One of the most obvious and natural ways to express joy is by singing. God’s people sing all the time; we sing in worship, we sing before devotionals, we sing on Wednesday night after Bible Class, we sing on Saturday morning before a fellowship breakfast. We just concluded a whole year considering songs that we sing to the Lord and even though every sermon came from the hymnal, and even though many devotional articles were based on hymns, we barely scratched the surface of songs that we regularly sing to the Lord. We are a saved people so it makes sense: We ought to feel like singing quite a lot.
God is also a singer.
We don’t usually think of Him that way but it’s true. As much as we sing to God, and despite how many scriptures in our Bible talk about His children singing psalms and songs of praise to His honor, it’s also the case that He sings. And, in fact, He sings to us!
The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; He will save, He will rejoice over thee with joy; He will rest in His love, He will joy over thee with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
God will rejoice over His people with singing, the prophet says. What a beautiful and rarely considered idea! I lift up my voice to God all the time. I’m happy to have Him, so I sing to Him regularly. Zephaniah reminds me that God is happy to have me, too. He doesn’t praise me in song the way I do Him, but He is just as happy to be my Father as I am to be His child. I would do well to stop and appreciate that fact more often: God loves being my God. What a blessing.
~ Matthew