Our Daily BreadSample

Giving God Our Best

- Julie Ackerman Link

We had rehearsed the song for several weeks, and it sounded good. But there was one tricky section that we just couldn’t get right. We were ready to call it good enough. Our choir director seemed to agree. He too was weary of rehearsing the same few measures over and over.

Finally he said, “We’ve worked hard on this. You’re tired. I’m tired. We’re running short on time. And 99 percent of the people won’t know whether or not we sing it right.” As we started to put away our music, he continued, “But we’re going to sing it right for the 1 percent who know the difference.” We groaned as we reopened our music to the rumpled page.

On Sunday morning when we sang it right, few people knew. But that didn’t matter. What really mattered was that we were singing from our heart for an audience of One—One who deserves excellent praise. King David wanted an “exceedingly magnificent” house built for the Lord (1 Chron. 22:5). So before he died, he made sure his son Solomon had everything he needed to build the temple—an abundance of gold, silver, bronze, iron, timber, stone, and skilled craftsmen (vv.14-15).

Whatever we do, our audience of One deserves our very best.

O worship the King,
All glorious above,
And gratefully sing
His power and His love.
—Grant

When we worship God, only our best is good enough.