Psalm Meditation 1368 ¶Proper 18 ¶September 6, 2026 ¶Psalm 96 ¶https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Psalm%2096&version=NRSVUE ¶Ask a group of pre-school children, ‘How many of you can sing?’ and all of their hands will go up. The same with dancing, drawing, and any number of arts and crafts. As they get older and people around them judge the quality of their work, they begin to question their abilities and stop practicing the ones in which those judges found them to be less than skilled. There are people with beautiful voices who were told not to sing so they don’t, as well as people who need a bucket to carry a tune, who sing anyway. ¶The psalmist does not put a caveat in the psalm; the invitation is to sing. There is nothing about full volume, or a whispered song; the invitation is to sing. Sing in your best voice, recognizing that there may be a difference between your best and the best. Most importantly, the focus is not on you and your voice, the focus is on God. God has done wonderful things that, once we have noticed do well to be lifted up in thanks with praise. Does God need our praise? No. None of us needs to be praised, however it does give us a boost to be noticed and thanked for what we do. ¶Stay focused on God. The more we lift our hearts and voices in praise and thanksgiving, the more we notice, and the more thankful we can be. Our thankfulness will lead us to join the psalmist in lifting our hearts and voices in thankful song. “Let the heavens be glad, and let the earth rejoice; let the sea roar and all that fills it; let the field exult and everything in it.” ¶August 31, 2026 ¶LCM