Bless-ed! 52 Blessings Your Lost Friend Doesn’t Have . . . And What You Can Do About It! (Part 15)

Almost each Saturday I’m given a “honey-do” list. These are jobs my wife of 50 years wants me to complete. Lists are important, aren’t they? If you had to make a list of the blessings you have as a believer, what would your list look like? Would it be just a few items? Or would you need a second or a third page?

My friend Mike — who has not yet trusted Christ as his Savior — enjoys many of the common grace blessings of a providential God, but is missing out on so many benefits of being in the family of God. I’ve recently been listening to some powerful Christian music (I’m a Lauren Daigle fan) and it dawned on me that my unsaved friends —

15. THEY DON’T HAVE A REASON TO SING!

Of course, they have their music. And some of it is quite good. But heart-felt praise to God for all He has done for them? That’s a tune they have yet to learn.

Music, singing, dancing are very important in the Scriptures. Psalm 96 says, “Sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. Sing to the Lord, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. …” 2 Samuel 22 says, “Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations; I will sing the praises of your name.” (v. 50). I Chronicles challenges the believer to “Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.” (16:9). And the writer gets even more specific about the theme of our singing later in the same chapter: “Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day.” (v. 23).

You see, the problem with my friend is that he hasn’t become convinced that he is in grave danger without Christ. The Psalmist hits this note when he writes, “But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may rejoice in you.” (5:11). This same idea of finding refuge in the Lord is reiterated in Psalm 59: “But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble.” (v. 16).

The believer in Christ recognizes the many blessings of being “in Him”: “I will sing the Lord’s praise, for he has been good to me.” (Ps. 13:6). And the Psalmist invites us to “Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.” (Ps. 33:3)

So, how do I pray for my unsaved friend? First of all, he needs to hear me sing (figuratively if not literally)! He needs to see a tangible joy in my life that can’t keep me from bursting in song. And I need to pray that God the Holy Spirit would bring that new song to his heart. (to be continued)