“I love the Lord, for he heard my cry. He heard my call for mercy. I love the Lord, for He’s been so good to me, I will honor Him as long as I live.” Psalm 116:1
It was an experience like I had never known. There I was, surrounded by twenty-thousand men all with lifted hands, praising God and singing songs of worship to Him. The 1990’s Promise Keepers movement was real, and it swept across the country, bringing men together from across denominational lines for a life-changing weekend of worship, teaching and fellowship.
Many of us, having never really experienced worship before, were blown away by the power of God we experienced in these events. Where I came from, the lifting of one’s hands in worship was a rarity and only reserved for the ones that were a little “on the edge.” But here we stood, with hands raised high, singing the songs of the redeemed. These Promise Keepers worship songs would not just get in your head, but they had a way of getting way down in your spirit, and I would find myself singing them over and over to myself long after one of these events.
One such song was taken from Psalm 116 with words that say, “I love the Lord, for he heard my cry. He heard my call for mercy. I love the Lord, for He’s been so good to me, I will honor Him as long as I live.” Songs like these and the messages behind them is what sets them apart. These lyrics point to an understanding that, because of our sin and transgression, we deserve nothing but God’s wrath and judgement. Yet, God, our Heavenly Father who is rich in mercy, has offered us hope, salvation, and forgiveness through Jesus Christ, His Son.
Today, may we let the songs of the redeemed be forever on our lips.