Saturday, March 27, 2010, 7:33 a.m. – I woke with this song in mind:
Sweet, Sweet Song of Salvation / Selah
When you know a pretty story
You don't let it go unsaid
You tell it to all of your children
As you tuck them into bed.
When you know a wonderful secret
You gotta tell it to all of your friends
Tell 'em that a lifetime filled with Happiness
Is like a street that never ends.
Well, look around you
As you're singin'
There are people everywhere
And to those who stop and listen
That sweet song becomes a prayer.
When you know a wonderful secret
You gotta tell it to all of your friends
Tell 'em that a lifetime filled with Jesus
Is like a street that never ends.
Sing that sweet, sweet song of salvation
And let your laughter fill the air
Sing that sweet, sweet song of salvation
And tell the people everywhere
Sing that sweet song of salvation
Tell every man in every nation
To sing that sweet, sweet song of salvation
And let the people know that Jesus cares.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Psalm 50:
My Understanding: I started to read the lyrics to this song again. I could not get past the first two lines – “When you know a pretty story you don’t let it go unsaid.” And, then it said – “When you know a wonderful secret you gotta tell it to all of your friends.”
This is so true! If we get engaged or find out we are expecting our first child, or we get a new car or a new house or a job promotion, or we make it to the honor roll or one of our kids does, or our favorite sports team wins the championship, or our pick to win a major contest of some kind wins, etc. etc., we tell people we know about it. Today it is posted on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace. We e-mail it or we send a text message and maybe even attach a picture, especially if we have just had a new baby or a new grandbaby. Or, we call people on our cell phones and tell them. We tell them about our jobs, our favorite TV shows, movies we have just seen, news events, political viewpoints, and we tell them about our church activities. We are constantly telling people about something, aren’t we?
The song continues by stating that we should look around us, because there are people everywhere. That is so true! No matter if you are a stay-at-home mom with little kids or you are unemployed, you can get on Facebook or Christian discussion websites, etc. As long as you have access to e-mail, the Internet, a cell phone or landline phone, you have access to lots of people out there. Or, you can go to the mall, a park, or other public places. There are people out there everywhere. And, we’re always telling people something.
Then, the song states that we need to tell the people who are everywhere, and we need to tell our friends “that a lifetime filled with Jesus is like a street that never ends.” We need to tell “every man in every nation” about the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ, and him alone. We need to “let the people know that Jesus cares.”
That sounds so simplistic, but it really isn’t. It should be the most natural thing on the place of this earth to tell people about Jesus, yet it seems that most Christians struggle with this. They can tell people about most everything else and often with great enthusiasm and passion, and sometimes even with tears in their eyes, yet when it comes to telling people about Jesus, so many professing Christians shy away. Why is that? If we truly believe in all that Jesus was and is about, and we truly believe in the message of salvation, then we should be shouting it from the rooftops, not keeping it hidden in our hearts and minds. If Jesus truly is our first love, then we should want the world to know about him. Yet, so often what we talk about is anything and everything but our Lord. This should not be.
Psalm 50 is about God judging his people; his “consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” God takes that covenant very seriously. We were talking about this at Bible study last night when we were reading in John 14:21:
“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
We talked about a modern teaching that tells people that nothing is required of them other than to “believe”, and yet they make “belief” out to be some verbal or otherwise acknowledgment of what Jesus did for them in dying for their sins on the cross but nothing more. The scriptures are filled with the message that says faith equals obedience and faith equals repentance and love equals obedience and love equals repentance. If we say we love God and do not do what he says, the Bible says we are a liar. If we have this idea that we can just say we believe and then continue to live how we want without regard for God, His Word, and for his teachings, then that is not love and it is not faith.
We considered the idea of a marriage. Who would take marriage vows and then say to his or her mate, “Ok, now I have said the words and now I know I have you, so I can now just do what I want”? When we accept Jesus as Savior, we are making a covenant agreement with him that is much like a marriage contract. When we get married, we agree to leave our single life behind us. We leave our parents. We cling to our spouse. That is how it should be when we “marry” Jesus, too. And, we should desire to tell everyone about him.
Psalm 50 continues by God stating that he does not rebuke his people for their sacrifices (offerings), yet he says, “Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me…” I believe this is the clincher: “Fulfill your vows to the Most High.” That is really what disturbs God… the forsaking of our vows to him. When we “believe” in Jesus, we are taking marriage vows to Him, and he wants us to fulfill those vows. Who would not tell everyone he knows about the “love of his life”?
Verse 23 says, “He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.”
Thank - to express feelings of gratitude to somebody or be grateful to somebody. Offering – contribution; submission; gift; obedience; surrender – Encarta Dictionary & Thesaurus.
Prepare – get ready; make ready. Way – road; avenue; path; route; passageway.
One of the best ways I know to show our Lord our thanks to him for what he has done for us is to tell other people about him. If you knew a tornado was coming and that people were going to die in it, would you fail to warn them? Would you keep it to yourself? If you saw a child in the middle of the street and you saw a car barreling down the street headed straight toward him, would you not put your life on the line to try to save him? People are dying every day without Jesus. We have the message of salvation. And, we have many, many avenues for telling people. So, as the song says, “Don’t let it go unsaid.”
Sweet, Sweet Song of Salvation / Selah
When you know a pretty story
You don't let it go unsaid
You tell it to all of your children
As you tuck them into bed.
