I love this picture of God. He is in our midst. What do we have to fear? A mighty savior is in our midst. Why should we be discouraged? And what kind of God is among us? One who rejoices over us. Think of those things which bring us joy. For God, it’s us. And how does he rejoice? He sings joyfully. What a picture! Here I am with all of my faults and problems and God is singing joyfully because of me. I’ve often wondered what he might be singing. I hope it’s not “Another One Bites the Dust”! What is God singing joyfully because of you?

I will never forget the day when my father had about fifteen more hours to live. He was in a hospice bed in the Abilene, Texas, hospital. My mom sat on one side of the bed closest to his head and my aunt sat on the other side. I sat next to my aunt and all of my siblings sat with their families as you moved toward the foot of the bed. My dad had not opened his eyes for days and he was restless. He seemed agitated. My aunt turned to me and said, “George, you know how much your dad loved Christian songs. Why don’t you sing one?” I did and everyone joined in. Then, my alpha alpha sister said, “This is a Baptist hospital. There’s got to be some hymnals in here somewhere.” Sure enough, she found them. Folks started going through the pages and calling out a song for me to lead. This went on for close to an hour. Friends of my parents would come to visit my mom and see dad for the final time. When they saw and heard us singing, they would wave hello to my mom and then sit down and sing with us. It was barely ten minutes into our singing that my aunt nudged me and told me to look at dad. He was totally calm. Those hymns of praise calmed his spirit and his body. I do not doubt that he heard us singing but was he so close to the other side of the veil that he heard the song of his heavenly Father? I don’t know the answer to this but it wouldn’t surprise me.

The psalmist turns this around and exhorts us to “sing to him a new song, with shouts of gladness.” John the Baptist “leaped for joy” in his mother’s womb. Yes, we are a people of gratitude, gladness, and joy and this leads us to sing. Just never forget that someone else is singing joyfully over you