Sunday January 20, 2019
Letting Off Some Steam…with a Song
Have you ever experienced something so thrilling that you felt as if you might explode if you couldn’t express your joy about it? If you were alone when this happened, did it sadden you that you had no one to rejoice with you? Did that throw cold water on what you were feeling? (See WORD WISDOM for a deeper study of joy)
Well, don’t waste time feeling sorry for yourself…just open up your heart to the Lord and let out that shout and tell God how great things are! After all, you would certainly tell Him when things are not going well. Why do we cry out to Him more than we praise Him?
Oddly enough, when suffering is alleviated we can be tempted to wander from God’s immediate presence! We may fail to see the connection between God and our happy situation. We may sense no immediate need for God. But, again James reminds his readers of the true reality of their circumstances. God is the source of all good and perfect gifts (Jas.1:17).
Here, James says that the appropriate response to happiness is to praise God. God has everything to do with the blessings we receive. To not praise Him is to miss the opportunity to receive the Giver with the Gift. Our happiness is not full and complete when we fail to recognize the One who is giving to us. Thanksgiving completes and perfects the joy of everything good.
Singing songs means praising our Lord with a willing, loving heart. This is an aspect of real worship and music, which is never a show. Rather, it is a response of our love giving praise. We, as a congregation, are the performers, and Christ is the audience. Real, authentic worship is to be inspired by who Christ is and what He is doing in us. It is not about form or function or type…it is about our hearts showing our love to Him. Prayer and worship share the same heart and attitude. God wants us to sing!!
And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.(Eph.5:18-19)
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. (Col.3:16)
The word translated cheerful or merry in James 5:13 is the Greek word euthumeo which is a compound of the Greek words eu and thumos. The word eu describes a “good feeling,” and it is where we get the word euphoric. It pictures a person who is absolutely elated, thrilled and ecstatic about something.
The word thumos involves the idea of “swelling emotions,” and “a strong growing passion” about something. When these two words are put together, it creates a word picture of a person who is just about to explode with joy! When everything is going well and we feel happy, we should show our appreciation to God for His goodness by exploding with songs of praise and worship.
That kind of true worship benefits us too!
A merry heart is good medicine (Pro.17:22 NIV)
To insist on rejoicing in the Lord, even when troubled or sick, is to release forces that will soothe and strengthen both mind and body. Cheerfulness often accomplishes what other remedies are powerless to achieve.
With all that we as Christians have to be thankful for, we should never stop singing in our hearts. And those heart smiles will often erupt onto our faces, giving us a special radiance resulting from feeling the joy of Jesus deep in our hearts. To me, there is nothing more rewarding and uplifting than singing to yourself of the goodness of God, even if you can’t carry a tune or sing it in the wrong key!
Praise the Lord! Praise, O servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord! Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! From the rising of the sun to its going down the Lord’s name is to be praised. (Ps.113:1-3)
Let off a little positive steam…….SING!!!