A Song For Rest

One of my favorite things about the spring and summer months is that the weather is warm enough to leave my bedroom window open at night. At dawn I wake up to a symphony of song. I absolutely love listening to the birds chirp, trill, and whistle as they welcome the sunrise. They joyfully greet the day as light brings with it new mercies and the unwavering love of the Lord.

I thought of this as I was reading through Psalm 92 (A Song for the Sabbath)

Psalm 92:1-4 "It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning, and your faithfulness by night,

to the music of the lute and the harp,

to the melody of the lyre.

For you, O Lord, have made me glad by your work;

at the works of your hands I sing for joy"

This Psalm was written specifically for the Sabbath. Sabbath was a day of rest God's people observed each week. No work was to be done on that day, in fact, "Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy" is one of the Ten Commandments. God commands us to specifically make time to rest, because He knows we need it. We need time to slow down, put our work aside, and focus our hearts on the goodness of God, His creation, and all He has done for us through Jesus.

The author of this Psalm is inviting us to meditate on the words he has penned during our time of rest.

IT IS GOOD (tob: appropriate and becoming)

Do you know good in this passage is the same word God used to describe creation? Everything He made He saw that it was good. Why does the psalmist write, "it is appropriate and becoming to give thanks to the Lord"?

Because we were created to praise our Creator, to magnify His name in all the earth, and sing songs to the One who is eternal and reigns supreme. As we take time to rest, remember, and rehearse the goodness of God, not only are we doing what we were created to do, we are sharing in a song that has been sung for thousands of years. It is the song of the redeemed, those who have been rescued and welcomed into the family of God, through faith in Jesus.

The first song recorded in the Bible is known as Moses' song.

Exodus 15 (Read verses 1-18 for entire song)

“I will sing to the LORD, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation; this is my God, and I will praise him, my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods?

Who is like you, majestic in holiness,

awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?

You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed;

you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.

The LORD will reign forever and ever.”

Moses and the people of Israel sang this song after God delivered them from Egypt, after God sent the ten plagues upon Pharaoh and the Egyptians, and after God miraculously provided a way through the Red Sea. They joyfully sang this song, because they had been slaves in Egypt for hundreds of years, and now, by God's powerful intervention, they were free. God became their salvation. He triumphed gloriously.

This is our story too. Moses' song is our song. We were slaves to sin, bound for eternal death, but because God loved us, while we were still sinners, He gave us Jesus. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and through Him, we leave our life of slavery behind and have the joyous blessing of living as children of God.

"you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode." The word abode means the dwelling place of a shepherd and the word guided means to lead to a place of rest and provision. By His mercy, the Lord willingly and compassionately adopts us as His own, and leads us to all we need. We are His sheep, and He is our forever Shepherd.

One of the last songs recorded in the Bible is found in Revelation 15:3-4. Try to imagine this glorious scene. The song is being sung in heaven by those who have overcome evil and stand with harps of God in their hands.

"And they sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.”

Why is it good to give thanks to the Lord? Because we sing with hope and blessed assurance. The song Moses and the Israelite people sung thousands of years ago will be sung throughout eternity. It is recorded for us to read! God's Word reveals to us how our story began, and how our story will end. The Lord is our beginning and end, and in Him we have eternal life. The same God who spoke life into existence, who showed Himself faithful to unfaithful people, and who rescued us through Jesus, is the same God who will welcome us into eternity.

This is our song.

Great and wonderful are your works, all-ruling and all-powerful God!

Holy and genuine in every aspect are your ways, King of all people.

Who will not have fear and be in awe of your name? Who will not esteem, honor, magnify, and celebrate your name? For you alone are undefiled by sin.

All nations will come and bow before you, for your justice has been revealed.

These songs remind us why we can rest. We can rest because Jesus did what we could not do. He lived perfectly and willingly died as our spotless substitutionary sacrifice. The Israelites could not free themselves from the power of pharaoh, but God could. We cannot save ourselves. We cannot earn salvation and eternal life. Jesus did for us, and in His finished work we can rest.

I want to encourage you to take time every day to rest, and in your rest, pray, sing, journal, and talk about the Lord's unfailing love and faithfulness toward you. Take time to praise the One who won your salvation and takes you into His loving care. Take time to focus your heart on Jesus, and join in the song that will echo throughout all eternity.

Make time to pause, to still your mind and heart, and focus on God Almighty.

Like the birds, we can greet each sunrise praising God for watching over us as we sleep, and for His unfailing love that wakes us each morning and carries us throughout our day. No matter what our day holds, we can greet it with hope and we can sing with thanksgiving, because our Shepherd has triumphed gloriously and our Shepherd will lead us home to be with Him forever.

Sincerely,

Amy