The Reason Why He Sings

The Reason Why He Sings

Zephaniah 3:17 NIV

The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in His love He will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.

Someone asked a question, Why do we sing?

When we lift our hands to Jesus, What do we really mean?

Someone may be wondering, when we sing our song

At times we may be crying and nothing’s even wrong

I sing because I’m happy

I sing because I’m free

His eye is on the sparrow

That’s the reason why I sing

The 1993 hit gospel song from then budding gospel star Kirk Franklin. Sung all over the world. But those of you that have been in church like I have, you’re aware that Kirk’s song is a remix of an old hymn of the church. Written in 1905 by lyricist Civilla D. Martin based on scriptures like Psalm 32:8, “I will instruct thee and teach the in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye.” And Matthew 6:26,” Look at the birds of the air, they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?”

Martin shares that her inspiration for the song came from nor just scripture but her own personal life.. She share that she and her husband were visiting an elderly couple, the Dolittle’s in New York. Martin says that the wife had been bedridden for some 20 years and the husband had an incurable ailment that caused him to be crippled and had to use a wheelchair. She says that despite their afflictions they lived HAPPY Christian lives and brought inspiration and comfort to not just her and her husband but to countless other people they encountered.

Martin shares that while visiting her husband asked Mr. Dolittle what the secret to their happy disposition despite their unfavorable conditions was, and he responded, “His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me.”

With that response Martin was led to write,

Why should I feel discouraged?

And Why should the shadows come?

Why should my heart feel lonely?

And long for heaven home.

When Jesus is my portion

A constant friend is He

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me

I sing because I’m happy.

I sing because I’m free.

His eye is on the sparrow, and I know He watches me

The chorus or refrain of that song spells out why the believer sings!

Because we’re happy. Because we’re free. His eye is on the sparrow. That’s the reason why I sing. In short, the song says we sing because of what is happening, what has happened, and what could happen.

What is happening, what God is doing. What has happened, what God has done. What will happen, what God can and will do. That’s why I sing.

Someone listening to me now can testify, you’ve got a song in your heart because you’re happy. And you know they say happiness is based on happenings and you can testify that you sing because some great things are happening. Nah life aint perfect. Nah I may not have all that I want and desire. Nah my family isn’t perfect but I’m happy because in spite of, great things are happening. Ok maybe you need me to point out some things to get happy about.

You woke up this morning in spite of what you did or said last night. That’s a reason to get happy. You went to the closet and had to decide what to put on, that’s a reason to get happy. You went in the kitchen and had enough food for you and everybody in the house to eat and get full. That’s a reason to get happy. You walked outside and opened a car door and drove here safely. That’s a reason to get happy. Since you’ve been here you’ve heard how great the Lord your God is, that’s a reason to get happy. I sing because I’m happy.

I sing because I’m free. Honestly, I know I’m only a few minutes into the sermon but at this point I should be able to close this iPad and go back to my seat. because somebody listening to me can think back to a time when you weren’t free. You were bound by a bad relationship but now you’re free. You were locked into that bad job, but now your free. You were bound by a bad addiction but now you’re free. You were bound by depression but now you’re free. You were bound by anxiety, but now you’re free. And if this fits the way you feel you’ll sing.. this old hymn that isn’t too familiar…

Once I was bound by sin’ galling fetters,

Chained like a slave, I struggled in vain

But I received a glorious freedom

When Jesus broke my fetters in twain

Refrain says,

Glorious freedom, wonderful freedom

No more in chains of sin I repine.

Jesus the Glorious Emancipator,

Now forever shall be mine.

I like verse 2,

Freedom from all the carnal affections,

Freedom from envy, hatred, and strife

Freedom from vain and worldly ambitions,

Freedom from all that saddened my life.

Glorious freedom, wonderful freedom

No more chains of sin I repine

Jesus the Glorious Emancipator

Now forever shall be mine.

How did I get free? Jesus the Glorious Emancipator!!

He Emancipated me….One Friday..

Maybe you’re not happy, maybe you don’t feel free. Maybe you sing because you know His eye is on the sparrow. What preacher? Why should I sing about God watching a sparrow? Because the scripture implies that if He’s watching and attentive to the sparrow, how much more attentive and watchful is He of you?

God in all His God-ness, has His eye on YOU! And I know He watches ME!

And if he’s watching, He’s aware. And if He’s aware, He is Affected. And if He’s Affected, He will Act!

The military has a slogan for when soldiers see things that aren’t right, “see something, say something.” Which means that if they see something happening that shouldn’t be they are charged to go inform a superior and then that superior officer will then be forced to do something about it.

With God, I don’t have to say anything, because He’s Omnipresent and Omniscient, and because of that His Omnipotence is activated.

Simply put, He’s everywhere, watching Everything and He’s able to do Something about Anything! Now unto Him…

He watching it happen, now watch Him do something about it!!

That’s why we sing. But friends, I have a question. Does God sing?

I mean we sing and are made in His Image and Likeness, right?

Look Like Him, Act Like Him!

God breathes and gives life. We breathe as a sign of life.

God’s voice created everything. Our voice celebrates everything He created.

