Psalm 146:2 I will praise the Lord all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live.
It strikes me as very good and appropriate that this Psalm is unattributed, because being anonymous, it can be easily appropriated by any believer, and should be. It goes on from here to list various reasons why God is worthy of our praise, and we need to remember them as well, particularly when our immediate circumstances distract us from the goodness and grace of God. Verses 3 and 4 contrast God with human leaders, which is an excellent reminder, repeated many times in the Bible, and very appropriate with a major election coming up in the US in a couple of weeks. The thing is, the more we know of God, and especially, the more we know Him personally, the more our hearts will overflow with His praise. That’s why heaven is filled with praise and singing! There have been songs of praise to God for as long as the human race has had music, I think. I believe God gave us the gift of music to enable that, and as a vehicle for expressing things that are actually beyond words. There are many videos on the Internet of animals, both domestic and completely wild, being entranced by music, willingly approaching someone who is playing an instrument. For that matter, it has been shown repeatedly that playing Mozart, or something similar, in a dairy barn will cause the cows to be more peaceful and give more milk! All of creation exists to recognize God and respond to Him. The devil does all he can to hide that reality from us, because he wants the praise for himself, and failing that, wants to block it from going to God. Submitting to God and resisting the devil (James 4:7) certainly includes praising God!
As I have commented frequently, I was raised in a very musical family, and that was a huge blessing. I’m sure I was well exposed to music from my mother’s womb, and I have been involved in making music ever since. I remember one of our daughters asking Cathy and me from what age she and her sister had been musical, because her sons couldn’t yet carry a tune! That indeed cleared up quickly, and both sons sing well, and one on a professional level. Not everything that passes for music these days seems particularly musical to me, but that’s also a matter of taste. The point is the purpose, and if it is dedicated to God and offered to Him, I think it’s acceptable. However, even a good bit of church music is actually man-centered, and that’s unfortunate. I am saddened by “worship” music that is all about how I feel, rather than pointing me to the One who is the answer to everything. That said, this verse from Psalm 146 is very much my testimony, and I expect it to be so for eternity, since I will live forever with my Lord!
Father, thank You indeed for music, and for the privilege of singing praise to You. As I have said numbers of times, You are the Words and the Music is the theme song of my life! May the song of my life indeed be pleasing to You, drawing others to know You as well, for their salvation and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!
