The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation. (Psalm 118:14)

Figures of speech abound in Scripture, especially the OT poetic literature, like the book of Psalms. Here we find what E.W. Bullinger calls a metonymy, where one thing is put or given for another (“Figures of Speech Used in the Bible”). In this case, an action (singing to the Lord) is depicted by an object related to it (a song). The phrase “The LORD is my … song” conveys the sense that the Lord causes me or gives me reason to sing. Indeed, notice the next two verses:

The sound of joyful shouting and salvation is in the tents of the righteous; the right hand of the LORD does valiantly. The right hand of the LORD is exalted; the right hand of the LORD does valiantly. (Psalm 118:15–16)

Because of the Lord, the psalm writer has much to sing about. Have you ever noticed how many songs are contained in Scripture? Not only do we have the book of Psalms, which were all meant to be sung either individually or in a group, but we find them sprinkled throughout the rest of the Bible (among many examples we cite Deuteronomy 33 in the OT, Philippians 2:5-11 in the NT). Psalm 100 calls us to sing with spiritual gusto: “Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before Him with joyful singing” (Psalm 100:1–2). While some singing is somber, reflecting the laments frequently found in the psalms, other singing is lively and emotionally joyful.

We have much to joyfully sing about, for the Lord has “become my salvation.” We sing because we are saved, rescued, redeemed—even though we live in this fallen, sin-cursed world, constantly fighting off attacks of Satan, challenges to our security, hits against our faith, temptations to sin and doubt. We who believe God’s message are saved! That is more than enough to elicit us to sing lustily in praise of God.

This verse is poignantly nuanced: it is not our salvation per se that causes us to sing. Rather, it is God, who is our salvation, who causes us to sing. To be sure, the two are intricately connected, like a potter, the process of sculpting a pot, and the result, the pot itself. Salvation is the process of God retrieving us from our sin and judgment; being saved is the result, but God is the one to be praised, not the process or even the fact of our salvation. We sing because of our salvation, because we are joyful over the One who saved us.

Lord, I look not to the gift, but to You as the Giver. You are my song, for You put a melody in my heart. You give me reason to sing.