It’s the first song in my I-can’t-sleep worship playlist. Something about it brings me to my feet, which is probably why I can’t sleep.

This song got me out of my sickbed if even for a few minutes, to stand and praise Him. It is a reminder that praise is hard in hard places, but He is still worthy of our praise.

There will always be something or someone trying to take our song. Keep us focused on our hard place or our hard life, hard marriage, hard job, hard everything. We need a reminder that we don’t praise our life, we praise God. We don’t sing because our life is good, we sing because Jesus is good and He is forever worthy of our song. Our circumstances do not change that.

I know we don’t feel like singing. We don’t want to have to shift our focus. Seems like a lot of effort. Sometimes, let’s be honest, we would rather just lick our wounds than raise our hands to heaven. But there is something that happens when we choose to get up and begin to praise God. The darkness and oppression that hang around in the hard places begin to lift when we begin to release our praise.

What something or someone is trying to take your song right now? I’m not just talking about singing along in church or with a video. I’m talking about your song. Your praise. Your acknowledgment that no matter what, you will believe in and trust His goodness. Your hallelujah.

He will be praised. Let’s keep the stones quiet.