Thank the Lord and Sing His Praise!

We sing this in Divine Service Setting One just after we receive the Lord’s Supper. In that holy meal we have feasted on the very Word made flesh, Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of sins. There can be no greater gift for a fallen sinner like you and me! Forgiveness, life and salvation are placed into our mouths! WOW!!

It is natural that we sing words of thanksgiving after we receive a gift. When you get a fantastic gift for your birthday or Christmas, don’t you thank the giver? When someone does something for you that you really need done, don’t you thank the doer of the deed? We should! To do anything less would be ungrateful!

But I would put it to you today that you should sing the words of this canticle more than just after the Lord’s Supper. For in the Supper you feast on the Word in physical form. But did you know that when you open up the Bible you feast on the very same Word? The Word of God as you read it in the Bible gives you the same gift on a daily basis as does the Supper. Forgiveness, life and salvation are yours around your dining room table, your dressing table or your night table even as much as it is the Lord’s table in the chancel.

As 2008: The Year of the Word continues, so does our ongoing feast. As you search the Scriptures you are feasting. As you diligently study, you are receiving from the Lord the one thing needful. As you gather in ChristCare groups, on Thursday mornings or Sunday mornings with other beggar sinners, you find the very food for your souls! This should lead us to sing: Thank the Lord and Sing His Praise!

But what if you can’t carry a tune in a bushel basket with a lid? Can you still sing? You bet you can! You sing with your life. You sing your thanksgivings to the Lord when you consistently and prayerfully see your entire life as an act of worship. We will be turning our attention to this in the month of October as we mark our Stewardship Emphasis month. As Consecration Sunday approaches and we feast on the Word of God and home and in the Lord’s House, we will be called upon to sing our thanksgivings, with our lives, with our time, with our talents and with out tithes and offerings. The way we respond is our song.

May the Lord grant us the grace this month to reflect on His goodness toward us. As we do, may he tune our song of praise. And in the process, may He use that song to bring others to join along. That truly would be a reason to sing!