DON’T LOSE YOUR SONG!!!

John Clardy

Psalms 95:1-2 GNB

(1)  Come, let us praise the LORD! Let us sing for joy to God, who protects us!

(2)  Let us come before him with thanksgiving and sing joyful songs of praise.

 

Psalms 100:1-2 GW

(1)  A psalm of thanksgiving. Shout happily to the LORD, all the earth.

(2)  Serve the LORD cheerfully. Come into his presence with a joyful song.

 

Introduction:  Fluffy the parakeet was minding his own business when all of a sudden he was sucked up, dumped out, dusted off, drenched in cold water & blown away because Fluffy’s owner had the bright idea that she would vacuum out Fluffy’s cage.  Before you could even say UH OH, she had sucked up Fluffy in the vacuum cleaner.  She then, franticly dumped out all the contents, desperately located a stunned looking Fluffy & dusted him off, rushed to the sink, doused him in cold water & then blasted him with the hot air of a blow dryer.  Poor Fluffy was still alive.  He was back in his cage.  He looked all right but something was wrong.  He was never the same again.  Fluffy used to sing all the time, but he never has since that day. Fluffy lost his song. 

 

Do you know how Fluffy felt?  You were minding your own business.  But you have been sucked up by something that is so much bigger than you are.  You feel like you have been dumped into discouragement, dusted off in disdain, drenched in the cold water of reality & blasted with the hot wind of bitterness.  Why has this happened to me?  Because satan wants to steal your song. 

 

Point #1.          satan wants to steal your song.

 

Have you ever stopped to consider how terrible this world would be if there were no music or singing.  What would it be like if there were no melody or harmony?  How would it feel not to be able to express your feelings of sadness or happiness through the melody of music?  It would be awful wouldn’t it because singing is what adds color to life.  It brightens & fills every portion of our lives.  Without singing & songs, this would be a dreary, colorless world. That is exactly what happened in Heaven when Lucifer rebelled.

 

Ezek 28:13-15

13         Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.

14         Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.

15         Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

 

Lucifer was created with every precious stone incorporated into his being. He was the anointed cherub that covered the throne of God with singing & worship.  Musical instruments were formed in his being the day that God created him.  He walked in the glory of God.  Until the day that iniquity was found in him.

 

The day Lucifer became the devil, singing ceased. The throne that had been covered with praise & worship became barren & uncovered! The brightness & color of Heaven was removed & a pallor & dreariness replaced Heaven’s joy. Heaven experienced something it never had, sadness.

 

Is it any mystery as to why satan hates the children of God?  It is because God replaced Lucifer with the redeemed!  satan hates us & wants to steal our song.  he wants to rob Heaven of singing & he wants to rob us of entrance into the presence of God.

 

Point #2           God has given us a song and a right to sing.

 

Ps 40:1-3

1          I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

2          He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

3          And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

 

Somehow, the majority of churchgoers seem to have picked up the idea that singing in church is for singers when actually singing is for believers. The relevant question is not, "Do you have a voice?" but "Do you have a song?"

 

Ps 107:2  Let the redeemed of the LORD say so, whom he hath redeemed from the hand of the enemy;

 

Ps 149:1-2

1          Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.

2          Let Israel rejoice in him that made him: let the children of Zion be joyful in their King.

 

God has given us our own personal song.  One that is not dependant upon outward music, but and inward joy because of where He has brought us from. We sing because we are happy.  We sing because we are free.  His eye is on the sparrow and I know He watches me.

 

Point #3           You must protect your song.

 

Job knew what it was like to be sucked up in crisis and dumped out on the ash heap of sickness, to be drenched in the cold criticism of a backslidden wife, to endure the hot blast of his friends harsh assessment of his situation – Job you must have sinned!  He could have relinquished his song, but he wouldn’t let his song end.  Job was attacked in every conceivable way but he protected his song, his praise.  "Though he slay me yet will I trust Him.  Though the skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh will I see God. "The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, but I am not going to lose my song, blessed be the name of the Lord!"

 

Keep on singing, because as long as you are singing, you are free from the bondage of this world.  You may croak like a frog, but don’t quit singing because the moment you quit singing hope and strength are replaced with gloom and despair.  Don’t lose your song.

 

Ps 137:1-4

1          By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion.

2          We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof.

3          For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion.

4          How shall we sing the LORD's song in a strange land?

 

You may feel like you are in a strange land and have no reason to sing, but keep on singing!  Your body may be the captive of illness or disease. You may feel imprisoned by a lack of financial resources or career opportunities.  You may feel shackled by family or marital dissention.  But refuse to let your spirit be incarcerated! Don’t hang up your harp! Keep Singing!  Don’t lose your song!

