Mensa Otabil - Singing of God's Works (10/06/2025)
We are talking about singing not just in our private lives but singing as worship, as praise to God. We’ve said that we must sing a new song to the Lord, and what we think must be God’s word. We can’t just make up any words and sing to the Lord; they must be deeply ingrained in the Scriptures. So, we take another step and look at First Chronicles, chapter 16, verses 8 and 9. «O give thanks to the Lord; call upon His name; make known His deeds among the peoples; sing to Him; sing psalms to Him; talk of His wondrous works.»
This psalm was composed on the day that David brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. This psalm combines different psalms, making it almost like a rearrangement of existing psalms to celebrate this great day in the life of Israel. If you remember, it was a day of high praise. David was in a praise mode, dancing and worshiping. There were Levites singing and instrumentalists playing; it was a massive celebration of God’s grace and goodness as they brought the Ark of the Covenant back to Jerusalem. You may recall that during one of those dances, David danced like the shepherd boy he was before becoming king, which embarrassed his own wife.
The psalm is celebrated here, marking the day, and it tells us our singing should focus on giving thanks to the Lord. It’s a very simple instruction but easy to overlook because, many times, when we’re going through intense situations, we forget to thank God for what He has done in the past. Each one of us has a testimony of God’s goodness. There was a time when you were in trouble, you cried to the Lord, and He delivered you. The fact that you are alive today is a testimony, but I understand that when we’re facing difficulties, we sometimes forget to thank the Lord. So, if we’re going to come before the Lord, we must learn to be thankful, even when we are not in the best shape. We need to express our gratitude to the Lord for what He has done for us.
The second thing that the psalm tells us is to call upon His name. When we call upon the name of the Lord, we are announcing Him; we are proclaiming Him to the world and telling the nations that the Lord is our God. We belong to Him, and we make our boast in Him. Christian songs, hymns, and choruses should announce the Lord and express the presence of God among His people. I don’t know if this has ever happened to you: when you are away from your familiar place, maybe not in church or in another country, and suddenly you hear people singing a Christian song, perhaps a hymn or a chorus. Just by hearing them sing, you feel as if you are in the presence of the Lord. The singers are announcing God in a strange land, in a quiet place. Or you might be somewhere out in the bush, and you hear someone singing and worshiping God. It tells you-announces-that God’s presence is there. So, the psalmist says we give thanks to the Lord, and when we sing, we are also announcing His name and calling upon His name.
The third thing that our singing does is make known His deeds; it announces God’s works. Our singing focuses on what God is doing, not on what the enemy is doing, not what Satan is doing. I know sometimes we get so obsessed with Satan that we make him the object of all our singing and prayer, but our prayers should focus on God. We should look at what He is doing, His works, power, glory, and beauty. When we do that, we announce the works of the Lord in the midst of our circumstances. We affirm that the same God who did it for us yesterday will do it for us today. So we give thanks to the Lord, we call on His name, and we announce Him while making His works known-not the works of the enemy, but the works of the Lord must be made known.
Let your singing be Christ-centered and Christ-focused.
Let’s pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, I see You at work in every area of my life. I declare Your wonderful works to all generations. In Jesus' name, amen, and amen.» Oh, what a day to celebrate the Lord and declare His works to all the nations! I’ll catch you again tomorrow. I’m Pastor Mensa Otabil. Shalom, peace, and life to you.