Sing for joy!

Let the faithful rejoice that he honors them. Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds. Let the praise of God be in their mouths, and a sharp sword in their hands -- to execute vengeance on the nations and punishment on the peoples, to bind their kings with shackles and their leaders with iron chains, to execute judgment written against them. This is the glorious privilege of  his faithful ones. Praise the Lord! Psalm 149: 5-9 NLT

What do you do to fall asleep? Count sheep? Go over the day (this is not something I recommend unless you are also giving it over to God -- too much undone stuff to keep you awake)? Daydream? Pray?

How about sing for joy?

I don’t mean literally lie in bed and sing which is actually a very difficult thing to do unless you have great lungs. Plus, you may keep others in your household awake.

What I am talking about is just be happy about all God has done for you and all of creation. Think of all the good stuff God does for you on a daily basis. Perhaps there are particular God moments in the past day or week that you can focus on. Maybe a scripture comes to mind -- something of joy, hope or promise. Be joyful because of God, not because of yourself.

I challenge you to sing for joy as you lie in your bed tonight!

Let the faithful rejoice that he honors them. Let them sing for joy as they lie on their beds. Let the praise of God be in their mouths. Praise the Lord! Amen.

Copyright 2013 Amelia G. Sims

God delights in you

O Israel, rejoice in your Maker. O people of Jerusalem, exult in your King. Praise his name with dancing, accompanied by tambourine and harp. For the Lord delights in his people; he crowns the humble with victory. Psalm 149: 2-4 NLT

How does God delight in you?

Most of the time I think God just looks at me and shakes God’s head. Or holds God’s head like God can’t believe I just did that or didn’t do something else. The word delight is most often replaced with disappointed. 

So, does God delight in me?

The psalmist says that God does delight in God’s people. God likes it when we honor our leaders, praise God’s name, and have some partying and dancing in God’s honor. Music to praise God by is also a good thing. God’s delight means that God crowns the humble with victory. 

I suppose I am not so humble. And when have I really had a party for God, in God’s honor? I am also more likely to criticize our leaders (whether religious or political) than get excited about them.

God must delight in me. But only because God loves me. 

Now to go plan a party. Just for God.

God, we rejoice in your presence. You delight in us far more often than we delight in you. Forgive us. Help us to rejoice and delight in you. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Copyright 2013 Amelia G. Sims

Sing to the Lord a new song

Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song. Sing his praises in the assembly of the faithful. Psalm 149: 1 NLT

Sing to the Lord a new song.

How I wish church folk would take that to heart! How often do churches sing the same songs over and over? I have heard of a church that simply changes the sermon title and scripture each week on the bulletin. They sing the same songs -- probably because their pianist is about 90 years old and those are the ones she knows.

Even in my church, folks are not very enthusiastic about singing something new. They might belt out the oldies but are not so great with new ones. 

The psalmist says we must sing new songs to God. I like thinking of singing music as true praise -- for me it means my mind is focused on lifting my voice to God. Sure, sometimes I focus on the tune I carry or the tune the person next to me is not carrying. But I am mostly just concentrating on singing to God. 

That is what praise is all about: focusing on God. 

Sometime today, turn on a praise song and just belt out the words in praise to God. Make a joyful noise to our creator! And, next time you are in worship, give such enthusiasm to God while singing there as well. 

We praise you with a new song, God! Amen.

Copyright 2013 Amelia G. Sims