How Can I Keep from Singing Your Praise?

How Can I Keep from Singing Your Praise?

I’m not sure how music affects you, but quite often I hear a song and it resonates within me. It speaks to me in a way that words, apart from melody, do not. One such song is “How Can I Keep from Signing” sung by Chris Tomlin.

Chris Tomlin - How Can I Keep From Singing
From the CD: See the Morning

There is an endless song
Echoes in my soul
I hear the music ring
And though the storms may come
I am holding on
To the rock I cling

Chorus:
How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing

I will lift my eyes
In the darkest night
For I know my Savior lives
And I will walk with You
Knowing You'll see me through
And sing the songs You give

Chorus:

I can sing in the troubled times
Sing when I win
I can sing when I lose my step
And fall down again
I can sing 'cause You pick me up
Sing 'cause You're there
I can sing 'cause You hear me, Lord
When I call to You in prayer
I can sing with my last breath
Sing for I know
That I'll sing with the angels
And the saints around the throne

Chorus:

As I replay these words over and over in my mind, I’m reminded of the scene recorded in Luke 19 where Jesus is riding into the city of Jerusalem on the donkey. The people where shouting “Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord” and praising God in loud voices because of all the miracles they had seen. The Pharisees in the crowd told Jesus to rebuke His disciples, but Jesus replied, “If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.” (Quoting Habakkuk 2:11) He wept over the city because He realized that they did not recognize that He was the Messiah. (Luke 19:28-44) Those rocks did cry out! They cried out in horror as they watched the Son of God breathe His last breath. “The earth shook and the rocks split.” (Matthew 27:50-53) But I’m also reminded that the rocks will once again cry out, but this time not in horror, but in triumph and victory as the King of Kings and Lord of Lords returns to earth. Zechariah says that “On that day his feet will stand on the Mount of Olives, east of Jerusalem, and the Mount of Olives will be split in two from east to west, forming a great valley, with half of the mountain moving north and half moving south.” (14:4) This time, the rocks cry out in praise—He’s come back!

How can I keep from singing His praise? I can’t. I don't even want to. I don't want the rocks to cry out His praises in my place. He’s lifted me out of the pit and put my feet upon the Rock. He's put a new song in my heart, a song of praise to my God. Once I was separated from Him, excluded from citizenship in His kingdom, without God and without hope...but now in Christ Jesus, I have been brought near through the blood of Christ. Now I’m no longer a foreigner, but a citizen of God’s kingdom and a member of His household. What a privileged position! How could I possibly keep from singing His praise?