Sing!

I have had an extraordinary month of both good and bad. My children were on school holidays and I had booked us in to go to Sydney to our church’s national conference. We have been before and found it really inspiring. They have a fabulous children’s programme which all of my children love to go to. The worship at the conference was truly amazing. The sense of the presence of God was electric and tangible. The speakers were totally inspiring. I learned so much.

However throughout the course of the conference I was sick with bronchitis. I did not want to miss anything though so I pushed through. I had to find a doctor in the middle of Sydney to help me. As I have come home from the conference the bronchitis worsened, and I got the flu as well. It has been really hard trying to have the family away from home, attend a conference then come home and be even sicker and still have to do all the things that a mum does. I have been sick now for 3 weeks. I thought I could write today about some of the amazing things I learned at the conference. But what keeps bubbling up inside of me, in spite of all I have gone through, is a song. Since I came home I have not stopped singing. I wake up in the morning with a song playing in my mind. I keep catching myself singing in my thoughts at any moment. It reminded me of the verse in Ephesians 5:19 where Paul exhorts us “Instead, be filled with the Holy Spirit, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, and making music to the Lord in your hearts.” I realised this was exactly what was happening inside of me - I am making music to the Lord in my heart.

The song that has most commonly been whirring around in my head is ‘Jesus Lover of My Soul.’ It is based on the first few verses of Psalm 40, which I have made today’s verse. This song has long had special meaning for me. As I recall it was one of the songs that was sung to me as I lay at the bottom of the cliff waiting to be rescued in 1994. I love how God says he will bring us out of the miry clay and set our feet upon a rock. That is indeed my testimony. The next verse goes on to say that He will then put a new song in our mouths, praise to our God and that as others see what He has done in us they shall fear and trust the Lord. I love to sing this psalm because it reminds me of how dependable God is. He does listen to our cries and no what matter miry clay we have been stuck in He has the power to lift us out and to place our feet in a safe place and to secure our future.

So my encouragement to you today is to sing! Make music to the Lord in your heart. It’s not about being a good singer, but rather about having a heart of thanksgiving and worship to God. Let the Holy Spirit fill you on the inside with His praises. You might sing a song you know or you could make up your own song. But as you do it you will find that whatever you are facing today will seem a little lighter.

Prayer: Dear Jesus, Thank You for the wonderful expression of singing and music and that You want us to use it to worship You, not just at church, but all the time. Fill me with Your Holy Spirit and help me to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Help me to make music to You inside my heart. May those songs come as an expression of my thanksgiving and worship to You. Amen.