Re:Verse passage – Psalm 98 (day two) O sing to the Lord a new song,
For He has done wonderful things, v. 1a
Sing. That’s it, that’s the blog. Sing.
Ok, maybe just a few more words. We have recently ended a study in Paul’s letter to the Ephesians where he declares that we ought to speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. He restates the same sentiment to his letter to the Colossians. We are a singing church, and I am grateful for that, but you would be amazed at how often people tell me they ‘can’t sing.’ Let me categorically respond to every one of those people here and now: malarkey . Utter nonsense. To say that you can’t sing is to declare that God made a mistake when he made you. To say that you can’t sing is to say the scriptures that command, not suggest, that everything with life and breath should sing and praise the Lord does not apply to you.
Does that come off as harsh? Good. You can sing. Period. You may not sing as well as some in the worship ministry, but who cares? That does not disqualify you from the command of scripture. Our performative culture has given us the impression that there are those who can, and those who can’t. That is not the truth of scripture. You can sing to God as he has given you voice. I may never give you a solo, but I want you to worship with a full-throated joy which declares the Lord is good and true.
Why is this so important? I could be flippant and say because God says so, and that would be sufficient. Look back at the verse again. We sing because he has done wonderful things. We need to declare that to a world devoid of God’s hope. We need to remind ourselves that he has, indeed, done wonderful things in our lives. We need to return thanks to the Lord in a way that pleases him. Trust me, there are harder assignments that will be given to you. Singing isn’t one of them. Don’t wait for Sunday, sing your praise today!