Signs of Thankfulness: Singing
Psalm 100
Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth. Serve the Lord with jubilation; come before Him with rejoicing. Know that the Lord Himself is God; It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture. Enter His gates with thanksgiving, and His courtyards with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting and His faithfulness is to all generations.
I confess to you that I am not a singer. Don’t get me wrong, I love music. However, when it comes to publicly singing, that is just not me. I am just not a singer. The reason that is difficult for me to say is because the Bible tells us, especially us as Christ-followers, to sing.
In fact, if you look at Psalm 100 you will notice another sign of thankfulness: singing. In verse 2 of Psalm the Bible says, “come before his presence with singing.”
Thankful people sing.
Nowhere in this verse does it speak of the skill of singing. The Bible does speak of musicians, soloists, instruments, choir members, loud cymbals, stringed instruments, drums, and other musical references. But in this verse in Psalm 100, nowhere is the skill of singing even mentioned. That is encouraging to a guy like me!!! Psalm 100 equates thankfulness with singing. And reminds us that is not a matter of skill, but a matter of the heart. And Scripture tells us that very same truth over and over.
The Bible Tells Us to Sing
“He put a new song in my mouth.” Psalm 40:3
When we got saved we became singers of joy.
“but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to god, even the Father…” Ephesians 5:18 – 20
Paul, writing to the Ephesians believers, tells them that singing and thankfulness are inseparable!
“Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Colossians 3:16
The Bible puts singing and thankfulness together.
Even in Revelation 5:9 there is a great heavenly picture. In that picture are 24 elders, 12 representing the 12 tribes of Israel and 12 representing the 12 Apostles of the church. That 24 number is symbolic of all the Christ-followers of history. Right there in Revelation 5 is this great heavenly scene and it contains all the believers of history. You are there, I am there. Do you know what the Bible says about us? It says we will sing a new song!
If that is what we will be doing in heaven, then let’s get in the practice right now. Let’s sing out of thankfulness to our Great God and Savior Jesus Christ. Singing is a sign of a thankful heart. So I want to encourage you to set aside the quality of your voice and sing with a heart of joy and thankfulness. Set aside the intimidation you feel around others, especially in a church service, and express your thankfulness to God by singing unto Him.
Consider the verse again in Psalm 100, “come before His presence with singing!” Start singing today and let it flow from your heart.