Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises. For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise. Psalm 47:6-7
Five times in two verses we are told to sing. According to singer and songwriter, Keith Getty, the command to sing appears over 400 times in Scripture. It’s clear that God wants his people to sing to him. Yet often we fail to realise that praising God benefits us.
When we sing praises we focus our attention on God and forget about other issues. Hymns and spiritual songs remind us of God’s attributes, they recall what God has done for us and give us hope for the future. By getting our mind off ourselves and onto God gives us a better perspective of our life. We remember God is the king and nothing happens outside his Sovereignty. Songs can build our faith and be a great encouragement.
Elsewhere in Psalms, we’re told to make a joyful noise and it really doesn’t matter to God whether we’re in tune or not! We can get so fixated about the quality of the music we forget its purpose is to help us focus on God.
Sometimes we may come to a time of singing during a church service and feel completely unable to join in because we are overwhelmed with our own issues. However, as we listen to the worship leader and those around us singing praises to God we can allow the words and music to sink into our hearts so that it inspires us to join in. Our spirits are then lifted as we participate in praising God.
Let’s make the most of every opportunity to corporately and individually worship God by choosing to deliberately engage in singing his praises.
