“Praise the Lord!
Praise the name of the Lord!
Praise him, you who serve the Lord,
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good;
celebrate his lovely name with music.
The Lord be praised from Zion,
for he lives here in Jerusalem.
Praise the Lord!”
Psalms 135:1, 3, 21 NLT
A Psalm of praise. It starts and ends with the phrase, “Praise the Lord!” An instruction. An invitation. And the Psalm continues to expand on the where, who and why the Lord should be praised. Because of what He has done and will do. Where? – everywhere. Who? – all who fear the Lord. Why? For He is good. Pretty well an all-encompassing situation. A cornucopia of praise. And just in case there is any doubt, the Psalmist rubbishes the man-made trinkets that some people worship.
One thing that emerges for me in this psalmistic word-explosion, this smorgasbord, of praise is the place music holds in our praise of God. Verse 3 associates the Lord’s lovely name with a celebration of music. Human beings are wired for music. The love of music and song is deeply embedded within us. It’s part of our design. It’s how God has created us. Some people have the gift of being able to make music. Minstrels there to bless their fellow humans. Gently and diligently developing Heavenly themes that permeate into our earthly lives. But just about everyone has the capacity, the ability, the desire to enjoy music. Music and song can take our praise of God to extraordinary heights, lifting us there in the process. Every fibre of our beings can be involved, taking us into the very presence of God Himself.
The pilgrim sings his way through life, developing in his mind God-themes of words and music. Lifting his feet out of the the mud and clay, the worldly life, lightening his steps. No place in music for the worship of idols, much as our enemy, the devil, likes to be praised. Music was designed by God, for God and for our use in His praise. Let’s sing our way through this day with God-songs. Let’s find a new song in our hearts today and allow it to burst into our spirits with an explosion of praise. Elevation music for our journey to the place of music – Heaven itself.
Being a Pilgrim 