“Does anyone have more reasons to sing than you? As a sinner who has been forgiven, a slave who has been freed, a blind man who has received sight, a spiritual cripple who has been healed– all by the gospel– you have real reasons to be known as a person of song!
It is one thing to tell the world of God’s work of redemption in Jesus; it is another to sing of it. Anyone can parrot truth, but to sing of it– from the soul– reveals how you feel. Song is the natural and appropriate response to the gospel, because singing is one of the highest expressions of joy.
So why aren’t you singing always, only for your king? Have the mercies of God grown small in your heart? Is there little joy, little gratitude, little wonder? Do you just not feel like singing?
The confession of your sins and gospel meditation will lead you to song, so start there. There are songs of praise, thanksgiving, confession, lament, and victory that need your voice.
From the great hymns of old to the new songs echoing the wonders of God’s mercy, you have more means of finding songs of redemption than any other generation before you. So join the chorus of God’s people, who have always been known as a people who sing.”
–Joe Thorn, Note to Self: The Discipline of Preaching to Yourself (Wheaton: Crossway, 2011), 41-42.
