READING: 1 Chronicles 24-26, Acts 1
I can still remember singing particular hymns and praise choruses at different times in my Christian walk. For example, I recall a Wednesday night Bible study when I as a teenage believer joined our group in singing, “Rescue the Perishing”—on the same day a high school classmate unexpectedly and tragically passed away. I still look back to the time when the brand new choir in the first church I pastored sang “Amazing Grace” as special music—and that little country church in Ohio rejoiced with clapping. I then remember joining with a group of missionaries as they sang together in their mother tongue, “Hear the Call of the Kingdom” by the Gettys, and I still can’t fully get beyond the conviction I felt during that singing to get the gospel to the nations. There’s just something about singing God’s praises together that’s unexplainably powerful.
Our Old Testament reading today reminds us of the importance of music in worship, as the entire 25th chapter of 1 Chronicles describes what has been described as the “temple choir.” The chapter reverberates with harps, lyre, and cymbals. It’s marked by praising and thanking God—the “music of the temple of the Lord” (1 Chron 25:6). Indeed, the fact that the musicians and singers were “trained and skilled in music for the Lord” (1 Chron 25:7) suggests some type of equipping program for these folks to serve the Lord.
What does this mean for us? We need to sing the Lord’s praises in our personal lives, our family, and in our local church. May the world hear our singing this coming weekend!
PRAYER: “Help me, God, to sing Your praises with joy.”
DAILY ACTION STEP: Choose 2-3 favorite hymns or choruses, and sing them throughout the day today.
TOMORROW’S READING: 1 Chronicles 27-29, Acts 2:1-41
