Reason #9 - To Join in the Everlasting Symphony of Praise

Tonight we wrap up our study answering the question, "Why Do We Sing?"  This last reason quickly became one of my favorites.  It's such a great picture of the amazing opportunity we have when we sing.  It's about so much more than just ourselves.  We are able to join with the Everlasting Symphony of Praise!

Psalm 148 explains what God expects from His symphony of praise.  It says,

Praise the Lord!
Praise the Lord from the heavens; Praise Him in the heights!
Praise Him, all His angels; Praise Him, all His hosts!
Praise Him, sun and moon; Praise Him, all stars of light!
Praise Him, highest heavens, And the waters that are above the heavens!
Let them praise the name of the Lord, For He commanded and they were created.
He has also established them forever and ever;
He has made a decree which will not pass away.
Praise the Lord from the earth, Sea monsters and all deeps;
Fire and hail, snow and clouds; Stormy wind, fulfilling His word;
Mountains and all hills; Fruit trees and all cedars;
Beasts and all cattle; Creeping things and winged fowl. 

Since the beginning of time, God’s creation has been praising Him.  This passage declares that God should regularly hear His praises from the heavens, the angels, the sun, the moon, the stars, the water, the sea monsters, fire, hail, snow, clouds, wind, mountains, trees, animals, birds, and even the bugs!  But, listen to the next part of this chapter… 

Praise the Lord!
Kings of the earth and all peoples; Princes and all judges of the earth;
Both young men and young women; Old men and children.
Let them praise the name of the Lord,
For His name alone is exalted; His glory is above earth and heaven.
Praise the Lord!

We have an opportunity to join with all creation and sing His praise.  The worship service doesn’t start when I say, “Good morning, let’s stand and sing together.”  The worship service started with the beginning of time.  He is the alpha and omega, the beginning and the end and He demands and deserves praise.

Louie Giglio just released a new DVD called Symphony.  His message is based off of Psalm 148 and shares what an amazing opportunity we have to join with all creation to sing His praises.  During part of his message, Louie Giglio plays sounds to give us a little glimpse of what God hears.  He starts with sounds from space that are emitted by the stars.  Then, he mixes in sounds of whales and other animals.  Lastly, he mixes in the voices of God’s people singing “How Great is Our God!”  That symphony of praise is music to God’s ears and Psalm 148 commands us to use our voices to join that symphony.

Another amazing thing about this symphony of praise is that it’s everlasting.  Just as this symphony has been praising God since the beginning of time, it will also continue for all of eternity.  When our time of singing in the earthly symphony is complete, we will get promoted to join with the angels in the heavenly choir.

Revelation gives us a breathtaking picture of all the heavenly beings singing around God’s throne.  We should sing today with this picture in mind so we can look forward to the glory yet to come!  To help give us a better feel for what the singing in heaven might be like, I want to share a passage from a book called Edge of Eternity.  In this book, Randy Alcorn gives some very appropriate thoughts to what we might expect….

We rejoined our comrades in the great camp of [heaven], embracing and shedding tears and slapping each other on the back. Then warriors around me turned toward the masses of untold millions gathered in [heaven]. The army began to sing, perhaps hundreds of thousands, perhaps a million. I added my voice to theirs and sang the unchained praises of the King. As we sang to the gathered throngs of [heaven], the sheer power of our voices, nearly bowled me over.

Then suddenly the multitudes before us sang back to us, and our voices were drowned by theirs. We who a moment earlier seemed the largest choir ever assembled now proved to be only the small worship ensemble that led the full choir of untold millions, now lost to themselves. We sang together in full voice. The galaxies and nebulae sang with us the royal song. It echoed off a trillion planets and reverberated in a quadrillion places in every nook and cranny of the universe. Our voices broke into thirty-two distinct parts, and instinctively I knew which of them I was made to sing. “We sing for joy at the work of your hands…we stand in awe of you.” It felt indescribably wonderful to be lost in something so much greater than myself.

[Then I looked at] the audience.  I looked at the great throne, and upon it sat the King…the Audience of One.  When we completed our song, the One on the throne stood and raised his great arms and clapped his hands together in thunderous applause, shaking ground and sky, jarring every corner of the cosmos. His applause went on and on, unstopping and unstoppable.

 And in that moment I knew, with unwavering clarity, that the King’s approval was all that mattered—and ever would.

 We sing, not for our own glory, preferences, or pleasure, but for the pleasure of the One who gave us a song in the first place. The great Redeemer has given us the song of the redeemed, so that we might remember His words and respond fully to Him.

God gave us singing to develop and deepen our relationship with Him until that day when we will wake to find ourselves singing directly to Him.  God wants us to join His everlasting symphony.  We must continue to sing!