In my family of origin, Saturday morning was often filled with music as we did our weekly house cleaning. We would stack the LP records on the player, and the house would fill with music until it was time for Dick Clark and American Bandstand. Then on Sunday morning, we would gather in our local church where we would sing the hymns and in Sunday School, we would learn a variety of children\u2019s songs like \u201cJesus Loves Me,\u201d and \u201cJesus Loves the Little Children.\u201d On Sunday evenings, we would gather and sing some of the older camp hymns. Music was a large part of my upbringing and my faith development.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In Psalm 135:3, the psalmist writes, \u201cPraise the Lord, for the Lord is good; celebrate his lovely name with music.<\/em>\u201d Music combines our hearts, our minds, and our lives as we experience the musical tone and the expressive lyrics. The music can express our joy and celebration, while other songs express our lament and pain. The lyrics of the music invite us to proclaim the truth of who Jesus is, while the lyrics can also serve as our heart\u2019s cry to God to express our commitment or our pain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Because music has been a major part of my life, I at times have lyrics bubble up from within my heart that express my present condition. One of those songs is, \u201cLord I need you, Oh, I need you. Every hour I need you. My one defense. My righteousness. O God, how I need you.\u201d Another is, \u201cYou are my strength when I am weak. You are the treasure that I seek. You are my all in all.\u201d These songs are my cry to the Lord of my need for Him to be in my life, while reminding myself that He is my all in all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As we remember the great loss and deep emotion of 9\/11\/01 today, I wonder what songs speak to our hearts that remind us that God is always in control? What songs express our lament, while reminding us of God\u2019s faithfulness and the hope we have in the Lord. One of the songs for me comes from Psalm 46:10:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be still and know that I am God<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be still and know that I am God,<\/p>\n\n\n\n Be still and know that I am God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am the Lord that healeth thee<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am the Lord that healeth thee<\/p>\n\n\n\n I am the Lord that healeth thee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In thee, O Lord, I put my trust<\/p>\n\n\n\n In thee, O Lord, I put my trust<\/p>\n\n\n\n In thee, O Lord, I put my trust. <\/p>\n\n\n\n As you travel through each day of life, I pray music will play a major part of your spiritual adventure. As you celebrate and as you lament, that you will be reminded of the psalmist\u2019s invitation to \u201ccelebrate his lovely name with music.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Prayer: Lord, on this day of remembrance, we lift our voices to you, knowing you are the one who is in control. Allow the promises we have learned in the lyrics of our hymns and songs bubble from our hearts, proclaiming your lovely name and the cry of our hearts. In Jesus\u2019 name. Amen.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In my family of origin, Saturday morning was often filled with music as we did our weekly house cleaning. We would stack the LP records on the player, and the house would fill with music until it was time for<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6577,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t