I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;
With my mouth will I make known Your faithfulness to all generations.

-Psalm 89:1

Photo: Pixabay

Have you ever had things in your life go in the opposite direction of what you wanted?  Have you failed and hurt over it and asked, "why?".  Have you been disappointed that your life has not turned out as you had hoped?

If you said yes, then you are in the same boat as many believers through the generations, including a man named Ethan, who wrote Psalm 89.  This psalm is not just a song for kids to sing, but a song of worship, for all who have been afraid that they missed it, and feel like things are off-track and off-base; not going as planned.

I will sing

There is something powerful about singing.  Songs release words into the air, where they have affect.  If I do not have a voice, my spirit still sings and releases songs in the spirit realm.  When I sing, "God is good, yes God is good, I do believe that my God is good!", it changes the atmosphere.  It also blesses my spirit and affirms the truth.  It also encourages my heart.  And it does this to those around me who hear my voice.

Songs of praise, worship, and lament also touch the heart of God.  We sing about God, to one another.  And we sing to God, intimately, from our hearts to his ears.  There is a release of spiritual power when we express truth to God.

God does not need our worship, but he desires it, because it positions us in proper alignment with him.  And when we are rightly related to God, we are on line to live the proper way in life.  So, the psalmist rightly says, "I will sing".

There is a willfulness in singing to God and about God.  We could do a hundred other things with our hearts and minds.  But, I will sing, because it is the better thing to do.  God is always worthy of praise.  God is always good and faithful.  God is always watching over us.

There are many, many reasons why we ought to sing about and to God.  God is the center, God is the source.  God answers prayer.  God is the light and the life.  When we begin to consider all these things, the question becomes, "Why don't we sing all the time?"

Of the mercies of the Lord

Especially when things are bad, there is defeat, failure, loss, set-backs, betrayal, and disappointment; we need to call to mind the mercies of the Lord.  Mercy means loving kindness, with the idea of covenant love.  The HCSB  calls it "faithful love", the NLT, "unfailing love", and the ESV, "steadfast love".

The mercy of God is an attribute of God.  God is merciful.  His mercies are new every morning and great is his faithfulness, as Jeremiah wrote in Lamentations.  If you are in a negative experience or circumstance, you can know, believe, and proclaim that, "God is faithful".

This is not denial of the painful situation, but a proclamation of truth in the midst of it.  God never asks us to be in denial or to be stoic.  Lament is not a self-pity party or a grieving without hope, but worship that is completely honest to God.

To all those in disappointment, confused, hurting, and disheartened; the worship leader leads in the song, "I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever..."  The worship leader, Ethan in this case, is blessed with this revelation of proclaiming God's goodness, in the midst of life's difficulties.

Forever

The idea of forever means, "At all times", or, "In all times" - always.  When circumstances change for the worse, God has not changed.  This is the big idea to be assimilated: to walk in, believe in, and experience God's mercy when you are in failure, loss, disappointment, or betrayal.

When life is good, it is pretty easy to say and believe God is good.  Thank you, God!  So easy to say that.  We smile at the circumstance and smile at God.

But when we make a mistake, when we try and fail, when we have misfortune, and when something bad happens to us that we did not want to happen; that is when God's mercy is pure gold for us.  He is merciful, he is going to make this right, he is going to redeem us in this, he is going to save us, deliver us, heal us, and make us wiser.

Christ will arise in our situation.  I can not tell you what God will do for you, because it is beyond human reason.  The truth is that God is merciful.  He is a faithful, covenant keeping God of caring love.

When we sing this song, we are tempering our will, or selves, or hearts to the truth, and setting the stage or opening the door for God to be merciful to us.  If you just had a loss, a failure, or a betrayal in your life; then sing this song.  Set the stage and open the door and see what God will do to be merciful to you.

Believe and receive.  Be honest about the pain, the anger, the grief, the disillusionment, hopelessness, fear, and any bad feelings.  Let God in, and into that place, and let him have those things.  Then let him love you where you are and walk with him through this.

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever
I will sing, I will sing.
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever,
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord.

With my mouth will I make known
Thy faithfulness, Thy faithfulness.
With my mouth will I make known
Thy faithfulness to all generations.

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever
I will sing, I will sing.
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever
I will sing, I will sing of the mercies of the Lord.

I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;
I will sing, I will sing.
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever;
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord.

With my mouth will I make known,
Thy faithfulness, Thy faithfulness,
With my mouth will I make known,
Thy faithfulness to all generations.
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord forever
I will sing of the mercies of the Lord.