Making a Joyful Noise

For the past two days, the birds have been singing exuberantly. Never before in Athens have my feathered friends made such a racket! They've been singing from sunrise to sunset, giving me pause to wonder what they're singing about. But then, what's not to sing about? A heavy snowfall near the end of last month saturated the earth with much-needed nutrients, and for the past two weeks we've been enjoying bright sunshine, spring-like temperatures and blossoming trees. God is so good, reviving, encouraging, blessing us with the many evidences of his love. I was just on my knees this morning, praying for the well-being of Dorian, whom I could not seem to contact, when he telephoned me. (He's fine!)

This weekend I had the great blessing of finally meeting another "son", a Ghanian brother-in-Christ who has telephoned us every week from Greek prison for the past twelve years. The man, who calls me "Mum" and has four more years left to serve on his sentence, was granted a five-day leave. He came to our church on Sunday and gave testimony of God's goodness. I'm so grateful God gives Samuel not only the grace to endure his lengthy
incarceration, but the inspiration to draw fellow prisoners to Jesus Christ, and to the worship and Bible studies inside the prison. And Samuel is not the only prisoner the Lord has blessed this way.

Like the birds, I want to sing praises to the Lord. In my daily reading, I came to Psalm 9. Here are some verses:

"I will praise thee, O LORD, with my whole heart; I will shew forth all thy marvellous works. I will be glad and rejoice in thee: I will sing praise to thy name, O thou most High. . . The Lord also will be a refuge for the oppressed, a refuge in times of trouble. And they that know thy name will put their trust in thee: for thou, LORD, hast not forsaken them that seek thee."