Our relationship with God should be reciprocal. The word reciprocal means inversely corresponding. That’s a fancy way of saying What we do is a direct reflection of what He does or has done.

So God sings, according to this text, when He gets to be to His creation what His creation needs Him to be! REPEAT!!!

The book of Zephaniah opens with the prophet sharing the word of the Lord for the nation of Judah. Zephaniah wrote that the day of the Lord was near (1:14), that it would be a time of wrath (1:15), that it would come as judgment on sin (1:17), but that ultimately it would result in the blessing of God’s presence among His people (3:17). In essence this little book shares the big idea of the entire bible. God’s people find themselves in a state opposite of God’s intended Purpose and God then Shows up to Restore His People for His Purpose and Pleasure!

Not only does God show up, but He shows up and Sings!

1. Secure You with His Presence

God sings when He gets to be with His people.

This third chapter opens with God’s pronouncement of judgment on all those who don’t trust in Him, who turn from Him, who do injustice and work iniquity and live in idolatry and pride before Him. Much like in Genesis when God saw how far from His will man had become and He said to Himself that he was going to destroy man and everything else He created. And here we are again, God is about to unleash His wrath on the nation of Israel. After all God had done for them. after all they had seen Him do on their behalf. Bringing them out of bondage. Through a red sea, into the promise land and they had found a way to turn their backs on Him yet again.

And before you say amen too loud, I argue that this sounds a lot like us today. God has been better that good to us. He’s looked beyond, nah He looked right at some of our faults and still met our needs. He’s gotten us out of trouble we got ourselves into. He’s provided for us when we wasted what He had blessed us with. He keeps giving us chance after chance after chance after chance and we still find a way to turn our backs on Him. We too have shown Him that we don’t trust Him like we say we do. We Don’t look to Him as the first and only resource. We live unjustly. We work iniquity. We live in idolatry and pride. We the people of God look like anything but the people of God!

And after laying all of what He’s going to do in His wrath, God takes a turn like only God can. Like He’s done in the past. And the text says, The Lord your God is with you.

Stop right there.

God is saying I’m going to destroy you because of What you’ve done against me and then the text says The Lord your God is with you. Yahweh your Elohim is with you. The almighty your almighty is with you. The one who created all is ready to destroy what He created then says He’s with His creation.

You’re not shouting because you don’t understand that this phrase implies what I’d like to call an Impossible Possibility. Sounds contradictory. But the only person, place or thing that can stop God is God. And the God that can stop God is saying He’s with those who God is saying He’s about to destroy. You missed it.

Only God can stop God. And here we have God saying He’s with the people God is about to destroy.

The truth of the matter is like the nation of Israel, you’re only here today because when God was getting ready to let you fall victim to the wrath of God, God stopped God.

God displayed Sovereign Restraint. The God who can do what He wants, when He wants, how He wants, to who He wants, whenever He wants can also choose not to do what He wants, when He wants, how He wants.

And I’m looking at some folk who should be shouting because you thought that it was your own merit that kept you. You thought it was your mama or daddy that kept you. You thought it was your career. You thought it was your connections. You thought it was your money. You thought it was the doctor. But let me stop long enough to put a hole in your halo and let you know that the only reason you’re still here is because God is so much God that He stopped Himself.

You should’ve been dead, but God stopped himself.

That should’ve been you in that wreck, but God stopped Himself.

That should’ve been you with the needle in your arm, but God stopped Himself.

Should’ve been you rolled down the aisle at that church yesterday, but God stopped Himself.

Thank God that I serve a God that is so much God that He can stop himself! Thank God for Sovereign Restraint!

And the reason God sometimes restrains Himself is simply because He’s with you. God takes delight in being with you. The God who created all gets happy about being with All He created.

God moves from speaking in first person to third person. First person is when the speaker refers to themselves. Third person is when the speaker refers to anyone or anything other than themselves.

The whole chapter we see I will, and then around verse 15 it moves from God saying I will to saying He will. And then back to I will in verse 18.

God moves from saying I will to He will. It gives the idea of Hm reintroducing Himself as Himself in a way that only He can.

Jay-Z is one of my favorite rappers. Judge not. One of his shortest, yet most popular songs Public Service Announcement from the Black Album. The song starts with a voice other than Jay-Z saying, “Fellow Americans, it is with the utmost pride and sincerity that I present this recording as a living testament and recollection of history in the making during our generation.” And the very first line Jay-Z raps is, “allow me to reintroduce myself…..” He then goes on to talk about his past and then about where he is at the time of the song. In short, Jay-Z talks about all the bad he had done prior to now but now he excited to reintroduce himself to those that may have known him before to the new him. Jay Z says you used to know me as that but let me now show you me as this.

Lean in child of God. God gets excited when He gets to introduce himself to you in a new way.

How does God Reintroduce himself? God is the only one that can show you what He is doing for you by telling you what He’s not doing to you.

God sounds a lot like my mama. When me and my sister would get in trouble and make mama mad, My mama would always tell me and my sister, “I’ll show you better than I can tell you.” And we just knew that a whooping was coming. And then something strange would happen. This angry black woman, although at time she did inflict disciplinary pain would go in the kitchen and finish cooking and say, “come eat.” Or she would complete the purchase at the shoe store and hand us the bag. Or allow us to do the thing that we asked her to do before we got in trouble.

