Next Level Praise (1)

You Can Sing In The Rain or The Rain Can Prompt You To Sing!

Psalm 13:6 I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me!

Psalm 95:1 O come, let us sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation!

Psalm 96:1 Sing to the Lord with a new song, let all the earth hear you bless His name (with your singing)!

Psalm 149:3 Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp!

Many people have wrongly concluded “singing is for singers” but the truth is “singing is for Believer’s”!

A proper understanding of our texts will teach us that as Believer’s, we can sing in the rain and or the rain can prompt you to sing!

We Can Sing In The Rain Because Of:

I. Our EXPERIENCE with GRACE!

Psalm 13:6 I will SING to the Lord, BECAUSE He has dealt bountifully with me!

How has the Lord dealt bountifully with you?

Ephesians 2:8 For by GRACE you have been SAVED through faith, and not of yourselves, it is the GIFT of God!

What is the result of the Lord dealing bountifully with you through grace?

2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore, if ANYONE is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old things passed away; BEHOLD, new things have come!

This is called REGENERATION or being BORN AGAIN! It is also known as Our Experience with Grace!

We had NO relationship with God but through our experience with grace, we instantly received a relationship with God through Jesus Christ!

We lived in and through our sin nature and the lust of our hearts, we were doomed to eternal judgment and separation from God, but now we have been declared righteous and holy!

We were sinners but now we are saints, holy ones who occasionally sin.

When we receive the revelation of no longer being a sinner but a saint, old things have passed away and new things have come!

My HANDS became new, so I don’t TOUCH some of the old things I used to touch!

My FEET became new, so I don’t WALK the way I used to walk!

My EYES have become new, so I don’t LOOK at things I used to look at!

My EARS have become new, so I don’t LISTEN to things I used to listen to!

My TONGUE has become new, so I don’t TALK the way I used to talk!

My MIND is being RENEWED, so I don’t THINK the way I used to think!

My HEART is becoming new, so I don’t LOVE the things the way I used to love them!

As a result of my Experience with Grace I join the Psalmist today and declare I will sing to the Lord, because He has dealt bountifully with me (Psalm 13:6)!

**You may have been a FAILURE, A LOSER, A DRUNKARD, A LIAR, A FORNICATOR, AN ADULTERER, A THIEF, A MURDERER, A CRACK HEAD, AN ABUSER or you may have even been ABUSED,

You may have been a PROSTITUTE, or A DRUG DEALER, but now YOU HAVE ENJOYED AN EXPERIENCE OF GRACE,

YOU ARE A NEW CREATION OF GOD, and you can join with the Psalmist and say The Lord Has Dealt Bountifully With Me!

We Can Sing In The Rain Because It Is:

II. Our EXPRESSION of GRATITUDE!

Psalm 95:1 O come, let US sing for joy to the Lord, let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation!

The Psalmist is reflecting upon the goodness of the Lord, and he remembers when water came our of the ROCK!

When we think about the Lord, it can make you want to SHOUT!

Let’s take a brief look at a few Hebrew words and see if we can glean some nuggets of truth!

For example, Psalm 95:1; 96:1; 98:1 and 149:1 all have the English word “sing” in them.

However, the word for “sing” in 95:1 is not the same word for sing in 96:1. The word for “sing” in 149:1 is not the same word for sing in 149:3!

**The word for sing in 95:1 is the word raw-nah and it means to sing out loud and the emphasis is on being LOUD or CRYING OUT through your music!

**The word for sing in 96:1 is the word shu-wr and is pronounced “she-er” and it means to stroll and the emphasis from this word is on singing as you are strolling along in your day!

**The word for singing in 149:3 is the word zaw-mar and the emphasis from this word is on making a song while striking your fingers on an instrument!

**When you read these passages and understand the meaning of the words that the psalmist used, it can bring the text alive with fresh understanding about the place and importance of singing in the daily life of a Child of God!

95:1 O come let us sing (out loud) for joy to the Lord, Let us SHOUT joyfully to the rock of our salvation!

96:1 Sing (as you are strolling along) to the Lord with a new song, as you are strolling along, let all the earth hear you bless His name with your singing!

149:3 Let them praise His name with dancing; Let them SING (use the fingers) to praise Him with timbrel and lyre!

**A man by the name of Robert E. Bruce told the following story: One day I was walking down a crowded street and I heard someone singing. The voice was so sweet and pleasant to hear that it seemed to resonate above all of the noise from the traffic.

I really wanted to find out who the person was who was singing so joyfully. I finally caught up to him and to my astonishment the man who was singing did not have any legs and he was pushing himself in a wheelchair.

I went up to him and told him how blessed I was to hear him singing and that his voice seemed to make everyone around him feel better. I asked him what his secret was to be able to sing so joyfully even though life had obviously taken so much away from him.

The man responded by saying, “When I stopped looking at what I had lost and began concentrating on all that I had, I found a lot more for which I could rejoice and be thankful for!”

**Someone once said I am thankful for:

The taxes I pay . . . it means I am employed!

The clothes that are too snug . . . it means I have enough to eat!

The lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because . . . it means I have a house!

The large utility bills because it means we have heating and air . . .

The piles of laundry that need washing and drying because it means I have clothes to wear . . .

**The entire Christian life should be one continuous THANK YOU as an EXPRESSION of GRATITUDE and we can join the Psalmist by saying O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonderful things!

But just in case you need another reason you can sing in the rain, you can sing in the rain because of:

III. Our EXPECTATION of GLORY!

Psalm 149:1 Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise in the congregation of the godly ones!

The phrase, “congregation of the godly ones” is a reference to our gathering together around the throne of God with the godly ones in Glory!

We can cheerfully and joyfully sing in the rain today because we know we have a future that is better than anything we have known in the past!

No matter how bad our present circumstances might be today, the best is yet to come!

There are three promises about the future that will help us sing in the rain today!

A. There will be a RESURRECTION of our BODY!

1 Thess 4:16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet of God, AND the dead in Christ will rise first!

Revelation 20:5 But the rest of the dead did not live live again until the thousand years were finished. This is the first resurrection!

B. There will be a RAPTURE of His BRIDE!

1 Thess 4:17 THEN we who are alive and remain will be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air!

C. There will be a REUNION with the BRIDEGROOM!

1 Thess 4:17 Then we who are ALIVE and REMAIN will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we shall always be with the Lord!

1 Thess 4:18 Therefore COMFORT one another with these words!

**Have you lost your song in the night? Would you like to have your song back?

You can Sing in the Rain and or the Rain can prompt you to sing!