GONNA SING WHEN THE SPIRIT SAYS SING!

 MARCH 9, 2023

Psalm 95

1 Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
2 Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.

3 For the Lord is the great God,
the great King above all gods.
4 In his hand are the depths of the earth,
and the mountain peaks belong to him.
5 The sea is his, for he made it,
and his hands formed the dry land.

6 Come, let us bow down in worship,
let us kneel before the Lord our Maker;
7 for he is our God
and we are the people of his pasture,
the flock under his care.

Today, if only you would hear his voice,
8 “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah,[means quarrelling]
as you did that day at Massah[means testing] in the wilderness,
9 where your ancestors tested me;
they tried me, though they had seen what I did.
10 For forty years I was angry with that generation;
I said, ‘They are a people whose hearts go astray, and they have not known my ways.’
11 So I declared on oath in my anger,
‘They shall never enter my rest.’”


Someone once said the true philosophers of our times are those who write poems and songs. "Songs allow us to hold a simple melody in our imagination. And the words become our way of speaking about our world."

It seems the songs we sing from the ages of 16 to 25 remain our favorites, which explains why I seem to lean toward music of the 70’s and 80’s. There are wonderful memories and experiences connected with the music for me. What songs from your teen to young adult ages remain your favorites?

Today’s reading is from the playlist of Israel’s favorite king, David. It seems God likes noise! In response to God’s presence, greatness, creative handiwork, and loving care, the psalmist calls for singing.

Remembering how quickly his ancestors forgot God’s goodness, David poetically reviews the rock of their salvation, who called the sea from dry land and led his flock like a Shepherd to safe and nourishing pastures. When we recognize God’s loving presence like that, we remember whose image we are created to bear in the world. God spoke and stuff happened. Now, that’s something to sing about!

LET US PRAY

God, move us from the shadows of singing in the shower to the “hills that are alive with the sound of music.” Fill us with your spirit that we sing when the Spirit says sing. Amen.