…speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord… – Ephesians 5:19
Scripture reading: Psalm 150
How can we know if the Holy Spirit is truly at work in our lives? Ephesians 5:19 answers this by declaring that evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work in our lives, is the joy of the Lord which we possess in our hearts and which comes to expression in our worship of God.
As Christians, we have every reason to worship and to sing praises to our God. We sing of His wonderful work of creation, His sovereignty and His providence. We sing of His wonderful work of salvation through the life and death of His Son. We sing of the victory over the powers of sin and evil by His resurrection. We sing of the future glory that awaits us when we will join with the heavenly choir of angels and saints, praising and glorifying God together in heaven.
The music and songs of the church are not about what we like or our personal preferences, but are about what pleases the Lord. The aim of our singing and worship must always be the glory of our God. Music and songs that honour the Lord will also be a blessing to His people.
We do well to remember too, that our joy in the Lord and our Spirit-filled response of singing unto the Lord is not determined by our circumstances in life. Paul and Silas sang to the Lord as they were sitting in prison. A Spirit-filled heart rejoices in the LORD always and SINGS.
Suggestions for prayer
May it be the desire of our Spirit-filled hearts to worship our God by singing together to His praise and glory.
Rev. Henry Van Olst felt called to the ministry at the age of 32 after 12 years of working in the accounting field. He served the Parkland Reformed Church (URC) of Ponoka, Alberta from 1993 to 2005; served in several other churches, and upon retirement in 2020 moved back to Ponoka, Alberta along with his wife Mary, to be closer to their four married children and fifteen grandchildren. Rev. Van Olst remains active in preaching and teaching as the church is currently vacant. This daily devotional is also available in a print edition you can buy at Nearer to God Devotional.
