Psalms 104:33

I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live.

A joyous faith

The Oriental life differed in a very marked degree from our modern life. For one thing, it was spent more in the open air than is possible in these colder climates; it was a simpler life, coming into contact with nature, open to the influences which nature is sure to have upon the sensitive mind. We gain something, possibly, by living in great cities, but we certainly forfeit something also; we know man better, we are brought more into contact with our fellow-men, but we lose sight of a great deal which might speak, and which does speak to us of the wonderful works of God the frame of mind in which we live habitually, as well as our surroundings, will have much to do with the spirit of our worship. We may be in the condition of men who are overwhelmed by the thought of man and his works, or of money and its influences, immersed in the noise and smoke until the very heavens themselves are hidden from us, and then the charm of creation is gone, or we may do, what some men never seem to do, possess our souls in the midst of it all. It is something to have seen the works of God, to have taken note of them, even if it be only a glance on a starry night at the wonders of the firmament above. And when we look at the world and at life in this way, with eyes of devotion, and see the Lord there, realized as having a personal existence and share in it all, having to do with its being and its well-being, then it becomes impossible to be silent in His praise. The psalmist has not to reason himself into a right feeling about God; the right feeling is there, and so the psalm begins with an outburst of praise. He is a singer because he is a seer. And because he sees, he is full of devoutness and adoration, and sings as easily and naturally as birds sing when they have entered into the gladness and joy of coming spring. “When I think of God,” said Haydn, “my heart is full of joy, the notes dance and leap. I write according to the thoughts I feel.” And Handel, when he wrote his “Hallelujah Chorus,” said he almost saw heaven opening before him. Devout and joyous worship, then, can only arise from a conception of a world and of a Deity like this. Absence of it in men is fatal; to them, as Hazlitt once expressed it, “the heavens have gone farther off, and become astronomical.” The ladder that linked heaven and earth has disappeared; they are not likely to say with David, “The earth is satisfied with the fruit of Thy works,” or, with Jacob, “How wonderful, how dreadful is this place!” And yet the duty of man remains. If he understands his true position he will worship, he must worship. But only in right thoughts and devout meditations will be found the secret of a lifelong praise such as the psalmist promises. “Even so, Father, for so it seemeth good in Thy sight.” A spirit like that may rejoice even in a world like this, and He rejoiced in spirit, for it is the soul which makes the music of life; and therefore fitly and properly this psalm begins and ends, as many another psalm, with: “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” (W. Baxendale.)

Singing to the Lord

I. The psalmist’s determination.

1. That he will sing. He felt that God had given him a voice capable of singing as well as of speaking; that the power to utter sweet sounds in song, and the ear to delight in sweet sounds in song, was a noble faculty of his nature, and that this faculty was to be used in the Divine service.

2. That he will sing to the Lord--not for his own gratification and pleasure merely, nor to amuse his friends. He believed God heard his voice in song as much as He heard his voice in prayer.

3. That he will sing to the Lord as long as he lives.

II. It is instructive to observe how often, and in how many different ways singing is mentioned and enjoined in the Scriptures.

1. It is enjoined by Scripture command and precept. Moses and Miriam, David and Asaph, all unite in similar precepts,--“Sing unto the Lord all the earth, sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him,” is the burden of their frequent utterance. Gospel precept accords with Old Testament command. The apostles are careful to exhort to the practice (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:19).

2. Singing is enforced by Scripture argument. We always find this duty of singing to the Lord linked to and connected with other moral duties. The psalmist unites singing and prayer together. In the same psalm we read, “O come, let us sing unto the Lord,” “O come, let us worship and bow down, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.” Here singing and prayer are conjoined (James 5:13).

3. Singing is enjoined by Scripture example. Moses both pens a psalm, viz. the 90th, and sings a holy song. Miriam led a number of Israelitish women in a joyful song of triumph to the Lord. David earned for himself the title of the Sweet Psalmist of Israel, alike for the psalms he composed and sung. Asaph and Heman, Jeduthun and Ethan, were eminent for the service they rendered to the psalmody of the Temple-worship. Turning to the New Testament, we find the singing of sacred hymns enjoined by the highest example of all (Matthew 26:30). The apostles were addicted to the same practice (Acts 16:25). (J. Shillito.)

Singing

1. Singing is the music of nature. The Scriptures tell us “the mountains sing,” “the valleys sing,” “the trees of the wood sing before the Lord.” The air of summer is filled with melody of birds.

2. Singing is the music of the Ancient Church. Pliny makes mention in a letter he wrote to the Emperor Trajan, that the Christians of those times being gathered together before day, sang hymns and praises to Christ as God. Paulinus testifies that this practice overspread every province of the Western Church. Justin Martyr tells us that in his time they sang and sent up prayers to God. Beza confesses that at his first entrance into the congregation, hearing them sing the 91st Psalm, he felt himself exceedingly comforted, and did retain the sound of it afterwards upon his heart. St. Augustine reports of himself, that when he came to Milan and heard the people sing, it was the occasion of his conversion. His words in his Confessions are, “When I remember my tears at my conversion under the melody of Thy Church.”

3. Coming to more modern times, we find the same practice not only in vogue, but also of greater practical advantage. The reformation in Germany, under Martin Luther, was greatly promoted by singing. Luther taught the children to sing hymns, expressing the great truths of the Gospel. The children went about the streets singing these Gospel hymns, and thus conveying the truth on every hand. The Romanists said “Luther has done us more harm by his songs than by his sermons.” The followers of Wickliffe and Huss were named psalm-singers. In later times the great religious movements and revivals, which have greatly aided the spread of religion, have been more or less connected with singing to the Lord.

4. Singing is the music of heaven. The glorious saints and angels express their praises in this way, and make one harmony in their state of blessedness. This is set forth in many passages of the Book of Revelation. (J. Shillito. )

The soul on the wing

Birds are seldom taken in their flight; the more we are upon the wing of heavenly thoughts the more we escape snares. (T. Manton.)

Chiming Christians

“Clocks converted to chiming”--such were the words that caught the writer’s eye in an advertisement of a watchmaker’s wares. “Conversion to chiming“ is precisely what many need now-a-days. In the midst of gloom and worry, what a call there is for bright Christians who can advertise the grace of God, which is able to dispel all sorrow and care! Many are converted who yet are far from chiming, and they require the change which can fill their lives with a music never dying, ever singing. Then there is a thought in the chime which may stimulate us. Chimes are striking constantly--often every quarter of an hour, always every hour. How about our testimony for Christ? Is that as frequent as it ought to be? Are we not often silent instead of chiming Christians? (Signal.)