Sing for your King!

I love to sing! No, not to perform, just to sing.  I forget myself when singing, such is my joy.  A couple of weeks ago, while visiting the church my daughter attends, I sang the hymns with joy and gusto and noted a couple of the staid Presbyterians around me looking around to see who was breaking the approved volume levels. I didn’t mind at all.  This old Pentecostal was not performing for the congregation, I was singing to my King!

In life, we are tempted to perform, pressured to meet expectations.  We sometimes slip into saying the things we hope will earn approval, doing things we do not want to do just to make someone else happy, or even acting in ways that run counter to our convictions, because ‘that’s what everyone is doing.’    Christian, the fear of man is deadly and leads to idolatry.  Stern? Yes, but true.  An idol does not need to be a little silver object or a grotesque image. Anytime we put someone else or Self in the place at the center place that only God should occupy, we have created an idol, another god.  If we turn into performers, driven by the need for approval, fear and her cousin, inferiority, will become our companions on the road of life.  We will seldom, if ever, experience the joy of just ‘singing for the King,’ If we are listening for praise of criticism of others.  An old pastor told this a long time ago:  “The voice of a single critic drowns out the voices of a hundred who praise.”  Performers are, by nature, desperately insecure people, always looking for the ovation. 

The Scripture declares - "Those who fear the Lord are secure; he will be a place of refuge for their children. Fear of the Lord is a life-giving fountain; it offers escape from the snares of death." (Proverbs 14:26-27, NLT) God says, "Fear Me alone!"  He is not asking us to live in terror.  His desire is that we will reverence Him, and long only for His approval.   "Skilled living gets its start in the Fear-of-God, insight into life from knowing a Holy God." (Proverbs 9:10, The Message) Do you believe that? It is true!  When we put our focus on God, learn His will and commit to doing it,  a lot of the silly posturing that we put ourselves through as performers, drops away.  We are content to be our true, God-created selves. We have no need to build an image we think that people will love. We do not have to 'look good,' for if we are living and working for God, we actually become good because of the love of Jesus Christ and the life of the Holy Spirit.

Some of the greatest tragedies of my life came from letting opinions and need for approval drive me.  When I allow the grip of critics to squeeze me into their expectations, I am unable to sing freely and love my King. I forget made by Him as I am and gifted by the Spirit to fit God’s plan. "Destruction is certain for those who argue with their Creator. Does a clay pot ever argue with its maker? Does the clay dispute with the one who shapes it, saying, ‘Stop, you are doing it wrong!’ Does the pot exclaim, ‘How clumsy can you be!’" (Isaiah 45:9, NLT)  

Have you spent too many days dancing feverishly to win the applause of those who surround you?  You may succeed for a time and drink from the cup of praise, but all too soon someone will come along who can sing and dance in a way that wins the crowd.  However, God is always pleased when live as He planned.  Nobody can be me except me! What rest, what joy, what wholeness is found in when we learn to live in His purposes.  Evaluate your life prayerfully. Whose praise are you seeking?  Whose approval matters most -- God's or that of the people around you?

The word from the Word directs us to a life of utmost fulfillment: 
“Be satisfied with what you have. For God has said, “I will never fail you. I will never forsake you.”

That is why we can say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper, so I will not be afraid.

What can mere mortals do to me?” (Hebrews 13:5 NLT)

_______________

Be Thou my Vision,
O Lord of my heart;
Nought be all else to me,
Save that Thou art
Thou my best thought,
By day or by night,
Waking or sleeping,
Thy presence my light.

Riches I heed not,
Nor man's empty praise,
Thou mine inheritance,
Now and always:
Thou and Thou only,
First in my heart,
High King of heaven,
My Treasure Thou art.

High King of heaven,
My victory won,
May I reach heaven's joys,
O bright heaven's Sun!
Heart of my own heart,
Whatever befall,
Still be my Vision,
O Ruler of all.

© Public Domain