Unrestrained lips

For many people, it would be a daunting thought to sing publicly or in front of an audience. You may remember singing ‘Happy Birthday’ within a large group, where a slight hesitation occurred before everyone sang en masse. Nobody wanted to sing first! Instead, everyone ‘restrained their lips’ momentarily. The psalmist wrote, ‘I have proclaimed glad tidings of righteousness in the great congregation; behold, I will not restrain my lips’. Psa 40:9. Of course, singing ‘Happy Birthday’ and proclaiming the Lord’s praise couldn’t be more different! Moreover, the confidence we place in our solo voice is relevant for one, but immaterial for the other. ‘They looked to Him and were radiant, and their faces will never be ashamed.’ Psa 34:5. When we fellowship before God at church, the ‘great congregation’, we needn’t critique our vocal qualities nor restrain our singing as if influenced by other people being present. Rather, we enter His courts with praise and sing to the Lord because it ‘is becoming’. Psa 100:4, 147:1. In this month’s On That Note we will consider that our attitude towards singing the Lord’s song should be one of unrestrained lips, and in so doing, we proclaim His righteousness.

The psalmist continued, ‘Behold, I will not restrain my lips, O Lord, You know’. All the way through the book of Psalms the writers repeatedly exhort us to ‘sing to the Lord’, ‘sing to the Lord’, ‘sing to the Lord’. Throughout the 150 chapters there are numerous reasons nominated for declaring songs of thanksgiving: for His mercy, redemption, salvation, righteousness, help, joy, justice, faithfulness, refuge and so forth. And did you know, not only has God instructed us to sing and ascribe these divine attributes to Him, He knows when we do? ‘O Lord, You know.’ Our personal burden to sing to the Lord is linked exclusively to our recognition of His sovereignty over our life. If He knows our thoughts and prayers before we articulate them, and the hairs on our very heads, what calamity will He allow to befall us while we trust Him? Hence, ‘let all who take refuge in You be glad, let them ever sing for joy’. Psa 5:11. The number of worshippers in a particular church, the singing volume of the congregation or the instrumental volume of the leading orchestra is unimportant, because He firstly knows whether or not our individual lips are restrained!

Our personal conviction should be, ‘I will tell of Your name to my brethren; in the midst of the assembly I will praise You’. Psa 22:22. This is why God desires we sing; to proclaim the wonders of His name. After stating he would not restrain his lips, the psalmist explained, ‘I have not hidden Your righteousness within my heart; I have spoken of Your faithfulness and Your salvation; I have not concealed Your lovingkindness and Your truth from the great congregation’.
Psa 40:10. The Lord seeks our song as our testimony of His bountiful dealing with our souls. Through this testimony, others see and turn to His salvation so that a generation ‘yet to be created may praise the Lord.’ Psa 102:18

Lachlan Perrin

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Feature Articles
June 2009

The love of God

Preparing the way

Unrestrained lips

Redeemed to be sons

As for me and my house

Sweet fellowship

Effective households

Freedom

Setting goals

Pray without doubting