You missed it. She would still provide what we needed even when we acted in a way that should’ve left us without what we needed.

And that’s what God does, He shows us His love even when we do the things He hates. That’s because God loves you more than He hates what you do!

He loves you more than the sin you commit.

2. Save you with His Power-

The mighty warrior who saves.

Yall I really shouldn’t have to do too much preaching right along through here. The text says, The lord your God is with you. The mighty warrior who saves. The mighty warrior who saves. The mighty warrior who saves.

Not a mighty warrior. Not some mighty warrior. THE mighty warrior. This word mighty is translated to mean the hero, or one that performs a heroic deed. God rejoices when He becomes the hero in your story.

Yall I really wish I had some deep and wonderful thing to tell you but this text is plainly saying to us, that God rejoices when He gets to be the hero in our lives.

Scripture records countless narratives of godly men and women who serve God’s purposes by exercising faith and courage. But as heroic as some of these men and women are, their stories always share how limited they are.

Abraham, the great father of faith, showed extraordinary faith in believing God’s promises but he also exemplified cowardice twice by failing to protect his wife.

David was considered a man after God’s own heart, but his sad personal history includes adultery with Bathsheba and the murder of her husband.

Daniel demonstrated uncompromising faith in a foreign land, but while he did not fall like the first two I mentioned, he did need God to supernaturally pull him out of the den of lions.

At times these biblical heroes of faith lack the character we expect. Other times they simply face the limitations of their human ability or circumstances beyond human control. Either way every heroic story in the bible draws attention to our need for the ultimate and true hero, God himself.

And I’m looking at some folk that can testify, I did all I could. I tried all I knew to try. I called everyone I could call on. But my testimony is, if it had not been for the Lord…If it had not been for the hero.

In Psalm 50 he promises to be our hero in times of trouble.

In Psalm 35 He promises to be our hero against our enemies.

In 2nd Corinthians 9 He promises to be our hero in providing our needs.

Isaiah 41 He promises to be our hero to deliver us from our fears.

In 1st Corinthians 10 He promises to be our hero against temptation.

He’s the hero.. and what do heroes do, They save people!

Text says He’s the mighty warrior that SAVES!!

God rejoices and sings, when He saves.

Saves you from trouble.

Saves you from enemies.

Saves you from yourself.

Saves you from lack.

Saves you from temptation.

Saves you from depression.

Saves you from anxiety.

Saves you from suicide.

Saves you from dangers seen and unseen.

But the test highlights that his most heroic deed is when He saved us from His own wrath.

We tend to downplay the severity of the need for salvation. Salvation was not about just saving us from hell. It was about God saving us from God. He saved us from himself. And he used himself to save us from Himself. And the bible tells us that he took pleasure in doing it.

Isaiah 53 says that it pleased the Lord to bruise Him.

Yall know who Him is don’t ya?

Him who knew no sin became Sin

Him who did no Wrong did Right to give those who are Wrong the chance to get Right.

Him let them drive nails in Him hand.

Nails in Him feet.

They hung Him High.

They stretch Him wide.

Him hung his head and for me Him died.

But that’s not ow the story end.. Early Sunday morning He got Him Up! With all power in Him hands.

And now Him walks with me. And Him talks with me. And him tells me I am His own.

Now unto Him… who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all you to ask or think. To Him be glory. To Him be honor. To Him be praise.

Can you praise Him?

3. Signal of His Pride-

He will take great delight in you, in His love He will no longer rebuke you but, will rejoice over you with singing.

Three parallel lines each containing three phrases that express the deepest inner joy and satisfaction of God himself in his love for his people. The Holy One experiencing ecstasy over the sinner is incomprehensible. These phrases have been called the John 3:16 of the Old Testament.

But the verse goes further than most by not just saying that God rejoices but how He rejoices. He rejoices by singing over you. When God Saves, He Sings.

He takes Pride in doing for you what Only He can and seeing you do what you Couldn’t!

I started playing to organ seriously about 19 years ago While living in Amarillo, Texas. And I recall when I moved back to Dallas in 2007 I decided to show up at the church my father was playing for. He didn’t know I was coming so it caught him by surprise. The service was moving along, and my dad started singing a song, I had heard him sing all of my life. He would usually sing it at funerals of loved ones. The song is called Well Done. Again, I had heard my father sing this song many times but this time was different. As he was singing in playing, I rose from my seat. Walked over to the organ and politely moved him from the organ and started playing. While others looked around confused my father became so overwhelmed with joy that he couldn’t finish the song. One of his childhood friends, Pastor Derrick Perry who now sleeps with Jesus started singing the song, but when he noticed what was happening, he stopped singing too. So now you have the whole church confused and my father and his friend are crying. The pastor who baptized me, Pastor James Coleman was in attendance and made his way to the mic and said, “Yall don’t understand what’s going on. The young man on the organ is Brother Fielder’s son and none of us know he could do that, so excuse brother Fielder for how he’s singing and shouting, He just witnessed his son do something he didn’t know he could do.”