I will sing of the Lord’s great love forever;
   with my mouth I will make your
faithfulness known
   through all generations.
   I will declare that your love stands
firm forever,
   that you have established your
faithfulness in heaven itself.

Psalm 89:1-2

Do you like to sing? I don’t. I’m not a good singer. My voice still cracks and I’m tone-deaf. I’d rather listen to others sing even if it’s a song I don’t like. I don’t sing when I’m alone—that’s how bad it is.

Psalm 89 is credited to Ethan the Ezrahite, in the time of Solomon; 1 Kings 4 places him in the context of history for us. What’s interesting to me about this song of praise is that it is written when praise was in short supply—after the Jews had been deported to Babylon and all was lost. I would think a song of lament would be more appropriate than a song of praise.

Nonetheless, that’s what we have here. Ethan expressing a belief that despite what he sees, God is good and faithful and must be trusted to fulfill His promises to His people. The specific promise he sings of is found in 2 Samuel 7:12, during the reign of King David, “I will raise up your offspring to succeed you, your own flesh and blood, and I will establish his kingdom.” That’s quite a promise, isn’t it?  It’s more than a promise of provision in times of scarcity, or to make a bad situation good, it’s a promise of a complete reversal of the situation—from captives to conquerors.

Let me ask you: how’s your singing voice? The Psalm challenges us, begs us, to join in the praises of the saints across the ages regardless of our circumstances. It calls us to see these “light and momentary troubles” as something already dealt with by God Himself who is for us. It doesn’t diminish what you and I might be experiencing, but it does remind us that despite troubling circumstances, God has and continues to orchestrate a complete reversal on our behalf—first seen in the person and work of His son, Jesus, our Lord and Savior. The song we now sing is one of life and forgiveness and grace and mercy and the power of God Himself to bring His kingdom to us here on earth as it is in heaven.

The power of the song of praise in troubled times is not the song itself, no matter how beautiful it is. It’s not even bad times becoming good. The power of the song is what is behind it—the faithfulness of God and the goodness of God. It is the complete reversal brought about by Jesus for us.

So, even though I’m not a good singer, this is one song I’m working on. Will you join me in singing it today?

In the Goodness of God,