9-9-2014

Good Morning All,

         Psalm 42:8; “By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me, a prayer to the God of my life.”

     “Here’s a story of a man named Brady…”  “Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale…”   “Love is all around no need to fake it…” “Baby, if you ever wondered, wondered whatever became of me…”  Does that ever happen to you?  I can be sitting at my desk working on a lesson or a sermon and all of a sudden a tune or a song will pop into my head.  It might be just about any song.  Amazingly, they can actually and accurately match my mood at the time.  If I am especially chipper, one of the TV themes will pop in.  If I am more melancholy, it might be more of a plaintive ballad.  When I watch the news and see the violence and destruction, I hear more of the 60’s war protest songs.  It is fascinating because sometimes I end up stopping what I am trying to do because I am distracted from what I am doing by the song.

    Music has that kind of power or effect on us.  This is why music is important in the Bible, especially in the Old Testament.  Much of what we use from the Old Testament is actually music.  The Psalms were the ancient hymn book.  We have the Song of Moses.  We have the laments and the songs of great joy.     In the New Testament we have the Song of Simeon, Mary’s “Magnificat” and the songs of the angels.  Music plays a huge part of Scriptures.

    There is a very good reason for this and that is because music has the capacity to reach more of our emotional reactions than simple speaking.  The sounds and the resonance tend to make our joys more joyful and our cries of lament and sadness even deeper.  Music also stays with us longer.  That is why most of us can remember things better if we put it to music.  It is the rhythm and the tonal expressions that make it easier to remember.  Music can also be very soothing to us.  It can excite us or soothe us all depending upon the volume, pitch, timbre, and all the other elements tied together.

    This is part of the reason why the psalmist notes that “at night his song is with me.”  It is to evoke within us the resonance of memories deep within us.  Think of the soothing lullaby that gently calms you and give you rest.  That is how God’s Word works for us.  It soothes us, it calms us; it is the only true source of hope that we have.  So we want to always be able to recall it and to remember it.

    So take some of your favorite verses and try to place them to a tune that you know.  Or try to find a couple of hymns that will do the same thing.  Find something that God will use to remind you of his tremendous love and grace.  When you find them, you might be surprised how often they pop into your head at just the right time.  God desire is for you.  His love for you knows no limits.

Father, your words of grace are indeed music to our ears.  You sing the joy of our salvation.  Help us to sing your praises.  Be with those who are in need of your soothing sounds.  Bring them the peace that only you can.  In the precious name of Jesus, our risen Savior we pray, amen

God’s Peace,

Pastor Bret