Praise God with all kinds of music.
| posted 1/30/2009
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Singing, cymbals, harps, strings, trumpets, even a marching band—what a joyful noise must have risen at the dedication of the city wall! Apparently some of the singers were especially trained for this task (12:28), but the focus wasn't on the performance or the performers; it was all on God, for "God had made them rejoice with great joy" (12:43). What a contrast to just a short time earlier; when the Babylonians, who had deported the Jews, taunted their prisoners to sing about Jerusalem, all they could do was cry (Psalm 137).
If you are a Christian and are a former prisoner of sin now set free from your old ways of living, you can relate to the joy these released prisoners felt. You, too, can worship with great joy when you celebrate what God has done for you. (See also Nehemiah 8:1-9:6; Job 42:1-6; Psalm 42.)
Good Words to Remember:
Also that day they offered great sacrifices, and rejoiced, for God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced, so that the joy of Jerusalem was heard afar off. Nehemiah 12:43
Today's Challenge:
Praise God for all the ways in which knowing him has changed your life.
Copyright 2001 by the author or Christianity Today International/Christian Bible Studies.
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