I will sing to the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praise to my God while I have my being. Psalms 104:33
Sometimes you feel like singing! Other times, the feeling just isn’t there. One important word that we find twice in today’s verse is will. On the other hand, a word that is not included in this verse is feel. Life has its ups and downs so, if you are singing because of how life is going then, when things are up you will feel like singing but during those down times the song escapes you. But, since the Psalmist is talking here about singing to the Lord, it is always time for a song. If you are breathing, if you are alive, you have something to sing about. If you are redeemed by the blood of Jesus, you have something to sing about.
God’s people who were delivered from the hand of Pharaoh are an example for us in many ways, mostly what not to do. Theirs is a story of hopeless bondage to an evil king, then their Prince comes and delivers them right out of the hand of their enemy. The story should end with them living happily ever after, the way God intended from the very beginning, but they lost their song along the way. They stopped singing.
If we peek into their story at a certain place we find them singing. The scene is right after their deliverance through the Red Sea with Pharaoh’s army being drowned by that same Red Sea right behind them. After such a wonderful display of God’s power and care for them, they were naturally singing and dancing and playing tambourines. But if we back up to the other side of the Red Sea, before their great deliverance, not only are they not singing but they are complaining and even accusing God of abandoning them, suggesting that they were better off with Pharaoh than with the Lord.
Well, hopefully once they found their song after crossing the Red Sea, they never let it go. Sadly, that was not the case; within three days they are once again murmuring about their life. There will be other times like these. And what about their happy ending? That generation got just what they said they were going to get. Be careful not to lose your song!
Keep on singing to the Lord, not because of what is going on in your life, but because of who He is in your life. That’s how you can have a song in the night, even at midnight. That’s how you can have a song in the wilderness with the enemy in hot pursuit, intent on your destruction. That’s how you can have a song even when you are thirsty and there seems to be no way for that thirst to ever be quenched again. That’s how you can have a song even when there seems to be nothing to sing about.
Singing to the Lord helps you say the right things about God and about your life, your future. Singing songs of praise not only brings glory to God, it also lifts your spirit and helps you see things as they really are rather than seeing things as they seem to be in the natural. In fact, singing to the Lord is not natural — it is supernatural. It is a choice that you make, bringing your feelings into subjection to your will and choosing to praise the Lord because He is worthy of praise. There will no doubt be times that you do not feel like singing. What can you do during those times when you feel stuck? The same as always: keep on singing, don’t lose your song!