has a l'il pony

in my quest to read through the bible in a year, i found myself plodding through acres of names in 1 chronicles.

not my fave chapters.  especially early in the morning when my brain would just as happily slip back to sleep.  but i want to succeed, so plod on i must!

luckily, some of the names are really great.  (if we ever run out of kids' names, i know where i can go to find some new ones.)  my favorite, though, is hazzelelponi.  has a l'il pony!  was she the original horse-girl?  (you know, the one in every elementary school who can't stop talking about her horse.)

i hope so :).

i'm reading 3 chapters a day, and in the 3 chapters, i could usually find just one verse that wasn't "so-and-so was the father of so-and-so was the father of so-and-so."  and i actually found a really cool one!

1 chron 6:31 - "these are the men whom david put in charge of the service of song in the house of the LORD after the ark rested there."  (obvs, not noah's ark, but the ark where God's presence dwelt.)  so it's just a heading for a list - what's cool about it?

God's presence is filled with song.

Hearts lifted up.  Voices lifted up.  Grandeur.  Beauty.  Worship.  Service of song.

it made me think of one night in zambia, when the village was filled with hatred and fear and violence, and the women got together to pray.  susie brought a cd, and we listened to "the anchor holds" by ray boltz.  there was something nourishing, something strengthening, and very tender about entering into God's presence with that song.  when i'm afraid, that moment comes back and i know Him again, present.  the service of song.  what a great verse, tucked away in the middle of boring old chronicles!

then the next day, i found a verse that made that one even cooler.

1 chron 9:33 - "...the singers ... were on duty day and night."  the song never ceased!  they sang and sang and the singing went on and on.  through everything.  it made me think of one of my favorite verses: "Yours [God's] is the day; Yours is also the night." (psalm 74:16) there isn't a minute that doesn't belong to Him.  day and night.

and every minute was filled with the service of song.

the service of song?  why does God want to be served with song?  clearly it matters to Him, since there is a huge stack of verses listing people who served Him this way.

but why does singing matter to God?  i feel like it makes sense that goodness matters, because He is good.  and holiness matters, because He is holy.  and love matters, because He is love.  mercy; He is merciful.  faith; He is faithful.  but - singing?

oh yes.

zephaniah 3:17 - the LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by His love; He will exult over you with loud singing.

my God is a God who sings.
don't you just love Him?  how can you resist that beautiful heart?  He sings!  in joy - over us, His people.

*mind blown.*