Shut Up and Sing!

Sing praises to God! Sing praises! Sing praises to our king! Sing praises.  -Psalm 47:6

Sing.  Shut up and sing.  Sing if you love the Lord.  Sing if you have problems.  Sing.  We need to sing more.  I'm convinced of this.  It's spiritually healthy.  It's Biblical.  Sing.

Are you depressed?  Sing.  Sing praises.  Sing the truth that you may not feel or believe.  When you sing the truth, your spirit will say, "amen", and affirm the truth that God is good, no matter what; and whether you expect it or not, there will be a building up inside you that will drive out depression.  

When we pray, "thy kingdom come", we better get ready to start praising next.  Sing it.  The presence of the King will make you want to sing praises to him.  Sing praises.

Singing praises brings God's presence.  If you have not noticed this, take notice.  I know God is omnipresent and I know God's Spirit is already here.  But, God's manifest presence increases when we praise him.  If we ask, "come Holy Spirit", or sing it; we are inviting God to increase His presence among us.

Singing praises changes the atmosphere here on earth.  We live in contested territory.  The Devil and all the demons are pushed back by God's Spirit and by God's presence.  Praise, singing praises, pushes these negative spirits out and away, like a candle pushes out darkness.

We need to sing when we are alone and also with and to each other.  The with part, everyone can get by thinking of a choir or singing with others.  But we also need to sing to other believers:

Speak to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs; sing and make music to the Lord in your hearts.  -Ephesians 5:19

The word of Christ must live in you richly. Teach and warn each other with all wisdom by singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing to God with gratitude in your hearts. -Colossians 3:16

Maybe these New Testament verses are telling us that singing is a ministry of the church, not only to God, but to each other.  Most of us are probably blessed and lifted up by hearing others sing praises to God and glorifying Him.  That is wonderful.  I'm there too, but I think that this feel good feeling from hearing the choir is mostly in the soul realm, just like when a movie makes you shed some tears because you are moved.  We have this experience, but we don't receive the inner healing or deliverance we need.

But what if there is more to Colossians 3:16 than a t-shirt for a committed choir member to wear?  What if there is power released when we sing to another believer as a ministry?  What if we did ministry time by having those who need ministry get sung to?  When the Holy Spirit sings to you through a person or persons, I believe there will be impact and change: healing and deliverance.

Sing more.  Sing praises to God more.  Sing to one another.  God invented singing.  Shhhhhh and sing.

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