Psalm 150:

1 Hallelujah! Praise God in his holy house of worship;

Praise him under the open skies;

2 Praise him for his acts of power,

Praise him for his magnificent greatness;

3 Praise with a blast of trumpet,

Praise by strumming of soft strings;

4 Praise him with castanets and dance,

Praise him with banjo and flute;

5 Praise him with cymbals and a big brass drum,

Praise him with fiddles and mandolin.

6 Let every living, breathing creature praise God!

Hallelujah!

Reflection:
I am thrilled that we have such an outstanding student ministry here at St. Luke’s. Our entire church is blessed. Under the wonderful spiritual guidance of Rob Dulaney and his gifted staff, our youth are absorbing what it means to be followers of Jesus Christ.

Much of what formed my relationship with Jesus came through my time in church youth activities. I was an active participant in Sunday School, Youth Choir, and Sunday night Bible study. Worship services were filled with youth and adults. Singing was part of all these activities and, frankly, I was one who always liked to sing. Even today I can close my eyes and see and hear the youth singing. One of my favorites had these words. Maybe you once sang them too.

Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah. Praise ye the Lord.

Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelu, Hallelujah. Praise ye the Lord.

Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah. Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah.

Praise ye the Lord, Hallelujah. Praiseeeeeeeeeee Ye the Lord!

My goodness. It was so much fun to sing and to celebrate and to praise God at the top of your lungs in a youth fellowship or around a campfire. In this psalm that is just what the psalmist proposes that we do at all times. We need to constantly be singing. He says we can and should do it everywhere. In worship services? Certainly. But sing under the open skies too. With joy, we are to praise God for how great he is and do it with different musical instruments. I was never in a band or orchestra, but I have always loved the sound of a trumpet, a violin, and a flute. Today my heart soars when I hear Rob Landes or Jim Roman playing on the piano or organ. When I served churches in East Texas, I loved to hear the sound of the fiddle, especially woven in and around a beloved hymn.

Now, I can see some eyebrows going up. “I haven’t sung in church, or anywhere else for that matter, since the third grade.” Why is that? I suspect that somewhere down the road someone made you feel like you couldn’t carry a note, you couldn’t sing. Horse feathers. I am here to argue with you on that. You can. I doubt seriously that the Hebrews of old all had voices like Jessye Norman or Pavarotti, but sing they did. And we should too.

We are to sing and praise him. Lots of us learned to do that when we were very young. I can’t be the only one who remembers as a child singing…

Praise him, praise him, all ye little children, God is love. God is love.

Praise him, praise him, all ye little children, God is love, God is love.

We are all so blessed.

My friend, I don’t know where you are right now in your spiritual life, but I am spending a lot of time these days in gratitude. I am praising God for his goodness to me. I am praising him for all the things that he has given me. I am singing in the backyard, in the kitchen, even in the car. I even sang “One Enchanted Evening” to my wife on Valentine’s Day. And these days, if I knew how to play a musical instrument, I’d be playing one.

My prayer today is that YOU will start singing or humming after you read this devotional. Take a minute and think of a favorite hymn. I know you have one. Now sing it or hum it. Just do it. Go on. Just do it. When we do this we are truly singing “Praise God from whom ALL blessings flow.”

Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father,
There is a song in our hearts today. Let us never forget how great you are. Empower us, embolden us, to express our gratitude by praising you in song. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.