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Oh sing to the Lord a new song;
    sing to the Lord, all the earth!
Sing to the Lord, bless his name;
    tell of his salvation from day to day.
Declare his glory among the nations,
    his marvelous works among all the peoples!
For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised;
    he is to be feared above all gods.
For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols,
    but the Lord made the heavens.
Splendor and majesty are before him;
    strength and beauty are in his sanctuary.

Psalm 96:1-6

When I saw the word for today, sing, the words of this Psalm immediately came to mind!

Music has played a huge role in my life! I played the piano when I was younger, (still do on occasion at home), sang in choirs in high school and college and music was part of our family constantly! I memorized hymns easily by singing them in church, chapels, and memorizing them for high school and choir programs that we sang as we visited churches and put on concerts. It was a way of raising money for our high school/college. It was also a fun way for us to get out and enjoy delicious food at church potlucks in the south (usually) and even into homes of all kinds when we went on choir tours. (High school for me, was a boarding school.)

I still have the words to much of our music deep in my memory bank attached to some wonderful memories from over 50 years ago! Because the schools were Christian schools, some of the music was straight passages of Scripture. Some of the music was Psalms, another piece I still remember was from Ephesians 4:30-32.  stop

Music wed with words has a way of sticking in your brain like words alone alone don’t!

The music combined with the words I memorized evidently sticks in special places in my brain that seems impervious to the ravages of time!  Combined with passages of the Bible that I have memorized over time, I have a wonderful treasure trove to encourage me in dark times as well as guide me during times when I need wisdom or discernment to know truth in a given situation.

Music and the words of hymns have always helped me in worship as well…when I just don’t have the right words to say. These words, whether directly from the Bible or from the pen of a godly hymn writer of the past, often guide me when my words go blank.

Sadly, I have often found many modern songs used in church in recent years have not filled that gap. Words that are superficial, when repeated over and over don’t become better. When we moved to Alabama a few years ago, the church we started attending had a more updated music offering. I liked many things about the church, but I missed my old hymns.

For some reason, old, poetic language is easier for me to memorize than modern prose. It is also easier to meditate on.

But I tried to keep open-minded. Then I started noticing the words of some of our “new” hymns. They had the depth I was used to in terms of theology. I just wasn’t used to the new tunes. Then I looked at the authors of the words. They were often old names like John Newton, The Wesley brothers (no, it isn’t a group, John and Charles authored many familiar hymns), Augustus Toplady and John Cowper, to name a few. The words were deep and thoughtful with new tunes. They just weren’t familiar hymns to me. Yes, we sing familiar new ones from the Gettys and others as well as some of the old familiar hymns. Our musicians mix piano, guitars, and other instruments. The mix of music is a lot like life…a mix of music from different time periods both in words and music…played by a mix of instruments. Personally, I love eclectic.

Each week, it is wonderful to be led in worship as we sing, pray, confess our sin, and hear the preaching of GOD’s Word. Singing is certainly a huge part of the worship of GOD’s people over the ages…and it will continue to be into eternity!

from every tribe and language and people and nation,
and you have made them a kingdom and priests to our God,
and they shall reign on the earth.”

Then I looked, and I heard around the throne and the living creatures and the elders the voice of many angels, numbering myriads of myriads and thousands of thousands,saying with a loud voice,

“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might
and honor and glory and blessing!”

And I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them, saying,

**You might enjoy reading some of the hymns and hymn stories in my series I have written under the tag: hymns & songs. It will introduce you to many new and old hymn authors as well as the words to many hymns.