Sing Praises! Sing Praises!

The other day I was hanging a shadow box I made for your Daddy in his newly redesigned man cave/office. The shadow box is heavy, thus has two hooks on the back for hanging. I typically hate hanging these particular pieces of artwork because you need to measure the distance from the top of the frame to the hook and the distance between the hooks to level the frame ... which for me more often the not requires a second time for correction after the nails have already been pounded in. Then you have to hope the hooks can catch on each nail perfectly. So here I am hanging something way above my height, trying to get these hooks to catch ... and they just won't. Over and over I'm lifting the heavy frame attempting this, sometimes getting one to catch, sometimes it catching and pulling the nail out of the wall. I was already uncomfortable with the height and weight of what I was doing and getting increasingly frustrated, then angry. And that's when I looked over to my right and saw there an engraved wooden copy of the lyrics to How Great Thou Art hanging on the wall. So I started to sing the song out loud. I felt a peace come over me that can only be explained by the Holy Spirit. Singing praise to my Father in heaven during this frustrating experience, calmed and centered me ... and the shadow box hooked right on. Yeah, it wasn't level, so I had to redo it, but it didn't matter. I was praising God in the midst of it.

When we are in the heat of circumstances that frustrate us, if we immediately went in prayer or burst into glorious songs of praise, we might have far fewer arguments, outbursts and failures. There is something overpowering about songs of praise, and the Bible is chock full of them. They are called Psalms. Every time I come across a Psalm with the word "sing" in it or "praise," I underline it. Working for a Christian radio station, I love to see those words in Scripture, as that is what the artists do on The River. Matter of fact, many of the songs we hear on The River come directly from Psalms.

• "From the rising of the sun to the place where it sets, the name of the Lord is to be praised." Psalm 113 and Sing Your Praise To The Lord by Rich Mullins.
• "For great is your love, higher than the heavens; your faithfulness reaches to the skies." Psalm 108 and Your Love O Lord by Third Day.
• "Praise the Lord, O my soul. O Lord my God, you are very great." Psalm 104:1 and How Great Is Our God by Chris Tomlin.
• "Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise His holy name." Psalm 103 and 10,000 Reasons by Matt Redman.
• "Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music." Psalm 98:4 and Shout To The Lord by Darlene Zschech.
• "O Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!" Psalm 8:1 and How Majestic Is Your Name by Michael W. Smith.

And those are just a few. You want to be uplifted in spirit? Go to the Psalms. Searching for just the right words to be in praise to the Father? The Psalms have that. Even looking for words of prayer? Yep, the Psalms are your go-to place. Let that be where your soul goes in times of struggle, frustration, sorrow and anger ... singing in praise to the One True God. When the two of you get into an argument, perhaps one can start to sing in glory of our Father. Imagine how quickly the argument will come to an end!

"I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live." Psalm 146:2
Amen and amen.

Discussion: What is your favorite praise song? Is there a time when you were frustrated and a song to God brought you peace? Do you have a favorite Psalm?

Prayer: Father, how good it is to sing praises to you. (Psalm 147:1). I will celebrate your abundant goodness and joyfully sing of your righteousness. (Psalm 145:7). I will sing you a new song of praise. (Psalm 149:1). I will give thanks to you for you are good! (Psalm 106:1) I will praise you, O Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all your wonders. I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High." (Psalm 9:1-2). In the sweet name of Jesus, Amen.