Strange Singing ~ Psalm 47

“Clap your hands all peoples, shout to God with loud songs of joy! Sing praises to God, sing praises!  Sing praises to our King, sing praises!  For God is the king of all the earth, sing praises with a psalm!” Psalm 47:1, 6-7 ESV

              When I became a follower of Jesus Christ way back in 1995, one of the strangest facets of church life for me to process was the singing.  All the people in the church standing together, facing forward, and singing songs I had never heard.  Now for those that were reared in church, it may not seem that unusual but think about it.  Where else is this type of singing behavior encountered?  Not at home, not at work, not at school, not at the mall or supermarket.  Yes, by and large this behavior of corporate singing to God is relegated primarily to Sunday mornings, inside the walls of a church building of some sort, and apart from that it rather fails to exist.  And therein lies the problem.

              You see, we have made praising the Lord an event and not a purpose.  And as I read through the Psalms, especially here in Psalm 47, I see a type of praise that exists well beyond the form I see today in most of our modern churches.  And don’t miss that here in Psalm 47 we find commandments, not recommendations regarding this singing.  We see commands that rise well above what is seen to be acceptable in most churches on a Sunday morning.  I see a command to clap our hands loudly in celebration of what Almighty God has and will continue to do.  I see commands to shout loudly of the goodness of God in your life so that a lost world can hear that there is hope for them too.  And amongst those commands, I see no less than 6 exclamation marks employed.  Six.  Is it just me or does one exclamation mark say what needs to be said?  But here in Psalm 47, when it comes to truly praising the goodness of God in the way He commands, we see no less than six.  Yes, this type of loud, boisterous, energetic singing seems strange indeed.

              The irony of our seeming inability to praise and worship God in a manner that shows our heart-felt desire to truly praise Him for who He is, what He does, and what He promises, is greatly juxtaposed in what we see in our society today.  I see people that pay large amounts of money to go see their favorite pop stars live in concert and while there they will scream and sing until their voice is no longer capable of producing audible tones.  And every Sunday in the U.S. there are an estimated 1.9 million people watching NFL games live and in person.  And those fans pay an average price of $279 per ticket and endure crowds, cold, rain, sleet, and snow to yell at the top of their lungs to cheer and show appreciation for their favorite team.  These two prior examples being obviously true, why then are we so limited in the way in which we sing, clap, and show our praiseful appreciation to the God that created the world, created us, and loved us enough to send His only Son here to be sacrificed in our place?  What has happened to the direction and the purpose of our human praise to God as compared to how we see it here in Psalm 47?

              The point is not to increase or retool corporate praise in our churches, it is to increase and retool the idea of praise within the hearts of those that profess Jesus Christ as Savior, King, and Lord.  When was the last time you broke out in a random, loud, hand-clapping song to Jesus?  When was the last time your heart so overflowed with praise and thanksgiving for your eternal reservation in heaven that your mouth parted and a song came bursting forth?  You see, this strange singing is not strange in itself but is strange in its source.  For we are told in God’s Word that His ways and the world’s ways are as water and oil, never to be joined or seen as the same (1 John 2:15-17). As a result, genuine disciples (followers) of Christ, should be easily and quickly seen as very different from this world in which they sojourn.  And one of those differences should be the way in which we joyfully sing and clap to the maker and saver of our souls.

              Today I challenge you to take your Godly praise outside of the church walls and into your ordinary.  Fire up some of your favorite praise music or classical hymns on a random Tuesday afternoon and sing out loud to a Lord that loves your soul more than you can ever know.  And if you need more space for your praise, take a walk.  I have a park I walk in everyday here in Oaxaca, Mexico and those that pass me can usually find me, earbuds in, lost in the love of God as I am singing out loud (probably off-key) to a God that has promised me not just eternal life, but abundant life today.  You see, we as vibrant, thriving Christ-followers properly abiding in Christ (go read John 15:1-17) do not need to be led into more creative and encouraging corporate worship and praise.  We don’t need bigger, louder bands with catchier modern tunes.  We don’t need flashier stage presence with lasers and smoke machines.  In fact, we need just the opposite.  We need hearts in our church pews that have already been singing, clapping, and praising God so much throughout their week, that they are merely at church to reproduce it alongside brothers and sisters, not forsaking the fellowship. (Hebrews 10:25)

              Brothers and sisters in Christ, if you have lost the exclamation point in your singing to the Lord, you need only one thing to get it back...more time with Christ.  More time studying and meditating on the truth of His Word.  More time confessing and repenting of your sin and crying out to Him in prayer.  More time being built up by others while also shouldering their burdens as you engage in sweet fellowship.  And more time serving the Lord in whatever manner He is calling you to. 

Don’t wait for Sunday morninig to clap, shout, and sing to God.  Sing loud to the Lord of creation in this day…for He is worthy!

Blessings to you ~ Dan

"Oaxaca life", festival Guelaguetza, Oaxaca, Mexico