Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing.
Psalm 100:1-2
If I had to pick a favourite verse in the Bible, verse two would be it. The statement ‘Serve the Lord with gladness’ has captivated me for several decades. You could call it my life verse. I explained what makes it so special in a message I preached at Tamworth Bible Baptist Church last year. You can listen to it here:
Notice the command to joyfully serve the Lord is tied to singing.
Ever since I can recall, music has been a part of my life. If we weren’t gathering around my mother’s piano, the old LP records would play uplifting Christian music. I remember the day my father took us shopping at a Radio Shack in Philadelphia for a good stereo system. We were thrilled! Now we had music cassettes playing most of the time! It wasn’t until my first year at Bible college in 1991 that a friend at church handed me a cd for the first time. Soon all our music came in that format. Whether we were in the house or car, good music was filling our ears.
The importance of meditating on the truths of Scripture set to music cannot be overstated. We WILL fill our minds with something. Either we will think about the world’s putrid rubbish or God’s wholesome realities.
Proverbs 23:7 says, ‘For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he…’ This tells us that our thoughts form who we are. We act as we think. It’s that important!
No wonder the Lord teaches us in Philippians 4:8 an eight-fold test that filters out all but the best thoughts: ‘Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.’ All other thoughts must stop.
Without a doubt, good Christian music helps me to serve the Lord with gladness.
Over the last six years when the trials have been most difficult, I have been repeatedly strengthened by meditating on Scripture set to music. Through it the Lord has kept my attitude from spiralling into a pit of disappointment, self-pity or despair. There were certain songs that I would play over and over, soaking my soul in God’s comforting truths. I thank the Lord for the stabilising realities that He has sprinkled throughout the Bible. What would we do without them?
We recently began a new website project of pulling together some of the songs that we sing in our worship services each week. This will include the rich, time-honoured classics as well as some newer songs. Some you will know well, while others you have never heard. If you’re interested, you can find it here. If you click ‘subscribe’ in the upper right corner, you will be notified each time we load up a new song.
I pray that this music will minister to your soul like it does mine.
Father, thank You for the gift of Scriptural realities set to music. You use them to lift our eyes to You, setting our affections on things above rather than earthly things. In so doing, You have fed me, infused me with Your peace, and stirred me to love and good works. Thank You for being such a God who can do these things to us. Keep us serving You with gladness. I pray in Jesus’ Name, Amen.