The song I'm referring to takes me on that joyful trip down memory lane, back to 1973 (I had to look that up, my memory is not that good). Wikipedia told me this about the song we had so much fun singing:
"Sing" is a popular song created for Sesame Street that gained popularity when performed by The Carpenters, who made it a #3 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 chart in 1973. It has become one of the most performed songs on Sesame Street, sung in English, Spanish, and sign language.
"Sing" was written by Joe Raposo,[1] the staff songwriter for the popular children's TV show Sesame Street. Take yourself back in time to 1973 here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbzkpLGqlrU
We were making a joyful noise (heavy on the noise, most likely) back in those childhood days with singing. In this next verse of thanks, David (or one of his musicians) wrote Psalm 30 for the dedication of the temple that we looked at back in 2 Chronicles 5:13 in my post, A Great Choir.
"Sing praises to the LORD, O you his saints, and give thanks to his holy name." Psalm 30:4 ESV
To illustrate the importance of this short verse, I'm going to break it down, highlighting the following words; sing, saints, and name. I've already brought your focus to the word sing via a song called "Sing," my joyous memory of singing that song, and an old post that was dedicated to the act of worshiping with voice and music.
Moving on the the word saints. In researching this particular word, I was led to Romans 1:7, "To all in Rome who are loved by God and called to be saints". The basic idea of the Greek for this word is "holiness." All Christians are saints in that they are positionally "set apart" to God and are experientially being made increasingly "holy" by the Holy Spirit.
"But we ought always to thank God for you, brothers loved by the Lord, because from the beginning God chose you to be saved through the sanctifying work of the Spirit and through belief in the truth." 2 Thessalonians 2:13
"But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves to God, the benefit you reap leads to holiness, and the result is eternal life." Rom 6:22
Holiness leads us right back to God because He is holy. In fact, the only purely holy beings that we know of are the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. These are the three names of our one true God, or triune God. There are many names given God throughout the Bible... Alpha and Omega, Jesus, Hosanna, Jehovah, Lamb of God.... you get the picture. I'm not going to focus on the specific names (at this point) but the general "name" of God to be praised. Exodus 3:15 tells us about this "name."
"God also said to Moses, "Say to the Israelites, 'The Lord, the God of your fathers - the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob - has sent me to you. This is my name forever, the name by which I am to be remembered from generation to generation." (Ex 3:15) The Hebrew for this name is Yahweh. It means "He is" or "he will be" and is the third-person form of the verb translated "I will be." He IS... that's enough for me.
Matt Redman's "10,000 Reasons" highlights the line "(and give thanks to, or in this case worship) his holy name" so well. Have a listen at this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DXDGE_lRI0E
Bringing the verse all together, Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary sheds light on God's goodness, His holiness, and our honor in partaking in a portion of that holiness (through the purchase price of Christ's blood).
The great things the Lord has done for us, both by his providence and by his grace, bind us in gratitude to do all we can to advance his kingdom among men, though the most we can do is but little. God's saints in heaven sing to him; why should not those on earth do the same? Not one of all God's perfections carries in it more terror to the wicked, or more comfort to the godly, than his holiness. It is a good sign that we are in some measure partakers of his holiness, if we can heartily rejoice at the remembrance of it. Our happiness is bound up in the Divine favour; if we have that, we have enough.
Rebecca St James' "I will praise You" lyrics begin with "Joy comes in the morning" from the verse following our current verse of thanks (Psalm 30:5) and it really makes the psalmist point well. The point that no matter what comes, whatever storm or cost, we are right in praising (or giving thanks to) the Lord. You can listen to what I'm talking about here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jXET-duSRr8
"Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise - the fruit of lips that confess his name." Hebrews 13:15
So sing. Sing a song (or at least listen to a song... I've provided three for you). Sing praises to God. Thank Him for his being "He IS" our all in all!
"And be thankful." Colossians 3:15b
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