, the brain's "feel good" chemicals.
Many of us are either insecure about singing or just don't even try since we think we don't sound like....... LETS GET PRACTICAL What does it feel like to sing at church/worship? Do you sing? Do you feel embarrassed when you try? How do you feel when you have a visitor at church with you during the times of worship and praise? Do you hold back out of insecurity and barely sing? I believe the act of singing is the soul’s deepest language of expression and love. And music is creations’ language of love and connectedness! Is it possible that having a conviction to sing and a commitment to growing in it is a BIG part of a disciple's journey toward maturity? It strengthens you emotionally! A big part of maturing is being stronger, emotionally. God created us to feel, deeply, passionately and intimately. And these emotions can be so strong and overwhelming, they can lead us into sin through lack of self control or into powerful passionate leadership and Godly influence in this horribly lost world! What would help you better connect with our God emotionally during our corporate times of worship? What distracts you from worshiping or hurts your ability to worship?
Please don’t leave it up to a worship leader to determine your times of worship. Engage more and make it a success.