1 It is good to praise the Lord
and make music to your name, O Most High,
2 proclaiming your love in the morning
and your faithfulness at night,
3 to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
and the melody of the harp.
4 For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord;
I sing for joy at what your hands have done.
5 How great are your works, Lord,
how profound your thoughts!
6 Senseless people do not know,
fools do not understand,
7 that though the wicked spring up like grass
and all evildoers flourish,
they will be destroyed forever.
8 But you, Lord, are forever exalted.
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As a musician, this psalm always strikes me with its invitation to praise the Lord with music on the Sabbath day. The psalmist is filled with joy because of what the Lord has done and this results in singing and making music with a variety of instruments.
Music in the service of the Lord is not only a tool for thanksgiving, it is also something to be thankful for in itself. Consider the volume and diversity of songs, hymns and anthems that have been composed over the centuries, and all the people of God that took part in them. Not surprisingly, the pictures of the presence of God in Revelation all contain singing and music as well. It is one aspect of our present worship that will certainly carry over into eternity.
So my prayer today is one of thanksgiving. I am thankful for the breadth and diversity of songs which are part of my worship life and that of our congregation. I am thankful for the musicians who offer their time and talents to the Lord. And I am thankful to our Lord who inspires such music in His children.
I set this psalm to music in my song “It Is Good.” To hear that song, click here.