DEVOTIONAL: God wants us to sing louder

Have you ever felt that God is trying to get you to just stop and give praise?

The other day, as I was going about my day, the song ‘Raise a hallelujah‘ by Bethel popped into my head:

I raise a hallelujah, with everything inside of me
I raise a hallelujah, I will watch the darkness flee
I raise a hallelujah, in the middle of the mystery
I raise a hallelujah, fear you lost your hold on me!

I’m gonna sing, in the middle of the storm
Louder and louder, you’re gonna hear my praises roar
Up from the ashes, hope will arise
Death is defeated, the King is alive!

Sing a little louder (In the presence of my enemies)
Sing a little louder (Louder than the unbelief)
Sing a little louder (My weapon is a melody)
Sing a little louder (Heaven comes to fight for me)
Sing a little louder!

There are more lyrics to the song, but they were the lyrics that I sung over and over and over. In between every thought and conversation on that day, the lyrics would pop up in my mind. It was a somewhat odd thing because to be honest, God and worship were not on my mind at all. If anything, it was the exact opposite. Up until that day, my thoughts were not in the best place and there was a heaviness that was sitting over me. Yet, these lyrics wouldn’t go away, and the more I sang them, the more I realised that God was trying to remind to worship; He was reminding me to sing louder in the face of my circumstances.

Raise a hallelujah.

So often, instead of worshiping or singing louder, I lift my voice in despair. I cry out to God in anger and anguish over what is happening in my life and in my heart. Those are the moments when my voice gets loudest. And there is nothing wrong in crying out in despair and anguish. All we need to do is read the psalms to see that God not only isn’t offended by our cries of despair, He welcomes them; God wants an honest and open relationship with us where we trust Him with our deepest and darkest hurts and fears. But instead of whispering our praises and our worship in times of trouble, we should be lifting our voices in worship. This is when we need to raise a hallelujah and worship God for who He is. We raise a hallelujah for what He has done and is doing.

Sing a little louder.

In seasons of despair or trouble, we need to sing a little louder. When the heaviness settles over us, or the anger penetrates our hearts, we need to sing a little louder because our weapon is a melody. Our praise is what will pierce through the pain and anger and make room for God to enter. In the moments when your despair and hurt births moments of unbelief in God (and let’s be honest, we all have those moments), sing louder than your unbelief. Raise your voice in praise. Sing the truths of the scriptures. Yell them if you have to, but don’t stop singing. Above all, don’t stop lifting your voice and declaring victory and peace and life ever lasting over your life because you have all those things in Jesus.

Raise a hallelujah knowing that He fights for you.

Sing louder knowing that He is for you.

Lift your voice and worship Jesus in defiance of your circumstances because He is bigger than any situation. And know that God will is still working all things for good for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28)