My mom loved music. She could not sing very well, which she freely admitted. But she listened to music every morning. One of my childhood memories is waking up and walking into the kitchen to eat breakfast with music playing. Sometimes it was the radio, but then we got her a stereo which played cassettes and eventually we bought her a CD player. She listened to old country like Pasty Cline and Hank Williams, Sr. and Gene Autry. She listened to new country like Alabama and Kenny Rogers. But she also liked Elvis Presley and Frank Sinatra and the group called the “Rat Pack” with Sammy Davis, Jr. and Dean Martin. She liked Charley Pride and Ronnie Milsap.
SING FOR JOY (Psalm 95):
When you are happy, express your praise, sometimes in song. In James 5:13, the brother of Jesus wrote to Christians saying, “Is anyone cheerful? He is to sing praises.” The word translated “praises” here is from the word family that gives us the name for the book of “Psalms.” It was used in the passage from Romans 15:9. It is also used in 1 Corinthians 14:15 where Paul says that we need to sing with the spirit and with the mind also. And, in Ephesians 5:19, Paul says we need to speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making melody (singing psalms) with our hearts to the Lord.”
Sing when you are happy – “If the skies above you are gray and you are filling so blue, if your cares and burden seem great, all the whole day through – there’s a silver lining that shines in the heavenly land. Look by faith and see it, my friend. Trust in His promises grand. Sing and you’ll be happy today.”
Back to Psalm 95… This specific word for “to sing” (the Hebrew word) is used 54 times in the OT. Literally half of those are in the book of Psalms.
The psalmist uses a synonym, a parallel idea, when he writes: “shout joyfully.” This verb is found 43 times in the OT, a dozen times in Psalms.
THE LORD, THE ROCK OF OUR SALVATION:
Why should you praise God more, in order to have the “good” life? Because you are reminded that God is the rock of our salvation. He is trustworthy; He is dependable. He will always be consistent with His nature and His word.
One of the oldest metaphors used for God is “Rock” and it is found in what I believe is the second song recorded in the Bible: Deuteronomy 32. The first song was when Israel crossed the Red Sea and Moses led the nation in praise to Jehovah God, the Warrior: Exodus 15. Here in Deuteronomy 32, God is called the “Rock” in verses 30-31. In the song that is the Psalm 18 which was written by David, in 18:2, he writes or “sings:” “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge; my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.” Why should we praise God more in order to enjoy the “good” life? Because it reminds us of the nature of the God whom we serve.
Several years ago, Rachel and I decided to pull up the carpet in our basement and lay down laminate flooring. Now, I am not a real “do-it-yourself” kind of guy. But, with Google, I pulled it off. Early when we started the work, Rachel was helping me one time and she was swinging the hammer, pounding one slat of laminate into another and I had my hand too close to the mallet and she smashed my hand pretty hard. It broke the skin and my hand started bleeding. Rachel was very upset and I was a little upset. Then I put on some Alabama music and we listen to Alabama all the time and they have a lot of great love songs and that reminded me that I love Rachel and I could not replace her and it helped me to be more patient with her.
Praise God more because it reminds you of Who God really is. It is easy to forget and we can’t allow our society to define the nature of God for us. Sing songs, praise God in song in words and ideas that are consistent with biblical teaching.
Paul Holland
