I’m reading and reflecting on the “Hymns of Praise” in Psalms (Psalm 145-150) during my time of “Coffee with the Lord” this week… Today my focus was Psalm 147.
I’ve got friends whose most natural impulse when they think about the Lord, His supreme power, His stellar character, His bountiful goodness, His mighty acts, His personal blessings… IS TO SING!!! It may be a hymn, an “ol’ gospel song,” or a contemporary worship song… but for some, it may not be any of those – it may simply be personal praise expressed in a spontaneous stream of music (on an instrument or vocal worship)! In fact, some of the best worship songs have issued from those spontaneous expressions of worship!
Now that is not the way it is for me… my most natural worship response is verbal – a personal verbal expression of praise and adoration to God! … I sing, don’t get me wrong – but I do it more deliberately than the spontaneity of the “song inclined.”
Psalm 147 though, is especially for the “song inclined!” I mean check it out… four times in the first 7 verses! “It is good to SING PRAISES to our God… It is pleasant, and A SONG of praise is fitting! … SING to the Lord with thanksgiving; MAKE MELODY to our God on the lyre!”
And why? Here’s just a taste from the Psalm (for what He does): “The Lord builds up Jerusalem; he gathers the outcasts of Israel. He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds! He determines the number of the stars; he gives to all of them their names! Great is our Lord, and abundant in power; his understanding is beyond measure! The Lord lifts up the humble; he casts the wicked to the ground.” (From Psalm 147:2–6) You should go on and read the rest of the Psalm (vss. 8-20)! Wow! Even I feel a song coming on!
I think Chris Tomlin caught the “Spirit” of Psalm 147 with his worship song “Sing! Sing!! Sing!!!) … give it a listen on YouTube! (Here’s the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uv4HiiOmAFg)
Coffee With The Lord 