Sing, Sing, Sing
A Note from Mark Roberts
Dear Life for Leaders Reader,
On Tuesday, I added a note to Life for Leaders in which I asked readers to consider supporting Life for Leaders and the De Pree Center financially. If you did this, thank you! If you missed that note and would like to read it, you can see it here. Also, I’d encourage you to check out the Giving Tuesday note from Executive Director Michaela O’Donnell.
We know that you support a variety of worthy ministries and causes, including other efforts of Fuller Seminary. That’s great! But we would ask you to consider making a special “end of year” gift to the De Pree Center for Life for Leaders. This ministry is funded completely by donors who are grateful for how we are helping them live and work in a distinctively Christian way.
Thanks for being part of the Life for Leaders community!
Grace and Peace,
Mark Roberts
Scripture — Psalm 96 (NRSV)
O sing to the Lord a new song;
sing to the Lord, all the earth.
Sing to the Lord; bless his name;
tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
his marvelous works among all the peoples.
For great is the Lord and greatly to be praised;
he is to be revered above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are idols,
but the Lord made the heavens.
Honor and majesty are before him;
strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.
Ascribe to the Lord, O families of the peoples,
ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.
Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name;
bring an offering, and come into his courts.
Worship the Lord in holy splendor;
tremble before him, all the earth.
Say among the nations, “The Lord is king!
The world is firmly established; it shall never be moved.
He will judge the peoples with equity.”
Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice;
let the sea roar and all that fills it;
let the field exult and everything in it.
Then shall all the trees of the forest sing for joy
before the Lord, for he is coming,
for he is coming to judge the earth.
He will judge the world with righteousness
and the peoples with his truth.
Focus
We as leaders are called to encourage those we lead to embrace God from a bigger perspective. Proclaiming the good news of God’s salvation, we challenge them to sing, sing, and sing—even in the middle of hardship.
Devotion
Do you recall ever watching an NBA game and seeing the players on the court, or the coach of the team, encouraging the crowd to cheer for their team which is on the verge of winning? They turn and look at the crowd while raising their hands up & down—almost as if they are leading a choir to get that crowd encouraged in cheering for the team to win. They rev them up to participate in cheering, just cheering, to motivate this team to win! It’s all in the cheer!
In today’s devotion, we can feel the vigor and pulse of excitement in the psalmist’s voice as his tone joyfully encourages the listener (or reader) to participate in various forms of worship to the Lord. These forms of worship include singing, giving, and rejoicing. The psalmist David offers us great hope in the reassurance that our God does marvelous deeds. This isn’t a stale offering of sacrifice; it is fresh; as the psalmist says, it’s a new song being sung, new every morning, in reflection of the Lord’s mighty wonders.
It encourages us as leaders. No matter how your day was yesterday, every day is an opportunity to sing a new song to the Lord.
In one translation we hear the words:
“Sing unto the Lord …”
whereas in a theological interpretation we hear the words as:
“Sing to I AM, a new song….”
“Sing to I AM, bless His name…”
“Ascribe to I AM all you clans of nations…”
This call to action of public proclamation from the psalmist not only appeals to humanity but also to nature. Everyone and everything is involved in the call of praising the Lord who is greatly to be praised, incomparable above all other gods, and worthy to be praised.
Humanity is encouraged to give to the Lord glory, give an offering, give declarations, saying, “The Lord reigns.” Nature joins in the celebration, responding to the psalmist’s appeal; the heavens rejoice, the sea roars, the fields are joyful, and so are the trees of the woods.
After sharing how we should praise, the psalmist gives us the reasons to praise by expressing the longing of hope with expectation for the Lord’s return through the emphasis in vs. 13, which he repeats twice. He says, “…for He is coming, for He is coming…”** ** It’s as if he thinks they need to hear it twice to sink in. Our Lord I AM is coming to judge the world with righteousness. We look forward to this coming of judgment. Yahweh’s judging is not one of fear; rather, the judging of the people calls for joy as the people anticipate righteousness in the future. This judgment stirs gladness in the heart, as the Lord restores order and harmony on the earth.
Similarly to how the psalmist encouraged others, we as leaders are called to encourage those we lead to embrace God from a bigger perspective. Proclaiming the good news of God’s salvation, we challenge them to sing, sing, and sing—even in the middle of hardship—identifying God’s majestic greatness and beauty, giving everything to God in honor, and rejoicing with creation that one day the Lord will bring the restoration we all long for to the earth. Amen.
Reflect
During this time of Advent, do you pause more or less to think of the Lord’s return to earth and the work the Lord will conduct during that time?
Act
Spend some time today, or this week, in God’s presence singing a song to God; sitting within creation at a local park or at the beach or a quiet location where you can embody the greatness of God’s creation as you sit in nature praising Him.
Pray
Heavenly Father, we thank you for being a great God. Thank you for the wondrous works you have proclaimed in the world for us to attest to your mighty power. Thank you that you reign and rule with a promise to bring righteous living to all humanity. May we ever sing for joy and bless Your holy name. AMEN.
Find all Life for Leaders devotions here. Explore what the Bible has to say about work at the High Calling archive, hosted by the unique website of our partners, the Theology of Work Project. Reflection on today’s Life for Leaders theme can be found here: Advent Reflection: Why Do We Praise the Lord?.
Joy-Ann Wood
Author & Guest Contributor
President Caribbean Baptist Youth Department, Caribbean Baptist Fellowship HR Professional United Nations Development Programme Joy-Ann Wood is a Christian who is not ashamed to let the world know that she loves the Lord. As Im...