Natural Praise

Ex 15:2 "The Lord is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation; He is my God, and I will praise Him; My father's God, and I will exalt Him." (NKJV)

I have been blessed for many years in that God has given me the opportunity to help lead our church in worshiping God through music. I am not the most talented guy. I certainly don't have the best voice in the world. But the Lord has surrounded me with a group of people who are very talented and who know what it means to exalt Christ together. It is my privilege to be involved with this group. It is a privilege to help lead Lake Ridge in songs of praise and exaltation.

Moses had a chance to do this. After "the horse and its rider (were) thrown into the sea" he couldn't help it. He had to sing. "I will sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously!" v1. And he did not do this alone. "Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to the Lord." v1. It was something that was natural. It was something that just came out. Why? Because they realized something. Moses had just encouraged them to not fear. Moses had just encouraged them to stand still and see the salvation of the Lord…and it happened. God let the children of Israel cross the Red Sea on dry ground and when the Egyptians tried to follow, they sucked down a ton of water. Now they realized it wasn't up to their strength. It wasn't up to them to figure out how to fight their battles. "The Lord is my strength…and He has become my salvation." And I will sing. I will praise (make beautiful). I will exalt Him.

Heartfelt, real, honest, genuine praise is what God wants. He doesn't want a show. He doesn't want a concert. He doesn't care about style. He doesn't care about talent. He cares about our hearts. And when my heart grips the reality that God alone is my strength, that God alone is my salvation, that I am helpless and hopeless without Him, but He is there to rescue and save and give power…then it impacts my heart. And that impacts my voice. And that impacts my song. I will praise. I will exalt. I will make His Name great. I will lift Him up above all else.

May that be what I do…may that be what we do every time we stand in front of people with a song to sing.