MORNING MANNA            12/11/19

“I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.”- Psa. 138:1
Over the years I’ve heard just about every famous quartet and gospel singing group. I’ve listened with much enjoyment to people with great talent, but perhaps the most heart touching singing I’ve ever heard was in a little one room church building in the hills of SW Missouri. It was congregational singing, with less than 100 people singing four part harmony, accompanied by an old upright piano. Back then you didn’t need a “special” – the whole service was special.

Why do I mention this? I want to remind you of the importance of wholeheartedness. Lyrics are important and ability is a fine thing, but whether you are singing, preaching, praying, or whatever, if it doesn’t come from the heart it isn’t worth a plug nickel. Our chief end is to glorify God and to do that we must be wholeheartedly devoted to His will. We seem to have lost sight of that today. We rush to the service, through the service, and away from the service. Then we wonder why we didn’t get anything out of the service! We are in great need of “simplicity and godly sincerity” ( 2 Cor. 1:12). We need rid of the idea that we assemble to entertain or to be entertained. Our concern should be to exalt Christ, edify the saints, and evangelize the sinners. Heart felt singing touches hearts and has the power to change lives.

Sadly it is a major undertaking to get some folks to sing. Some never utter a word and others just mumble through the lyrics. Some sing lovely and loud, but not from the heart. That’s tragic. God deserves better. Most Christians don’t intend to fail at this. They just get in a rut. We just get so caught up in life that we get distracted from what’s most important. We tend to blend in to what is generally considered normal Christianity – although it is anything but normal. We allow average to become acceptable even though it isn’t acceptable to God. An old song says, “I’d like to go back to that old country church to hear the songs of praise”. We can’t go back in time, but there’s no reason why we can’t recapture the spirit of those days. There won’t be a change however unless there is a longing for it. Just about everyone would say they enjoy the singing I’ve described and if that’s true of you that’s the way you ought to be singing – with all your heart. It’s how you sing, not how well you sing, that matters most.- HDS

David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346