Sing for Joy

¹ Sing for joy in the LORD, O you righteous ones;
Praise is becoming to the upright.
² Give thanks to the LORD with the lyre;
Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.
³ Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy.
⁴ For the word of the LORD is upright,
And all His work is done in faithfulness.
⁵ He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the lovingkindness of the LORD.
⁶ By the word of the LORD the heavens were made,
And by the breath of His mouth all their host.
⁷ He gathers the waters of the sea together as a heap;
He lays up the deeps in storehouses.
⁸ Let all the earth fear the LORD;
Let all the inhabitants of the world stand in awe of Him.
⁹ For He spoke, and it was done;
He commanded, and it stood fast.
¹⁰ The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations;
He frustrates the plans of the peoples.
¹¹ The counsel of the LORD stands forever,
The plans of His heart from generation to generation.
¹² Blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD,
The people whom He has chosen for His own inheritance.
¹³ The LORD looks from heaven;
He sees all the sons of men;
¹⁴ From His dwelling place He looks out
On all the inhabitants of the earth,
¹⁵ He who fashions the hearts of them all,
He who understands all their works.
¹⁶ The king is not saved by a mighty army;
A warrior is not delivered by great strength.
¹⁷ A horse is a false hope for victory;
Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength.
¹⁸ Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him,
On those who hope for His lovingkindness,
¹⁹ To deliver their soul from death
And to keep them alive in famine.
²⁰ Our soul waits for the LORD;
He is our help and our shield.
²¹ For our heart rejoices in Him,
Because we trust in His holy name.
²² Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us,
According as we have hoped in You (Psa 33).

Nothing like a good psalm to get the worship started, eh?

Great lines in this one. Lines like "Praise is becoming to the upright." Ever think of it that way? Or "All His work is done in faithfulness." Ever feel like it's not? You have, I'm sure, and you were mistaken. I like "The LORD nullifies the counsel of the nations" in these times when our nation is making some pretty foolish counsel. And I am particularly pleased with "The eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, on those who hope for His lovingkindness."

I noticed something in all that wonderful stuff on praising God. A lot of voices, mine included, are concerned about the growing sense in too many churches of a "performance and concert" atmosphere for what they call "worship". The seeming retort, however, is "So, I suppose you don't want professional musicians doing worship?" But the psalm says this: "Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy." Worship is aimed at God. It is undoubtedly an error when we make it about the really cool praise band and how talented they are. On the other hand, worship is aimed at God, and giving Him other than our very best is just plain wrong. So, sing to Him a new song, and when you do, do it skillfully. Give it your best. He deserves nothing less.