There have been many a day where I had been told that I couldnít do something and that if I tried I would be a laughing stock and people would look at me in strange ways. I realize that I am not a singer, nor am I talented like many other people, why I canít even play cards let alone an instrument, so for me to sing would definatly be a mistake. I always told people that my bucket has a hole in it and that my tunes hit the ground and die. I canít keep a beat, follow rhythm, let alone clap to the music, my dancing days are over; I used to be a powerful dancer in my days, but age has come into play and it just isnít in the play book anymore.
But when I read the scriptures I see where God calls on us to sing and not concern ourselves of the people and what they think. Letís look at it in light of the Bible:
Psalm 95:1
O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
Let us shout joyfully to the rock of our
Salvation.
Psalm 96:1
Sing to the Lord a new song;
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.
2 Sing to the Lord, bless His Name;
Proclaim good tidings of His
Salvation from day to day.
Many a time I have had a song in my heart and mind, but I have been told over and over again that I donít know how to sing, I KNOW THAT ALREADY!!!!!! So, when the enemy and his minions tell me that I can not sing, or that I should not attempt to sing, I SING!!!!! I sing to the Lord God Almighty, the One who called me into His service, and as long as I know that He is pleased and that my songs are sweet to His ears I will sing.
I WILL SING OF THE MERCIES OF THE LORD FOREVER,
I WILL SING.
I WILL SING.
I WILL SING OF THE MERCIES OF THE LORD FOREVER,
I WILL SING,
OF THE MERCIES OF THE LORD.
I WILL SING.
I WILL SING.
I WILL SING OF THE MERCIES OF THE LORD FOREVER,
I WILL SING,
OF THE MERCIES OF THE LORD.
My wife and I have always said that if a church wants to keep† the people they have donít ask me to sing. When we first began dating I would attempt to lullaby my wife with old 60ís type love songs, she would always snicker and sometimes break out in hilarious laughter, and when I asked her about it she would honestly tell me that I donít know how to sing. Bluntly honest I might add. However, I did not let that curtail my singing to the Lord.
When I first got saved the Pastor who led me to the Lord gave me an old hymnal that I could take home and learn some songs. I would sit at my desk in the loneness of my home at night and I would sing out loud, whether I knew to song or didnít, the beat, the tune any of that, it just didnít matter, I sang. You see, I am not out to please any man or woman, I am out there to Please Him who called me into His service. An audience of one.
One day I was listening to a preacher preach and he made the statement that clarified it all for me. He said: ìIf the devil tells you, that you canít sing, sing anyway, it makes him flee.î I learned that the opportunity to sing to the Lord is of the heart, and not of the voice box, the mind or the mouth, but what comes out of the heart that matters. When you sing to Him from your whole heart He is pleased.
I can safely say that it is not all that pleasing to the Lord if all we do is routine songs, played over and over again. He instructs us to SING UNTO HIM A NEW SONG. Singing from memory, or singing along with a CD or tape is not what God has in mind. When we do that we are not with a whole heart, we are just following a routine. God calls for JOYOUS SINGING, play the harps, sound the shofar, strum the lyres, dance with energy, exalt His Name forever.
When our songs are mundane and sad we are in a sense saying that God is not able to deliver us; maybe we could all learn from the Hebrew peoples and their songs. How they rejoice and show that they believe that the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is still the God over us and He still reigns in us.
PRAY THIS PRAYER
Father, I ask You to give my heart a New Song,
And the desire to sing to You with a new song.
Grant me the boldness to sing even when I am
Told I canít, Help me to be a pleasing singer
To Your ears.
I ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ
AMEN.
Pastor Larry Pinkerton