I will sing to the LORD all my life;
I will sing praise to my God as long as I live. Psalm 104:33 (NIV)
Awaken regularly to the spring dawn chorus as the birds showcase their vocal talent; some melodious, some rather repetitive. Each species has its own signature song, its own theme tune. Today one particularly loquacious thrush was very vocal outside my window. Birdsong has inspired poets and composers through the centuries. Grieg, Ravel and Vaughan Williams have been so fascinated by the melody of blackbirds, skylarks, nightingales and doves that they have turned their calls into music. Vivaldi composed the famous ‘Goldfinch’ concerto. Girolamo Frescobaldi’s ‘Capriccio sopra Cucho’ is a testimony to the charms of the cuckoo. The most famous example of a cuckoo call in music is Beethoven’s Pastoral Symphony, where at the end of the second movement, the ‘Scene by the Brook’, there is a cadenza for three birds: a flute imitates a nightingale, an oboe the quail and a pair of clarinets for the cuckoo.
A typical songbird belts out its song between 1,000 and 2,500 times per day. How about us? The Bible speaks of us “singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord”. The Bible contains over four hundred references to singing and fifty direct commands to sing. The longest book of the Bible, the Psalms, is a book of songs. Joyful, exuberant, heartfelt singing was evidenced in the daily life of the Psalmist. He declared:
I will praise God’s name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving. Psalm 69:30 (NIV)
I will sing of the LORD’s great love forever… Psalm 89:1 (NIV)
I will sing to the LORD,
because He has dealt bountifully with me. Psalm 13:6 (AMPC)
How good it is to sing praises to our God,
how pleasant and fitting to praise Him! Psalm 147:1 (NIV)
He invites us to join in.
Come before His presence with singing. Psalm 100:2 (NKJV)
Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;
Let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before Him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song. Psalm 95:1 (NIV)
O sing unto the Lord a new song:
Sing unto the Lord, all the earth. Psalm 96:1 (KJV)
Let sighing flee away and singing fill the air. When you hear the birds singing their hearts out, remember to sing your own song of salvation. What is the song you are singing today?