Recently Pope Benedict XVI spoke about the importance of listening to each other. In his address he says that “Joy, anxiety and suffering can all be communicated in silence – indeed it provides them with a particularly powerful mode of expression." When we pray to God our silence can also be an expression. Have you ever felt something so strongly or been so moved that words weren't enough to communicate or portray your needs or feelings. Christ knows our hearts and knows our needs. We need to allow the Holy Spirit to permeate our beings. Then we can allow God to do his work through us in silence. We may find ourselves experiencing God's grace in ways we never could have had we been shouting at the top of our lungs. Now of course this week’s first verse seems to contradict what I just wrote. "Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD; let us acclaim the rock of our salvation. Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us joyfully sing psalms to him." This psalm isn't just about singing. The response specifically calls us to hear God's voice. Who can listen and hear while singing at the same time? I guess I view the singing as something we do once we've taken the time to listen with a soft heart. How much more beautiful will our music be when we've just listened to God's love wash over us like the water over a beautiful waterfall? Coming from the river with a clean heart and a love for Christ, we'll be ready to kneel before the Lord with soft hearts full of joyful song.
God Bless and Be Good,
Perry
If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts.
Come, let us sing joyfully to the LORD;
let us acclaim the rock of our salvation.
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving;
let us joyfully sing psalms to him.
Come, let us bow down in worship;
let us kneel before the LORD who made us.
For he is our God,
and we are the people he shepherds, the flock he guides.
Oh, that today you would hear his voice:
"Harden not your hearts as at Meribah,
as in the day of Massah in the desert,
Where your fathers tempted me;
they tested me though they had seen my works."
