This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24
I’ve known that Bible verse as long as I can remember, because I’ve always known the song. It was the first song my son Benjamin learned to sing, and the first song my daughter Livi learned to play and sing on the piano. Because “This is the Day” lives with us, pulsing through our memory, we will always have a cosmic context for celebrating the arrival of a sunrise.
In the Spring of 2013, when Sing the Bible was still just a dream, we hoped to create an entire CD of Scripture songs as memorable as “This Is the Day,” with the added ambition of humor and artistic depth. Families had been memorizing Slugs & Bugs songs for years, but if we succeeded, they would soon be memorizing God’s Word at the same time.
Two years later, we’ve sold almost 20,000 physical copies of Sing the Bible with Slugs & Bugs plus thousands more digitally—making it our fastest selling Slugs & Bugs CD ever. On a personal level, my own kids (and I) have memorized more Scripture than ever before, and (unbelievably) they still enjoy listening to the songs in the car. They now remember Galations 5:1 and Deuteronomy 6:5 as easily as I remember “This Is the Day.” In the wake of all this excitement, deciding to make Sing the Bible Volume 2 was a no-brainer.
This time around we’ve chosen the Scriptures both for their singability and for their practical instruction for Christian life. With verses like the those we’ve listed below,
Volume 2 will help kids build a framework for how Christians act when we submit to the Holy Spirit.
Let your light shine so that men might see your good deeds and glorify your father in heaven. —Matthew 5:16
And he said to them, “Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. —Mark 16:15
Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves. —Philippians 2:3
Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows generously will also reap generously. Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver. —2 Corinthians 9:6-7
Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. —Matthew 6:25-26
Do everything without grumbling or arguing so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the Word of Life. —Philippians 2:16
In addition to these practical Scriptures, there are additional songs that are broader in scope, though extremely effective in lifting up important elements of a Christian life. Here are just a few:
Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint. —Isaiah 40:28-31
Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt, whose lives are lived in complete honesty! When I refused to confess my sin, my body wasted away, and I groaned all day long. Day and night your hand of discipline was heavy on me. Finally, I confessed all my sins to you and stopped trying to hide my guilt. I said to myself, “I will confess my rebellion to the Lord.” And you forgave me! All my guilt is gone. —Psalm 32:1-5
I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ. —Ephesians 3:16-18
Taken together, all of the verses on Sing the Bible Volume 2 will amount to a musical handbook for the Christian Life. I’m excited about the prospect of helping families (including mine) learn verses that will help them “shine like stars in the sky” (Phil 2:16).
Right now we are in the middle of the Kickstarter campaign to fund this new record, and we’d love for you to be a part of making this dream a reality. Click here to visit the Kickstarter page and read more about what we’ve got planned. Thank you so much for all the support you’ve already shown for Slugs & Bugs, and thanks to the Rabbit Room for helping spread the word. I love this gospel-loving community, and I am so grateful to Pete and Andrew and all the contributors and readers that the Rabbit Room represents.