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Songs of Praise

The Hebrew title for the book of Psalms is Tehillim, which means “songs of praise.” Psalm 150 says, “Let everything that has breath praise the Lᴏʀᴅ.” It is good to sing praise to the Lord because he is our God and King. To praise God means to give him our thanks and love. We praise God for his amazing creation and for his amazing love for us.

Your Voice

Put your fingers against your throat and swallow. Feel that bump moving up and down? That’s your voice box. It’s called a larynx. Keep your fingers there and say “Ahhhh.” Can you feel your vocal cords vibrating? Those vocal cords are small bands of muscle inside your larynx. The air you breathe out makes them vibrate. The buzzing sound they create changes as it travels up to your mouth. Your tongue and lips turn that sound into words—words to ask a friend to play or to sing praise to God!

Read Psalm 66:1–4. How can you use your voice to praise God?

Made to Sing

People aren’t the only ones God made to sing. Instead of a larynx, songbirds have a special two-sided voice box called a syrinx. This allows them to sing with two voices at the same time, creating beautiful sounds and songs that people can’t.

The wonderful things God made remind us how awesome and powerful he is. Read on to hear about some amazing bird songs. Next time you hear a bird singing, remember to use your own voice to sing to the Lord!

• The red-eyed vireo is known for singing a lot—more than 22,000 songs in a day!
• Some birds add to their own songs by mimicking other birds’ songs or other sounds they hear.  The gray catbird is thought to mimic at least 44 other birds as well as such sounds as a tree frog and a creaky door.
• The superb lyrebird of Australia is said to be the best mimic of all. In addition to imitating other birds, it has been known to copy the sounds of car alarms, chainsaws, and cameras! With a parent’s permission, check out the video at tinyurl.com/b9ffgvz to hear the lyrebird sing.