You all know the first two verses of Psalm 95. It’s one of my favorite Psalms. It’s a call to ALL of God’s people. It says, “Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!” Verse 2 says it again, “Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!”

Ever since Sister Mary Grace told me to pretend like I was singing but not to make any noise in the choir, I’ve been acutely aware of having a bad singing voice. Maybe that’s why I’d rather study the Bible than sing praises to God. I’m just not good at it! But I’m convinced that God isn’t looking at my outside to evaluate me, like men do. He looks at the Heart! If so, he’s not so moved by the quality of one’s singing as He is by the depth of one’s heart which inspires the singing. David was “the man after God’s own heart” and no one wrote songs, played instruments, and sang like he did. But we don’t know if he had a good voice or not. God similarly wants my heart. You see, God doesn’t want us to sing praises to Him. He really wants us to want to.

A. W. Tozer says, “I would rather worship God than do any other thing I know of in all this wide world.
I would not even attempt to tell you how many hymnbooks are piled up in my study. I cannot sing a lick, but that is nobody’s business. God thinks I am an opera star! God listens while I sing to Him the old French hymns in translation, the old Latin hymns in translation. God listens while I sing the old Greek hymns from the Eastern church as well as the beautiful psalms done in meter and some of the simpler songs of Watts and Wesley and the rest. I mean it when I say that I would rather worship God than to do anything else.”

I’m convicted! When I think of this all I can do is pray, “Lord I want to, I want to! Please help my ‘I don’t want to!’” Maybe God’s pleased when I want to want to!

Chuck
“It is good to give thanks to the Lord, to sing praises to the Most High. It is good to proclaim your unfailing love in the morning, your faithfulness in the evening, accompanied by the ten-stringed harp and the melody of the lyre.” (Psalm 92:1-3)