04/24/2024
The title of my devotional reading today was "God's Presence Results in Singing" and this is a subject that seems to be obvious to us as believers. Whenever our spirits are in communion with His, there is song... it can present itself as an exhilaration beyond description, or if we are experiencing moments of desperate despair or tremendous sorrow we find a connection with Him that reveals itself in solemn songs and dirges. When in God’s presence songs well up from within us and bring with them the essence of our prayers. This is why some psalms in the Bible are joyous, while others can be thankful, solemn, desperate, filled with mourning, or pleading.
“But let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.”
Psalm 5:11 ESV
“I will sing to the Lord as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have being. May my meditation be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the Lord.”
Psalm 103;33-34 ESV
We prepare ourselves for worship by asking the Holy Spirit to join us and lift our faith into splendid praise. We do this on Sundays in church; but many times it comes suddenly and without announcement. There are times, when we least expect it, that the Holy Spirit comes over us and there is a quickening within us, and an emotional upwelling from the deepest recesses of our soul. Although the Apostles were told to remain in Jerusalem and wait for the comforter, did they really understand what was about to happen? Were they prepared for such a dramatic visitation by the Holy Spirit, and increate in faith?
“And behold, I am sending the promise of my Father upon you. But stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high."”,
Luke 24:49 ESV
While waiting, they went daily to the temple and prayed... They didn't sit idly and wait for what was to come... They prepared themselves for an adventure into the unknown; a spiritual happening that would be new to them. Their only clue as to what was about to happen was the promise of power... then it happened.
“And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance.”
Acts 2:2-4 ESV
When God sends His Holy Spirit it is a dramatic and overpowering event. The voices of the ages often accompany it, and we are filled with song and praise as God's presence draws us close. It is thrilling, it is inspiring, and it is a rush of emotion and joining like none other... But do we understand it fully even after having experienced it? Some things related to our faith, and worship, remain a mystery. The effect that music and singing have on us is one of those things. We feel it moving us, and yet we don’t quite understand why this is so.
E.M. Bounds attempted to shed light on this mystery when he wrote "His glorious presence creates the song, teaches the singing, and infuses the notes of praise." He goes on to say that the absence of God is the death of song and makes our singing lifeless.
However, God is not absent, but always present in our praise. David wrote this in Psalm 22 when he penned these words:
“But thou art holy, O thou that inhabitest the praises of Israel.”
Psalms 22:3 KJV
David said that God inhabited the praises of Israel, and He lives in our praise as well.
Today as we pray and praise God, let's keep ourselves open for the filling of His Holy Spirit. Let's prepare ourselves, even as the Apostles did, through prayer and patience. Let's invite The Lord to join us and to commune with us as we seek the life He pours into our voices as we sing praises and prayers unto Him.
“Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely. The Lord doth build up Jerusalem: he gathereth together the outcasts of Israel. He healeth the broken in heart, and bindeth up their wounds.
“Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.”
Psalms 147:1-3, 5 KJV
Prayer:
Father thank you for the songs you have instilled in us. Thank you for the music we hear when you are near, and for the ability to give our prayers their voice in it. Our souls sing Father, and they pour out our needs and desires before your throne in melodic prayerful verse. The music we hear is your gift, and the words we sing are the fruit of our souls. Help us to approach you like David did as he sung of you, and prayed to you in every psalm. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God whose melody is the rushing wind, the sound of all creation, and whose beat is in the waves against every shore. You give voice to the music and the verse within our souls. Help us to sing to you always, whether in joy, sorrow, praise, or heartbreak. Let every song be the song of our lives, born and lived with you, and magnified in Christ. Call us men, women, and children, after your own heart as we join you in the simple childlike songs, and the complex symphonies and orchestral prayers, alike. Great are you our God who gives us love, mercy, grace, joy, and a song for to sing for each, and to praise you with. Open our hearts Father, and prepare us to hear the heavenly songs of eternity. Prepare us for those prayers being offered before your mercy seat, and the soft pianissimo melodies of evening as we walk with you in the quiet gardens. This is your whisper, your small still voice, and the evening prayer in which we find our rest in you. Praised be you name Abba for song, for music, and for the heart that is touched by it each time you are near.
Amen!
How Great Thou Art:
Rich Forbes