Sing! Sing! Sing! Series

But why should WE sing? Psalm 96:3-4 says “Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.”

I’m singing unto the LORD, but when I sing to Him I’m DECLARING His Glory among the nations, and I’m DECLARING His Marvelous Works among all the peoples. In other words… when I sing songs about God, it isn’t about ME! I’m not here to be entertained. When I SING, it’s not a private audience between God and myself.

ILLUS: Ken Idleman (the preacher at the SE Christian Church in Louisville, KY) told of being out in the park on a hot, miserable day. He was sweating profusely and was not in a good mood. But out of the corner of his eye he saw a man in work clothes carrying a hose over his shoulder, and the man was whistling... on this hot, miserable day. As he watched, the workman arrived at his destination - a port-a-pot. The man had come to clean it out... and he was whistling... on a hot and miserable day. And what was he whistling? (I began to whistle "This is the day that the Lord has made," and encouraged the audience to whistle along with me). Idleman marveled at this - here was a man cleaning out a port-a-pot on a hot and miserable day whilsting "This is the day that the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it!" Without even realizing he was doing it, this workman was praising God and declaring God's glory to all who would listen.

For example: Ephesians 5:19 tells us we should be “speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”

Have you ever thought that – when you sing in worship – you’re speaking to others? If you sing enthusiastically… you can encourage others. And if you sing with feeling… you can attract the lost to Jesus? Has that ever occurred to you?

ILLUS: I read about a letter a young girl wrote to her friend. “I attended your church yesterday. Although you had invited me, you were not there. I looked for you, hoping to sit with you. I sat alone. A stranger, I wanted to sit near the back of the church but those rows were all packed with regular attenders. An usher took me to the front. I felt as though I was on parade. During the singing of the hymns I was surprised that some of the church people weren’t singing. Between their sighs and yawns, they just stared into space. Three of the kids that I had respected on campus were whispering to one another throughout the whole service. Another girl was giggling. I really didn’t expect that in your church.” (from a sermon by Travis Johnson)

She was surprised that there were church people who were NOT singing. These were supposedly people who had a special relationship with God, but their behavior and their lack of attention told her that God wasn’t all that important to these folks.

Did you realize that the MAIN reason you’re here SHOULD NOT BE to hear me preach? In theory you should have come here to worship God. I mean, I’m glad you’re here… and I’m glad you listen to me, but if you didn’t PRAY intentionally while you’re here, and you didn’t SING with gusto to God - it would be like ME getting up here and just droning on and on as I preached. And IF you could tell I was bored or not interested; and if it looked like was just putting in my time; you’d get tired of me real quick. You’d realize that I’m NOT giving it all that I’ve got and it would upset you.