Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the Lord, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.
Exodus 15:1-2
The Lord is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.
In April 1998, a series of tornadoes ripped through the southern part of the United States. A day after one of the storms had hit the NPR program All Things Considered aired a story about a congregation. Their church had been destroyed the day previous. Terrified children had been in a choir rehearsal at the time of the storm. When the pastor saw the storm coming, he quickly gathered all the children in the churches main hallway. There they huddled together as the winds ripped the church apart. In an effort to calm the children’s fears, the pastor had led them in singing, “Jesus Loves the Little Children.” Although some of the children were hurt, miraculously no one was killed. Singing can calm hearts and bless God at the same time.
Singing Praises God!
2 Samuel 22:50 – Therefore I will give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and I will sing praises unto thy name.
Psalms 9:2 – I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High.
Singing Pleases God!
Psalms 150:1-6
Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness. Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals. Let everything that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.
A mother walked by her young son’s room one night and heard him praying, “Andy, please forgive me for my sins”. This worried the mother; so she asked her son why was he praying to “Andy”, not God. The son responded, “I was praying to God, Andy is his nickname.” This really bothered the mother, and she began to demand where he got that from. The little boy replied, from the song we sang out of the hymnbook in church today, “The Garden.” The mother asked how he got that God’s nickname was Andy from that song, and she demanded an answer right then. The little boy put his head down, then looked up and began to sing, “Andy walks with me, Andy talks with me, Andy tells me I am his own.”
He had a joyful heart…he just had the words all wrong…Remember this…a singing heart is a joyful heart…