Rejoice!!

I will sing of the mercies of

the Lord for ever: with my

mouth will I make known thy

faithfulness to all generations.

Psalm 89:1

Praise ye the Lord: for it is good

to sing praises unto our God:

for it is pleasant; and praise is comely.

Psalm 147:1

Praise ye the Lord, Sing unto the Lord

a new song, and his praise in the

congregation of saints.

Let the saints be joyful in glory: let them

sing aloud upon their beds.

Psalm 149:1,5

We started out with our children in children's choir at our local church. Whether we should have or not, we waved as our children mounted the altar steps to begin their songs...songs well practiced with them by a diligent but harried director. We beamed as they sang because surely it was our child that was singing so much better than the rest. Whether in a beginner choir or in a high school ensemble, as parents we loved hearing our children sing. My mother-in-love really loved when her children visited and sang for her. It blessed and encouraged her heart.

If the singing of our own children brings delight to us, think how our singing praises to our Heavenly Father must delight Him as well. I think of the times I have stood in church and in an almost half-hearted way I have sung whatever the hymn was that was at the moment. I'm afraid that we don't sing with great heart to the Lord anymore. There has never been a rule that says we are to sing to Him only in church. In fact, one of the above verses says to sing ALOUD upon our beds. So we can sing our praises to Him wherever we may be.

A week after graduating from college, I went to spend a week with a dear college friend. She lived in Dodge City, KS. We went walking outside of town on a small hill. Barbara began singing with her beautiful soprano voice and I joined in with my honker alto voice. The song we sang was:

Day by day, and with each passing moment,

Strength I find to meet my trials here;

Trusting in my Father's wise bestowment,

I've no cause for worry or for fear.

He whose heart is kind beyond all measure

Gives unto each day what He deems best.

Lovingly, its part of pain and pleasure,

Mingling toil with peace and rest.

So let's agree that our Heavenly Father would love to hear us sing for and to Him with a loving enthusiasm reserved only for Him. I think it was Charles Wesley, instrumental in the forming of the Methodist church who, himself, wrote so many wonderful hymns, once suggested that every Christian should own personal copies of two books...the Bible AND a hymn book. I'm afraid most Christians wouldn't even think of owning a hymn book, let alone singing out of it at home if they had one.

I was looking at the word “rejoice” this week and of course, I love acrostics. I listed the letters of that word on the left side and with each letter wrote a familiar sentence from a loved hymn beside each letter, hymns that down through our lives have reminded us of the goodness of God in our lives, giving us lots of reasons to rejoice in Him.

Redeemed how I love to proclaim it!

Eternal Father, strong to save. (Navy hymn)

Jesus paid it all!

Oh, how I love Jesus!

In loving kindness, Jesus came. (He Lifted Me)

Christ arose!

Ever Thy glorious face to behold. (Jesus I Come)

May we be a rejoicing, singing people. No matter how bad some of our times seem to be, we have a loving Heavenly Father Who is still our all in all and is sufficient for every situation we face. The reminder of the above hymns prompts me to hum or sing them along my way. Right now I'm stuck on “Jesus Paid it All”...did He EVER!

Lord Jesus, I do praise You today for all You are in my life. Thank You for always being along side even when I don't realize it or think about it. You are so precious in my life and I love You with all my being. Amen