A song!
Listen, kings.
Pay attention, rulers!
I myself will sing to the Lord.
I will make music to the Lord, the God of Israel. ~ Judges 5:3 (NCV)
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing songs to God. The other prisoners were listening to them. ~ Acts 16:25 (ERV)
Lord, there is something about the music! The world cannot help but overhear when we sing your praises. Hopefully some of them will join the song. You deserve the praise of all people -- mighty rulers and pitiful prisoners. Please keep the song alive in my heart so that I can make music to you -- not just on Sundays -- but everyday -- and everywhere. Might my life be a song of praise to you. Amen.
Challenging Words
- overhear -- when you hear something being said to another person -- not directly to you. Often the speaker does not realize that what he is saying can be heard by other people who are overhearing.
- pitiful -- Something or someone that makes you feel pity or sympathy is pitiful. Full of pity, miserable, sad, worthless.
TRANSLATIONS
ABP = Authorized Boydston Paraphrase — my own freestyle biblical adaptation — somewhere between paraphrase, commentary, and sermon
CEB = Common English Bible (©2011, the Common English Bible)
CEV = Contemporary English Version (©1995, American Bible Society)
MSG = The Message (©1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002 by Eugene H. Peterson)
NIRV = New International Reader's Version (©1996, 1998, Biblica)
NIV = New International Version (©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011, Biblica)
NLT = New Living Translation (©1996, 2004, 2007, 2013, Tyndale House Foundation)
