The Song God Chose

“Lord, what should we sing?”a song evangelist prayed before he and his wife were to sing in a special service.

The Spirit impressed upon him, “I want to hear you sing, “My Jesus I Love thee.”

God especially delights in our expressing our love and worship to him in song. At least forty-one Psalms specifically refer to “singing praises” to the Lord. Since the Hebrew language often emphasized a thought by repeating it, consider what emphasis this psalm places on singing: “Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises” (Psalm 47:6).

One morning some years ago, a melody came to my mind as I sat at the kitchen table with my Bible. I picked up a hymnal and it fell open to “The Lord Jehovah Reigns.” I recognized that God wanted to hear me sing it. It has become one of my favorite songs to sing during devotions.

The Psalmist understood what gives pleasure to God. “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving. This will please the Lord more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs” (Ps. 69:30).

Always using someone else's words in our singing, however, may be as undesirable as it would be to always pray someone else's prayers, so the psalmist declares, “I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you” (Psalm 144:9). Our spontaneous praise expressed in song is a delight to our Lord.

Help me to please you today, Lord, with songs of praise and thanksgiving.

“But as for me, I will sing about your power. Each morning I will sing with joy about your unfailing love” (Psalm 59:16).