Is anyone happy? Let them sing songs of praise.
Even though there are a lot of things to be afraid of in life, there are also things that make us happy. When a family member is diagnosed with a medical condition we are naturally concerned. When that condition is successfully treated we are happy.
Happiness is a wonderful feeling that comes over us unexpectedly.
Yes, there is a lot of pain in this world. Yes, there are reasons to be sad or afraid. In times like that James tells us to pray.
In Ecclesiastes 4: 1, 3 Solomon writes:
There is a time for everything,
and a season for every activity under the heavens:
…a time to weep and a time to laugh,
a time to mourn and a time to dance,
While there are times when we pray to ask God’s help, there are also times when we praise.
Application: Don’t forget God when you are happy. Praise Him!
Food for Thought: Does God like it when we sing?
Yes. One reason we were created is to love God, enjoy Him and worship. Singing is one way to worship. We see worship in song in the gatherings in the OT, the early church and we of course still do so today. We see lots of singing in heaven in the book of Revelation. It is a constant. We were meant to sing the praises of God. Ephesians 5: 18 – 20.
Rich,
Great passage!
… Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Lord is pleased with our songs of praise. Paul and Silas are a great example of this in the shortened version of Acts 16:25-34 below. Both men are in chains, in prison, as they sing praises to God, and we see Gods response as they and the jailer along with his entire family are set Free.
Acts 16:25-34
25 About midnight Paul and Silas, praying, singing hymns of praise to God, prisoners listening 26 suddenly a great earthquake, the foundations of prison were shaken, all the doors opened, everyone’s chains unfastened. 27 jailer, shaken out of sleep, saw, drew his sword to kill himself, thinking prisoners escaped. 28 Paul “Do not hurt yourself, we are all here!” 29 jailer rushed in, trembling, fell down before Paul and Silas, 30 he said, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” 31 they answered, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 they spoke word of the Lord to him and all who in his house. 33 washed their bloody wounds, immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 he brought them his house, set food before them, and rejoiced greatly, he had believed in God with his entire family.
Thank you, Ron!
I love the scene of the two men singing while in prison. God’s love welled up in them and spilled out in song.
Rich and Ron are “all over” this one. I have concluded that God loves to have mankind sing praises to Him. See Revelation 14:1-5, Psalm 7, 9, 13, 18, 21, 27, 30, 33, 47, 51, 57, 59, 61, 65, 66, 67, 68, 71, 75, 81, 89, 92, 95, 96, 101, 104, 105, 108, 135, 137, 138, 144, 145, 146, 147, and 149…food for thought…do angels sing? I can’t find a single scripture regarding angels singing…but I will not argue this topic with anyone that believes that they do. All I know is man can and should sing praises to Him.
Thank you, JEC!
What a wonderful reminder of how extensive the role of song is in the history of God’s people on earth.
Excellent points JEC and Ron. Very good. The only place I know of where angels sing is Revelation 5: 11 – 14. I can’t remember if there is another place in Revelation or not. Most of the passages people think of angels singing they are actually simply saying something. Either way, it is certainly our job to sing. I agree that God loves to have us sing to Him. Some great verses shared here.
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