Read Psalm 81:1-4. 1Sing aloud to God our strength; shout for joy to the God of Jacob! 2Raise a song; sound the tambourine, the sweet lyre with the harp. 3Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day. 4For it is a statute for Israel, a rule of the God of Jacob.
Do you sing? Do you sing to Christ? Do you sing with Christians?
For Christians sing is not a suggestion, it’s a command. A rule of the God of Jacob. Musical praise is not optional for us who are in Christ. How do I know? Not only because Psalm 81 says so, but because the New Testament also says so.
Colossians 3:16. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
Not only are we commanded to sing, we are commanded to sing from joy and thanksgiving. But how can God command our emotions like this? Because he knows that he has given us the Spirit of Christ, the Holy Spirit, whose fruit is joy. God can command the emotion because he has given the emotion to you. He can command the song because he has put the song in your heart.
Do you find it difficult to sing? To rejoice? To be thankful? Look inside your heart to find your song, and when it is difficult…sing anyway.
To live is Christ is to let the joy of knowing Christ’s love flow out of our hearts in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Prayer. Jesus, keep a song to you in my heart and on my lips. Amen.
To Live is Christ 