Beautiful Music

           Some of the most beautiful music, for me, are the sounds out in nature.  The sound of a babbling brook, crickets cricketing, cicadas chirping, roosters crowing, and when a whole field of birds starts singing all at once, it sounds like a choir. On this day the birds came alive and sang their songs.  I think they were praising.  That is not so far fetched.  Psalm 150:6 says, “Let everything that has breath, praise the Lord.”  Psalm 145:21 says, “…let every creature praise His holy name for ever and ever.”

           

           Why would birds praise the Father?  The answer might be found in Psalm 84:3: “Even the sparrow has found a home, and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may have her young-a place near your altar, O Lord Almighty, my King and my God.”

            Why would I praise my Heavenly Father?  Because He is so worthy of it and I

am filled with gratitude for what He has done for me.  The more I learn about our mighty, awesome, all-knowing, all powerful God, about His holiness, that He knows everything about me and still wants a relationship with little ol’ me…that is worth praising.  (Psalm 139 1-4…”O Lord, you have searched me and you know me.  You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my going out and my lying down’ you are familiar with all my ways.  Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord.)   There is no other like Him; His greatness shows in His creation; He is always there for me and He doesn’t leave me where I am but keeps moving me on.  The greatest love ever shown me was by Him when He allowed His son to be mocked, tortured and killed on the cross so MY sins could be covered.  And He did this for you too.  That is worthy enough right there of praise!

For the Christian, praise is glorifying the Lord, centering our attention upon Him with our heartfelt expression of love, adoration, and thanksgiving.  It is taking our focus off of ourselves and placing it totally onto Him.  There is always something to be grateful for and He is always worthy of our praise no matter what our circumstances are.

You may say, “Yeah, but you don’t know what I’m going through.”  No, but He does and He promises to never leave us, never forsake us, to walk through the fire and waters with us, to hold us by His righteous right hand and to give us a renewed strength if we would just look to Him, to focus on Him instead of our circumstances.

 

I know this.  I walked through the valley of depression, my heart aching like never before because my precious first born had left and I did not know where he was. But God led me to this pond, began a work in me, and I began to focus on Him more than the circumstances. I raised my hand for Him to take and He walked through that valley with me and then led me right out. But not right away, only after a time of being with Him (a couple of years at the pond), talking to Him, listening to Him, and observing what He was showing me.  I also had to trust in what I couldn’t see, but to fully trust in Him, the one who sees all and reconciles in His timing.  I learned to trust in His plans, even if I didn’t understand.  Through this, God took my broken heart and brought it back to life with a new song in it. I entered into that valley depressed, He brought me out singing.  I entered that valley weak, He brought me out strong.  I entered that valley physically sick, He brought me out well.  Praise you Father!

I have learned that even when going through a difficult time and I did not feel like it, if I would raise my hands and voice to the Lord and pour forth from a grateful heart, my spirits were lifted. Why?  Satan loves it when we are down, because then we are weak.  But praise is also a weapon for us to use to send the enemy running, and he will. It also releases God’s power. For examples, read 2 Chronicles, chapter 20 and about Paul and Silas in prison in Acts, chapter 15:16-40.

            If you are unable to raise your voice, put on a praise tape and let it run all day.  I’ve done this myself and it only takes a few songs and I am right back where I need to be, praising Him with my own voice and heart.

            The singing and rejoicing can go in the other direction too.  I discovered that if we stay in fellowship with Him and obey His word, the Bible says He will rejoice over us with singing.  Zephaniah 3:17: “The Lord God is with you, He is mighty to save.  He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.”  Did you get that last part? How awesome to think that not only can He save us, take great delight in us, can quiet us with His love, but He will rejoice over us with singing!  My heart swells just at the thought that His love for me could bring him to singing.

            I feel a song of praise coming on.  Will you join me and the birds in doing what Psalm 100:1-2 says?  “Shout for joy to the Lord…worship the Lord with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.”

We praise Thee, O God, our Redeemer, Creator,

In grateful devotion our tribute we bring.

We lay it before Thee, we kneel and adore Thee,

We bless Thy holy name, glad praises we sing.

Julia Cady Cory

“I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart.”

Psalm 9:1

“Praise the Lord in song, for He has done excellent things;

Let this be known throughout the Earth.”

Isaiah 9:1

Please share your thoughts about music and praising…or anything else on your mind you would like to share.  Do you have a favorite praise song, an old hymn, or do you also enjoy going out somewhere and listening to nature?  Are you more comfortable praising in a group or in solitude? Does music draw you closer to Him?

(if you do not have a blogger account, just go to blogspot.com and type in your name and a password, then you can post comments, thank you)