And with my song I shall thank Him
And with my song I shall thank Him
Psalm 28:7 Whether we quietly mumble the lyrics to a hymn or sing exuberantly to an over-amplified praise band, God deserves our praise and worship, and we must thank Him with our song!
“The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusts in Him, and I am helped; Therefore my heart exults, And with my song I shall thank Him.”
Psalms 28:7 NASB1995
Our church service this Sunday was made up of two one-hour segments, the first being worship, and the second a lesson that is part of a series on Jesus as our first love. I must admit that at our church, opinions vary on the worship service. We are one of those churches with a loud band, and with my bad hearing I must put in earplugs but can still hear enough to sing along. Some of our congregation members skip the worship altogether for various reasons, waiting until they no longer hear the music before entering the church.
Personally, I’ve always loved singing in church. When I was growing up, I enjoyed singing the songs. After Barb and I were born again in Christ and started attending church, I spent a while in our “praise band” singing, and even after I stopped doing that (rehearsals conflicted with my work schedule), I sang along from the pews with a great deal of joy. I’m one of those people blessed by God to always have music running through my mind. Sometimes it is secular music, but more and more it is a soundtrack of praise music new and old.
Worship music, whether contemporary and loud or traditional hymns sung without instrumental accompaniment, should be joyful! Psalm 28 has been called an answered prayer, with verses 1 through 5 being David’s prayer to God imploring the Lord to hear him and to act against those who are wicked, while verses 6 through 9 are David’s heartfelt thanks to God for answering his prayer.
In this verse, David praises God for being the source of his strength and for protection from his enemies. David trusts God to always come through for him, and recognizes that God has always helped him. Did David just think “Hey, God’s got my back!” and leave it at that?
No! He is thrilled that the Lord responds to his prayers and his worship, saying “my heart exults”. He thanks God with his song… or rather his songs. The psalms (in Hebrew, tehillim (תְּהִלִּים), translated as praises. Many of the psalms are attributed to David (73 of 150), and all were meant to be sung in the temple, primarily by the Levites.
There is a tradition of singing to worship God that stretches back in time to well before the psalms, which are thought to have been compiled starting in the 9th to 5th century B.C. In Exodus 15:1-21 (circa the 15th century B.C.), Moses and the sons of Israel sing a song of praise to the Lord.
Whether we quietly mumble the lyrics to a hymn in a toneless monotone, or sing exuberantly to an over-amplified praise band, God deserves our praise and worship, and we must thank Him with our song!
Heaven On Wheels Daily Prayer:
Lord, I thank You for being my strength and my shield. My heart trusts in only You, and I will forever praise and thank You for the comfort and help I receive through my faith in Jesus my Savior. Thank You for always being there to listen to the cries of Your people. The joy of the Lord is my strength, and my heart exults in praise and gratitude. AMEN.