Sinclair B. Ferguson

No, it's Christ who saves us.

The Christ who died for us, who rose again for us, who is at God's right hand for us, who makes intercession for us.

That's why nothing can separate us from the love of God.

and that's why we can sing.

When Satan tempts me to despair and tells me of the wrong within, upward I look and see him there who made an end of all my sin.

That's Jesus' intercession for us, his very presence before God, the Lion King who became the Lamb who was slain.

That's the intercession we need.

Remember that if you've stumbled and fallen.

This week we've been reflecting on singing.

I think it's a remarkable fact that the average Christian probably sings many more times in the week than the average person who isn't a Christian.

Yes, I know some non-Christians sing a great deal, and some Christians don't sing nearly enough, but I'm talking in general terms.

the teenager enjoying the latest rap song, the would-be operatic tenor singing Nessun Dharma in the shower, or for that matter, the 70-something-year-old pensioner humming Beatles or Beach Boys tunes from the 60s and 70s.

Or are those people right, after all, whose only question about the praises we sing is not whether God wants it, but whether we like it, whether we enjoy it?

After all, we may not be very good singers, and does that mean God doesn't like it?

So why should we think that our singing praise to Him would give Him any pleasure?

Scripture gives us some interesting reasons for believing that God loves it when His people praise Him.

One reason is that Scripture itself, God's Word, urges us to do it.

And when words breathed out by God and written down by men tell us to praise Him, then we can safely assume He wants us to do it, and that it gives Him a kind of pleasure, the kind of pleasure a father has when his, let's say, three-year-old daughter starts singing to him and tells him, I love you, Daddy.

Another reason is that the Bible contains an entire book, actually its longest book, that's composed of songs of praises, requests, and laments.

I mean the book of Psalms.