God Sings

¹⁷ The LORD your God is with you,
the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you;
in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
but will rejoice over you with singing.” -Zephaniah 3:17

Can you imagine church without singing?  Music is the primary vehicle for our worship.  The music and lyrics combine to speak thoughts to God that mere words can't.  It reaches into our souls in order to articulate our emotions.

When trying to bring some order to my prayer life, I will occasionally try the ACTS way of praying:  A-Adoration, C-Confession, T-Thanksgiving, and S-Supplication.  It's really a good format, but I always have trouble with the adoration part.  It's not that I don't feel that adoration... it's just so hard to put into words.  There are only so many ways I can think of to tell God he is awesome.  So now, whenever I use that format, I start our with a song of praise such as "Shout to the Lord."  It says how I feel without using the word "awesome" over and over again.

Music is used to covey so many different feelings that are hard to put into words:  love, jealousy, fear, grief, joy... you name it.  The songs that become our favorites are those that seem to reach down into our souls and explain exactly what we are feeling.  Any woman who has ever been a teenage girl can attest to the power that songs of unrequited love had on her life back then. 

Yes, music is powerful.  No wonder we use it to praise the All-Powerful One.  It is the only language we have that can even begin to communicate our praise and worship.

Now... can you imagine God singing over us?  This verse from Zephaniah says "He will rejoice over you with singing."  Wow.  God singing.  For me.  As I write this, I hear a songbird outside my window... is it God singing to me?  I am reminded of sitting on a quiet beach hearing the surf pound into the shore... God again?  And what about the storm last week... the continuous rumble of thunder and the loud strikes of lightening... hardly calming, but so powerful and awe-inspiring that God's voice must have been in it.

God rejoices over us with singing every single day.  We just need to pause in our busyness to hear Him.

Lord God,
Sing to my heart today.  Sing that my life may become your song.  Amen.

Joys:  Watching Cecelia kneel at the altar with Pastor Chad; that Cecelia's mother is so generous in allowing us time with our granddaughter; those with a passion for their ministries