praise song

The other night, I was sitting on my deck with Dawn as the sun set, reading and watching the barn swallows. I thought then, and said to her, “This is good.”

When I think of good things, or the good life, I think of things like that. Those are the moments that seem the best, the part that makes all the struggle and so-so days and really awful days worthwhile.

This morning, as I read Psalm 92, I was challenged a little bit in that kind of thinking. I still think I’m mostly right, but I stop short. Look at the first three verses of that Psalm:
“It is good to praise the Lord
    and make music to your name, O Most High,
proclaiming your love in the morning
    and your faithfulness at night,
to the music of the ten-stringed lyre
    and the melody of the harp.”

Whenever I have one of those “this is good” moments, I think the next thing I should do is sing. I should let everyone in earshot know of God’s love and faithfulness; I should let them know that my God is the source of every good thing in this world.

In fact, I should be singing a lot more than I do. Praise songs (and this Psalm is one) are part of worship, and worship should happen in my heart and home every day.

Maybe someday those moments of singing will themselves be the good thing I’m grateful for.