 

Point #4           Your song can bring deliverance to others who are without a song.

 

Paul and Silas were where God had sent them.  They were preaching the gospel.  And what did it get them?  They were sucked up in the anger of the mob and dumped at the feet of the authorities.  They had been dusted off in rejection, drenched in the coldness of cruelty and blasted with injustice!  They could have sulked and had a pity party. They could have sang the jailhouse blues.   

 

But instead they sang praises unto God.  They refused to lose their song.  Suffering could not steal it.  Beatings could not end it.  Shackles could not bind it.  They sang!  They sang of the power of God.  They sang of victory! 

 

Acts 16:22-26

22         And the multitude rose up together against them: and the magistrates rent off their clothes, and commanded to beat them.

23         And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely:

24         Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.

25         And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

26         And suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed.

 

What happens when a person has a song that never ends, that can't be lost, stolen or silenced?  It moves God! God shows up!  And when God shows up the Earth quakes, locked doors are opened and those who are prisoners are set free. 

 

Keep On Singing Michael

 

When Karen found out that another baby was on the way, she did what she could to help her 3-year-old son, Michael, prepare for a new sibling.  They find out that the new baby is going to be a girl, and day after day, night after night, Michael sings to his sister in Mommy's tummy.

 

Finally it is time, but complications arise during the delivery and after hours of labor Michael's little sister is born.  But she is in serious condition.  With siren howling in the night, the new infant is rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Mary's Hospital, Knoxville, Tennessee.

 

The days inch by.  The little girl gets worse.  The pediatric specialist tells the parents, "There is very little hope.  Be prepared for the worst."  Instead of planning to take home a new baby, Karen and her husband contact a local funeral home and cemetery and begin to plan a funeral.  Michael, meanwhile, begins begging his parents to let him see his sister, "I want to sing to her," he says.

 

Week 2 in intensive care - it looks as if a funeral will come before the week is over.  Michael keeps begging about singing to his sister, but kids are never allowed in NICU. 

 

Finally Karen makes up her mind.  She will take Michael whether they like it or not.  If he doesn't see his sister now, he may never see her alive. She dresses him in an oversized scrub suit and marches him into NICU.  He looks like a walking laundry basket, but the head nurse recognizes him as a child and bellows, "Get that kid out of here now!  No children are allowed in ICU."

 

Karen, usually a mild-mannered lady glares steel-eyed into the head nurse's face, her lips a firm line.  "He is not leaving until he sings to his sister!"

 

Karen tows Michael to his sister's bedside.  He gazes at the tiny infant losing the battle to live.  And he begins to sing.  In the pure hearted voice of a 3-year-old, Michael sings: 

 

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy when skies are gray --- "

 

Instantly the baby girl responds. The pulse rate becomes calm and steady. The ragged, strained breathing becomes as smooth as a kitten's purr.

 

Keep on singing, Michael.

 

"You'll never know, dear, how much I love you.  Please don't take my sunshine away---"

 

Michael's little sister relaxes as rest, healing rest, seems to sweep over her. Tears conquer the face of the bossy head nurse.  Karen glows.

 

Keep on singing, Michael.

 

"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine.  Please don't, take my sunshine away."

 

Funeral plans are scrapped.  The very next day the little girl is well enough to go home!  The medical staff just called it a miracle. Karen called it a miracle of God's love. Woman's Day magazine called it "the miracle of a brother's song." 

 

Point #5           If we sing on Earth, one day we will sing in Heaven.           

 

Don’t lose your song!  Keep on singing!  We are getting ready for that great day when we will sing for Him face to face.

 

Someone has rightly said that “Worship is the ‘thank you’ that refuses to be silenced!”  When we sing and praise the Lord the only one that is silenced is satan!   Are you tired of his tirade against you? Do you want to shut him up?  Then don’t quit singing the song that never ends, the song of His Praise.  Hallelujah!

 

Rev 5:9   And they sung a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by thy blood out of every kindred, and tongue, and people, and nation;

 

Rev 15:1-3

1          And I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvellous, seven angels having the seven last plagues; for in them is filled up the wrath of God.

2          And I saw as it were a sea of glass mingled with fire: and them that had gotten the victory over the beast, and over his image, and over his mark, and over the number of his name, stand on the sea of glass, having the harps of God.

3          And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and marvellous are thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are thy ways, thou King of saints.