Sing Out to the Lord

by Commissioner G. Lorraine Bamford

 Sing a new song to the Lord! Let the whole earth sing to the Lord!  —Psalm 96:1 (NLT)

As a child, I sang. We always sang. We sang hymns; we sang carols. We made up songs in the car. My mother taught us “old” popular songs that my sister and I would sing when we visited nursing homes at Christmas and Easter as a family. Those were songs that none of our peers knew, because we learned them specifically to bless the previous generation.

Singing is good for the brain. It’s good for the soul. Sometimes we sing songs of joy; at other times they may be songs of sorrow.

Singing also helps us to remember. (You learned the alphabet by song, didn’t you? And if you’re like me, you probably unconsciously still hum the tune from time to time when alphabetizing a list or doing a crossword puzzle that asks for a five-letter series in the alphabet.)

Recently, I spent some extended time with my sister; yes, my singing partner. She’s recovering from a series of two strokes and, among other challenges, is undergoing speech therapy. The therapist said that singing is helpful for strengthening the vocal cords; so we sang! For over an hour we sang every childhood/riding in the car/church/nursing home song that came to mind…and we remembered. We laughed. We got a little choked up at times. We sang.

For some reason, people who hardly ever sing any other time of the year will join in a carol or song at Christmas. Those songs usually tell a story. They bring back memories. Many of them point to the birth of Jesus.

So…sing! Sing with a purpose. Sing as if no one is listening—only God! Let Him be your audience of one as you celebrate the birth of our Savior. Sing out the old and sing in the new as we approach the promise of a new year.

And you know what? The Scripture tells us that God sings His love right back to us! Receive that gift during this season and always. He’s a great singer and a great Savior!

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves.
He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you,
    but will rejoice over you with singing.

—Zephaniah 3:17