Have you ever got a song stuck in your head? Worse yet a jingle? My wife constantly begs me to stop humming the jingle Delta Airlines uses when they put me on hold because inadvertently, she then can’t get it out of her head either. Thank goodness for the speakerphone of my cell, but that jingle playing sometimes over an hour is really catchy. That’s the point! Just make something that is catchy so that people will keep it locked in their minds…that’s pretty good advertising.
Recently, with the launch of a new movie in theatres, the follow-up of one I enjoyed when I was a teenager, the trailer for it used a catchy soundtrack from the original. I was hooked! All day long, after hearing it during the morning news, I couldn’t get it out of my mind. Humming it down the hall, whistling in the car, all day long. I couldn’t shake it! Hours went by and I thought how effective they were in getting me to concentrate on that movie. So, in desperation, I did the unthinkable! I started humming the Delta jingle and it broke the cycle of addictive humming.
While humorous, this true-life illustration came to mind as I meditated (jingle free) on Psalm 34:1
“I will bless the LORD at all times his praise shall continually be in my mouth.”
In some Bibles, this phrase is added to this Psalm, “A Psalm of David, when he changed his behaviour before Abimelech; who drove him away and he departed.” KJV
This Psalm follows the story where David entered the land of the Philistines to escape Saul. But he wasn’t welcome there either, so he was brought before the king. We read in I Samuel 21 that David acted like he was crazy, a madman, and the king believed him and set him free.
Both situations were dangerous. David was desperate though. We never really know what to do in some situations; we do the best we can at the time. Probably one situation wasn’t much better than the other, and maybe his solution to the current situation wasn’t very brave, but one thing he made clear. He was happy to be free.
Literally, David said, “at every time”, good and bad, he will “bless” the Lord, that is he will salute Him, praise Him, even kneel down, giving honor and praise to God. No matter the outcome, he will give blessings to Him. In this case, he was free, and it was reason to celebrate, but also the appropriate time to share from his own experiences.
Not every situation feels like a time to bless God, in fact, when trials come, many turn their back on Him, get angry with Him, even curse Him. But in the whole counsel of God, even though we might not be privy to His entire plan, the ability to honor Him, His decision in the matter, we ought to know better. We cannot separate all the times He was good to us from a season that He hasn’t yet revealed the rest of the plan or the bigger picture. It might be easier if we could see the whole thing, but what if we could just learn to trust Him; blessing His name through the trials and storms.
What if we could sing His praise like a jingle or song stuck in our mouths spurred by the recollection of all the times of His faithfulness. No doubt those songs of praise, recollection, and victory would guide us, carry us, addicted to His praises, while yet in the trials.
Pick a song! Let it ring continually in your mouth!
Dr. Ronald J. Barnes, Jr.
President / CEO
July 4, 2022
