Making Life Work
Read: Psalm 47
Focus: Psalm 47:6-8

Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.
For God is the King of all the earth; sing to him a psalm of praise.
God reigns over the nations; God is seated on his holy throne.

From your current view of the world, there may not be much to sing about. The global economy could implode at any moment, and no one seems to know how to prevent it. The prospect of lasting peace in the Middle East seems next to impossible, and no one seems to know how to fix it. Terrorism threatens to encircle the planet, and no one seems to know how to stop it. People are scared, confused and directionless, and no one has an answer.

And the things you had counted on for stability, security and satisfaction in your own life may seem, at best, tenuous. So why not sing! I mean, God is still the King! He still rules over the nations. Nothing that is going on in our world, or in your life, for that matter, has unseated him from his holy throne. The upheaval we’re facing on earth hasn’t caused worry, fear, and instability in heaven. Things are going according to plan—so why not sing!

You might think I joking—but I’m not. Singing songs of praise is not meant just as a response to God for his goodness in the good times. Singing is an act of faith in challenging times that recognizes a higher reality than the one you see in your horizontal view-finder: That God is King—he always was, and always shall be.

Go vertical with your gaze once in a while, and you’ll see that God is still in control. Do that as the regular practice of your life, and you will find that you have much to sing about. This is not whistling past the graveyard, but an act that not only expresses faith, that not only builds faith, it’s an act that actually releases even more faith into your life.

Want more faith for these troubling times? Need more strength to face your challenges? Want to feel more confident about your future? Sing! Sing! Sing!

That’s what I’m going to do as soon as I end this devotional blog. It is 6:00 AM in the morning; I’m in my study; no one is here but God and me, so here goes:

“Our God, is an awesome God;
He reigns, from heaven above with wisdom, power and love.
Our God is an awesome God…”

__________________

“I don’t sing because I’m happy; I’m happy because I sing.” (William James)

Making Life Work: Go ahead—sing out your praise to the Lord. Suddenly, the world won’t seem so big and bad after all!