Do you like music? Do you like to dance? Does music move you in ways nothing else can? Does it bring about an emotional response? Does it lift you above the fray? Does it allow you to soar with the eagles, if only for a little while? Do you view music as worship?
Many of us like music. We like various genres of music. Some like hip-hop. Some like country. Some like rock-n-roll. Some like classical. Regardless of the music genre we like, it is almost guaranteed there are songs in that genre that bring about emotional responses.
Our worship music should also move us. We should have an emotional response. We should be lifted on wings like eagles as we sing praises to God. Personally, it is hard for me to sing Amazing Grace without getting choked up at some point in the song. But there are also contemporary Christian songs that evoke an emotional response in me.
The Psalmist tells the Israelites, and us, to make melody to praise God. He used the tambourine and lyre as examples in today’s passage but uses other instruments in the next Psalm. When we sing praises to God, he is happy with us. He sees into our hearts and sees that we are praising him out of love for him and in awe of him.
Notice what God does when we sing in the above manner. He grants victory. Why? Because we have humbled ourselves before him. We recognize his amazing awesomeness. We sing out of love for him and what he has done for us. Again, we have humbled ourselves before our awesome God and it pleases him.
I pray we all humble ourselves before God. I pray we sing joyous songs of praise to God. I pray each one of us sing out of our love for God, in awe of his awesome power, and for what he has done for us. Be humble. Be in awe of God. Sing God’s praises. Sing out of love. Sing in awe. Sing to honor and praise God.
Psalm 149:3-4
Let them praise his name with dancing,
making melody to him with tambourine and lyre.
For the Lord takes pleasure in his people;
he adorns the humble with victory.
Marty Pressey 