When you know a wonderful secret
You gotta tell it to all of your friends
Tell 'em that a lifetime filled with Happiness
Is like a street that never ends.
Well, look around you
As you're singin'
There are people everywhere
And to those who stop and listen
That sweet song becomes a prayer.
When you know a wonderful secret
You gotta tell it to all of your friends
Tell 'em that a lifetime filled with Jesus
Is like a street that never ends.
Sing that sweet, sweet song of salvation
And let your laughter fill the air
Sing that sweet, sweet song of salvation
And tell the people everywhere
Sing that sweet song of salvation
Tell every man in every nation
To sing that sweet, sweet song of salvation
And let the people know that Jesus cares.
Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. I read Psalm 50:
My Understanding: I started to read the lyrics to this song again. I could not get past the first two lines – “When you know a pretty story you don’t let it go unsaid.” And, then it said – “When you know a wonderful secret you gotta tell it to all of your friends.”
This is so true! If we get engaged or find out we are expecting our first child, or we get a new car or a new house or a job promotion, or we make it to the honor roll or one of our kids does, or our favorite sports team wins the championship, or our pick to win a major contest of some kind wins, etc. etc., we tell people we know about it. Today it is posted on Facebook, Twitter or MySpace. We e-mail it or we send a text message and maybe even attach a picture, especially if we have just had a new baby or a new grandbaby. Or, we call people on our cell phones and tell them. We tell them about our jobs, our favorite TV shows, movies we have just seen, news events, political viewpoints, and we tell them about our church activities. We are constantly telling people about something, aren’t we?
The song continues by stating that we should look around us, because there are people everywhere. That is so true! No matter if you are a stay-at-home mom with little kids or you are unemployed, you can get on Facebook or Christian discussion websites, etc. As long as you have access to e-mail, the Internet, a cell phone or landline phone, you have access to lots of people out there. Or, you can go to the mall, a park, or other public places. There are people out there everywhere. And, we’re always telling people something.
Then, the song states that we need to tell the people who are everywhere, and we need to tell our friends “that a lifetime filled with Jesus is like a street that never ends.” We need to tell “every man in every nation” about the salvation that comes through Jesus Christ, and him alone. We need to “let the people know that Jesus cares.”
That sounds so simplistic, but it really isn’t. It should be the most natural thing on the place of this earth to tell people about Jesus, yet it seems that most Christians struggle with this. They can tell people about most everything else and often with great enthusiasm and passion, and sometimes even with tears in their eyes, yet when it comes to telling people about Jesus, so many professing Christians shy away. Why is that? If we truly believe in all that Jesus was and is about, and we truly believe in the message of salvation, then we should be shouting it from the rooftops, not keeping it hidden in our hearts and minds. If Jesus truly is our first love, then we should want the world to know about him. Yet, so often what we talk about is anything and everything but our Lord. This should not be.
Psalm 50 is about God judging his people; his “consecrated ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice.” God takes that covenant very seriously. We were talking about this at Bible study last night when we were reading in John 14:21:
“Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me. He who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love him and show myself to him."
We talked about a modern teaching that tells people that nothing is required of them other than to “believe”, and yet they make “belief” out to be some verbal or otherwise acknowledgment of what Jesus did for them in dying for their sins on the cross but nothing more. The scriptures are filled with the message that says faith equals obedience and faith equals repentance and love equals obedience and love equals repentance. If we say we love God and do not do what he says, the Bible says we are a liar. If we have this idea that we can just say we believe and then continue to live how we want without regard for God, His Word, and for his teachings, then that is not love and it is not faith.
We considered the idea of a marriage. Who would take marriage vows and then say to his or her mate, “Ok, now I have said the words and now I know I have you, so I can now just do what I want”? When we accept Jesus as Savior, we are making a covenant agreement with him that is much like a marriage contract. When we get married, we agree to leave our single life behind us. We leave our parents. We cling to our spouse. That is how it should be when we “marry” Jesus, too. And, we should desire to tell everyone about him.
Psalm 50 continues by God stating that he does not rebuke his people for their sacrifices (offerings), yet he says, “Sacrifice thank offerings to God, fulfill your vows to the Most High, and call upon me…” I believe this is the clincher: “Fulfill your vows to the Most High.” That is really what disturbs God… the forsaking of our vows to him. When we “believe” in Jesus, we are taking marriage vows to Him, and he wants us to fulfill those vows. Who would not tell everyone he knows about the “love of his life”?
Verse 23 says, “He who sacrifices thank offerings honors me, and he prepares the way so that I may show him the salvation of God.”
Thank - to express feelings of gratitude to somebody or be grateful to somebody. Offering – contribution; submission; gift; obedience; surrender – Encarta Dictionary & Thesaurus.
Prepare – get ready; make ready. Way – road; avenue; path; route; passageway.
One of the best ways I know to show our Lord our thanks to him for what he has done for us is to tell other people about him. If you knew a tornado was coming and that people were going to die in it, would you fail to warn them? Would you keep it to yourself? If you saw a child in the middle of the street and you saw a car barreling down the street headed straight toward him, would you not put your life on the line to try to save him? People are dying every day without Jesus. We have the message of salvation. And, we have many, many avenues for telling people. So, as the song says, “Don’t let it go unsaid.”