praying effectively: Sing for Joy, a New Song (Ps.81, 98)

(Psalm 81:1-3)

 Sing for joy to God our strength; shout joyfully to the God of Jacob.
2 Raise a song, strike the timbrel, the sweet sounding lyre with the harp.
3 Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the full moon, on our feast day.

(Psalm 98:1-9)

O sing to the Lord a new song, for He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him.
2 The Lord has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations.
3 He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; all the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.

4 Shout joyfully to the Lord, all the earth; break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.
5 Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody.
6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout joyfully before the King, the Lord.

7 Let the sea roar and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it.
8 Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy
9 Before the Lord, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness and the peoples with equity.

Reminder:  "praying effectively" involves knowing God's will.  When we pray in His will (in His name), He may choose to not answer those prayers in the time period that we would like, or HOW we would like - but He will answer those prayers!

It is God's will:
- that we sing a new song to the Lord (98:1)
- that we sing songs which have a melody (98:5)
- that we sing for joy to God our strength (81:1-2, 98:4)
- that we sing praises to the Lord (98:4-5)
- that we use a variety of instruments (81:2-3, 98:5-6)
- that we shout joyfully to our God (81;1, 98:4, 6)

Today's prayer:

Dear Lord Jesus, thank You that You are the righteous Judge who will bring about fair justice to everyone and everything.  Thank You for Your salvation so that all those who choose to become believers will be able to stand before You guilt-free.

May the joy that we experience be expressed in our songs to You.  Thank You for Your encouragement to create new songs with varieties of styles and instruments.  You are not dull or boring.  You are the Creator who has created us in Your image!  Help us to be humble and allow You to create through us.  Inspire the writers, musicians and worship leaders towards excellence and sound doctrine.   May our motives be pure with a desire to praise Your name.  Amen.