Psalm 66: Sing

Sometimes I wonder who we are singing to. There are many opinions on this topic. For as long as I can remember there have been those who can clearly define the difference between praise and worship. Two things that go together, but have distinctions, two things that should not be divided but often need to be defined. There are those who believe that we should always and only be singing to God, that songs to one another are somehow less than God’s desire. Still there are others that believe the most important thing is that we sing from our experience, that we can truly feel what we are singing. In Psalm 66 we might get a hint about what is really necessary. It probably won’t end our debates or get us to agree on all the details, but I hope it can help us to realize that the most important thing is not who we sing to or what we sing for but simply that we never cease to sing.

The psalm has four selahs, three breaks, four breaths, and in some ways four different but connected songs. It begins with a song that calls people to sing. The choir is singing to the world that it lives in. This is not something happening in the church and for the church, it’s a call to those who don’t yet believe, to take note of His awesome works, to be aware of his power and might, to sing to Him and bow before Him. I think we miss just how evangelistic our songs should be and how impactful our songs can be. Before we go too much farther, I need to make clear that I’m not only referring to the songs we sing in church, but the songs of our lives. There is a song coming from us at all times, the question is not whether we are singing but what is the song we sing? Do those that don’t know God hear of God from the way we live? Do our conversations, our attitudes, our opinions, our habits and our actions call out of the awesomeness of God, of our confidence in His ability to protect and provide and of our assurance that He is great and greatly to be praised? The Psalmist didn’t start with us singing to each other, he was headed there, but the first song we sing, in fact, the song we sing the most often, is the song heard by those who don’t yet know the God who sings over them and wants to put His song in them.

The second songs starts with a command, “Come and see what God has done”. This is the song of the congregation of believers. This is where we remind each other of the goodness of God, “He turned the sea into dry land”. It’s where we encourage each other, “we rejoice in him, who rules by his might forever.” And it’s where we challenge and correct each other, “let not the rebellious exalt themselves.” I’m sure there are others, but three things our songs, when we are together, in fellowship, in the breaking of bread and even in our services should do are remind us of what God has done, encourage us to remember who God is and challenge us to sing of Him until we’ve become like Him. A lot of our songs (again, the sound that reverberates from our lives, not just the melody that passes over our lips) are about what we want from God, how we feel about God or even how God Himself makes us feel. There can be beauty in those things, but often those things are too temporary. They can be carnal to use one of the Apostle Paul’s words, they can be too romantic which is an appeal of the senses of the moment, rather than devoted which flows from the truth learned through endurance. The psalmist was calling us to be careful that our time together, whether in a service, at a meal or even an unexpected interaction is filled with reminders, encouragement and challenges, that when we’ve seen each other we’ve heard of and even heard from Jesus. That we be committed to living out the songs that build the body.

The third song of Psalm 66 flows out of the second one, it’s the song of correction. Personally, I’d prefer the reminder of God’s great works to be the focus of the third song, or the song of encouragement, we all love to be encouraged, but the psalmist spent more time on correction, which should tell us that as much as we need to be reminded and encouraged, if we are not corrected we can’t be changed. First there is the reminder that God has kept us, and He has not let our feet slip, but then there is the truth, sung to God, that He has also had to discipline us. Romans 2:4 tells us that God’s kindness is “meant to lead us to repentance.” The Scriptures tell us in multiple places that God only disciplines those that He loves. We are willing to quote Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God”, and yet we tend to recoil when we are corrected, explaining our position or excusing our behavior.

The psalmist, and we don’t know who he was, if it wasn’t David, he must have learned from David. In response to God’s discipline, he sings, “I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you”. In other words, he hid nothing, he explained nothing, he trusted God’s correction enough to offer his repentance. Sometimes I think repentance might be the only song that matters. It’s the ultimate song of trust, of dependence, but belief in God’s goodness and our desperate need for His love. Repentance doesn’t point to anyone else; it simply allows God to point to us. It doesn’t cover anything up, it trust God enough to be laid bare. It doesn’t hold on to what it has, it chooses God over everything else that it has. If our songs aren’t calling each other to repentance, if they aren’t exalting God’s standard of character and creating safe places to be accountable and to be turned from stubborn to obedient, then I’m not sure we are singing the right songs.

The fourth song is my favorite, it’s the song of vulnerability. The psalmist seems to stop leading the choir and he begins to sing a solo, “Come and hear (listen), all you who fear God, and I will tell what he has done for my soul.” Repentance doesn’t just lead to forgiveness; it begins transformation and it requires vulnerability. I’m not saying that every detail of our lives must be announced and scrutinized, but we also can’t hide where we’ve been and be free at the same time. Notice how David was never afraid to sing of how God met him in sin and flooded him with grace. Paul never shied away from his days as a persecutor, but singing his story painted Jesus’ love in an even clearer picture. There is a time when our song can’t be generic, it can’t be someone else’s experience, it can’t even just be the story of what God did in the pages of Scripture, it has to be how He met me and I discovered His goodness, His mercy and His love for myself.

As I finished reading Psalm 66 this morning, I was left to ask myself if the song my life was singing was pointing to Christ and calling to others? Am I living in way that announces God’s goodness to those that don’t know Him and reminds of His goodness to those who do? Am I singing for His glory in the world I live in? Just as important, am I singing the songs of fellowship with His people? Am I listening to the songs of my brothers and sisters? Are we singing to and with each other, “Blessed be God, because he has not rejected my prayer or removed his steadfast love from me!” That’s the song of the redeemed, but it’s also the song that leads to redemption. If I can encourage you to do anything today it would simply be, sing!