The Psalmist said, “Sing for joy!”

I’m sure he didn’t necessarily mean start singing and you will instantly receive joy … or did he?

Christians should do more singing. Sadly, most churches have a worship team who does most of the singing for us. We read lyrics on a screen because we never sing a song enough times to learn it (like we used to).  We listen to Christian radio who once again sings FOR us.

What is the answer?

May I suggest opening up your Bible to the Psalms and begin making up your own melody. That’s right, sing the Psalms.  I guarantee, joy will follow.

READ/HEAR: Ps. 79-83

We have the benefit of reading the account of the Israelites and their journey through the desert. They made many mistakes, and suffered because of them. One of their biggest mistakes was to doubt the ability of God to provide for them. We make that same mistake. We bind God’s hands by doubting His ability to give us victory in the challenges of this life. We release Him through our faith.

Reading through the Bible gives us a chance to understand what God can do. We learn about His provisions and His peeves. We find His Son, Christ Jesus, Who wants to be our Shepherd and guide us through this life.

Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing.”  [Jn. 15:5b]

READ/HEAR:  Ps. 76-78

I was diagnosed with Multiple Myeloma in 2012. I am still here and have a good quality of life.  MM is a cancer of the plasma cells in my blood. It isn’t contagious. It takes $20K a month to treat it. (That’s right … twenty thousand dollars) I am grateful to Anthem, Aetna, Medicare, and others who have been paying the bill.

Jesus, however, is my main sustainer. His blood is perfect. It cleansed my sin. When I take communion, I always pray, “Lord, I want YOUR blood flowing through me rather than mine.”

The Psalmist said, “ He (The Messiah) will deliver the needy who cry out … He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death … for precious is their blood in His sight.” [Ps. 72:12-14]

Wow! I’ve never seen that promise before. I take it. I receive it. The Lord is watching over my blood.

Thank You, Jesus!

READ/HEAR: Ps. 72-75

God may seem to take His good ol’ time when we need him. The Psalmist therefore added a request for some haste. In fact, the KJV (King James Version) uses the term, “Make haste.”

God is not limited by time. He can look at the spectrum of time in one glance. Whether He moves right now or later, He knows what will happen and what needs to fall into place to accomplish our request. God is better at timing than we are.

Nevertheless, we have the privilege to ask God for what we think we need WHEN we think we need it.

It’s been said, “God may be slow, but He’s NEVER late.”

READ/HEAR: Ps. 69-71

The Psalmist declared, “Let the sound of His praise be heard.”

Do we sing out loud at church? Do we give God the credit due His Name when we tell others of our health, our prosperity, our accomplishments? Do we acknowledge God’s blessing when we talk about our family members? Do we have a clear testimony of God’s goodness with our neighbors or our co-workers? Do we give God credit when praise comes to us?

Our mouths should be filled with good things to say about the Lord such that others hear it and are clear about our position on why our lives are so blessed.

Remember the lepers who were healed but didn’t thank God and give him the glory. Only one returned to Jesus and “when he saw he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice.” [Luke 17:15] To him, Jesus said, “Rise and go! Your faith has made you well.”

The ears of everyone near us need to hear the sound of our praise.

READ/HEAR: Ps. 66-68

God waters the earth with His rain. It’s His design and method of keeping plant life alive. Pleasure seekers resent it, but farmers and landscapers crave it. Where would we be without the rain.

My wife was raised on a farm and understands the value of rain. She has always had a rain gauge near, just like her daddy did. She can tell you how much rain we’ve had, and is vigilant about the health of her plants. Rain is critical to life.

In a spiritual sense, we need the rain of God’s presence.

David knew the ups and downs of warfare. His experience led him to declare that “Human help is worthless.” He knew that he could ONLY depend upon God’s strength and leadership in desperate times.

Each person needs to find their own lifeline through their relationship with God. Children need to find God for themselves rather than living on the coattails of their parents. A wise parent grooms their children to find that relationship that will sustain them for a lifetime. When they finally launch out for God, it’s gratifying to see.

Caleb, God’s best to you as you continue to launch out.

READ/HEAR: Ps. 56-60

David poured out his heart to God in anguish over his sin with Bathsheba. He was a broken man, fully penitent over his moral failure. We read his prayer in Psalm 51.

Interestingly, he resolves to proceed to teach other sinners when he has once again been filled with God’s Spirit and has been renewed. He uses the phrase, “Restore to me the joy of Thy Salvation.”

Effective teachers have been broken, processed, and restored. They didn’t kill the truth … they just proved it right.

READ/HEAR: Ps. 50-55

The Psalmist refers to the morning as the beginning of the after-life. The Christian lives this life according to the principles Christ taught and will be rewarded in the resurrection.

The morning speaks of new beginnings. It is a refreshing rebirth of life as indicated by the phrase “the womb of the morning.” Yesterday’s issues are over and there is a new appropriation of life, health, strength, ideas, inspiration etc.

The beginning of every day is a reminder that God loves to bring new life and beginnings to us.

“But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings;”  [Mal. 4:2]

READ/HEAR: Ps. 46-49

The Church, the Bride of Christ, the assembly of all believers is alluded to in Ps. 45. God chose this picture to describe the love He has for us. In fact, in God’s master design for us, He bequeathed to us the marriage relationship to teach us about the relationship He wants to have with His Redeemed.

The beauty He desires in us is not that of outward appearance. Jesus made it clear that clothes don’t make the person. What God really wants in us is on the inside …elements of character and integrity, humility and brokenness. If he would have desired outward beauty, He could have created us all to be picture perfect. But He didn’t.

If inner beauty is what He truly desires in His Bride, then why do we devote so much energy to LOOKIN’ GOOD?

READ/HEAR: Ps. 42-45