The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: “He is good; his love endures forever.” Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud. 2 Chronicles 5:13
I’ve met some Christians who don’t like to sing, which has puzzled me greatly. Some even want to have gatherings where there is no singing. Yet, the Bible contains a good deal of singing. The longest book in the Bible, Psalms, is a songbook. When it was first put together many would have memorized it, because they sang it. I once thought this was remarkable until I considered that I probably know 150 songs by heart.
There is a major difference between singing songs and singing to the Lord. I hope Christians who don’t like to sing are those who think they are just singing songs.
In this verse, we have an example of singing to the Lord. As their songs of praise rose from the temple, God’s presence filled it. We experience God’s presence when we lift up his name with praise, music and song. This isn’t always consciously felt, but we know that God inhabits the praises of his people (Psalm 22:3 KJV).
Singing to the Lord, focuses our attention on God and changes our perspective. When we consider God’s love and his almightiness, our difficulties shrink, our complaints fade and our worries diminish. It’s a spiritual discipline to call to mind God’s attributes and to express them. It builds up our faith and honours the Lord.
We aren’t going to like every Christian song we sing, nevertheless, let’s use songs as vehicles to focus on the Lord.
