2010 – September 19 – Singing the Blues

Study from God’s Word… Zion sings in exile – Psalms 102, 106, 123, & 137 … Passage for Reflection: Psalm 137: 1 – 4 … NIV 1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. 2 There on the poplars we hung our harps, 3 for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" 4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD while in a foreign land?

My Journal for Today: Hey, Christian! … Have you ever felt way low going to church, with some heavy burden on your heart? Maybe you didn’t even want to go to church because you were so despondent over your circumstances; but you went out of obligation. And when you got to church the worship music began; and perhaps, like I have done on occasion, you were lifted up, out of your pits of despair, by the words and melodies of hope coming from the hymns or the praise songs.

And here, in reading today’s devotional from Dr. Smith, were the people of God in Babylonian captivity, at their lowest point ever; and their captives were even taunting them to sing some of their joyous Hebrew songs. It was “rub it in” time for the people of Babylon. And the disobedient, recalcitrant children of Israel certainly didn’t want to sing; but as we read in Psalm 137 and the other songs I was led to read today and yesterday, God’s children were even inspired to write and sing laments to God, … songs which probably were like African-Americans coming up with their own laments in the 19th century, which we later knew of as “the Blues.”

The Blues, as a musical genre, was popularized in the early 20th century from right here in Memphis, TN, by the famous W. C. Handy; and it has become an indigenous brand of American music, especially for African-Americans; and even today for musicians and singers like B. B. King, who also call Memphis home base. Even Elvis, also a local MidSouth legend, sang a lot of the blues; and his life certainly ended in captivity to drugs and despair.

Singing the blues was – and is – a way for those who were down and out to express their lament; and the Hebrew nation certainly needed to do that, recognizing their sin and singing of their longing to be freed from the captivity of the Babylonians. And I, very personally, have learned that when I’m feeling down-and-out, one of the best ways for me to have God lift me upward and outward is for me to devote some devotional time to listening to some of my favorite Christian praise songs, which I now have stored strategically on my Ipod for ready access. Maybe you have some inspiring Christian music which you use to let God lift you up when you’re down. If you haven’t tried that as a method of dealing with down-hearted moments, I would highly recommend this form of personal worship and devotional time.

I have found this way of “singing the blues,” so to speak, to be a powerful way to surrender my attitude, in humility, to God; and, as the Apostle Peter wrote (in 1st Pet. 5: 7), “… casting all your cares on God because He cares for you.”

My Prayer for Today: Lord, when I hear music honoring You, I am lifted out of the pits and upwards with the hope of Glory. Amen

2010 – June 08 – Music to Soothe the Soul

Study from God’s Word… 2nd Kings 8: 16-17 [2nd Chron. 21: 5]; 2nd Chron. 21: 2-4; 2nd Kings 3: 6-27; 1st Kings 22: 45, 50a [2nd Chron. 20: 34, 21: 1a]; 1st Kings 22: 50b [2nd Chron. 21: 1b, 20a]; 2nd Kings 8: 18-19 [2nd Chron. 21: 6-7, 11]; 2nd Chron. 21: 12-17; 2nd Kings 8: 20-22 [2nd Chron. 21: 8-10] … Passage for Reflection: 2nd Kings 3: 15… NIV 14 Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you or even notice you. 15 But now bring me a harpist." While the harpist was playing, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha 16 and he said, "This is what the LORD says: Make this valley full of ditches. 17 For this is what the LORD says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink.

My Journal for Today: Note the passage highlighted by Dr. Smith’s devotional today. It is typed in bold above for your reference/study. And my devotional shepherd uses this verse to raise an interesting and very salient point about our use of our time devoted to our worship of the Lord.

Does music play an important point in your (our) worship? It certainly does for me; but music, as we choose to use it can definitely have an effect on our emotions. The context of today’s passage has the Prophet Elisha really upset over the decisions/actions of King Joram in Israel; and so, what does he do? He calls for a harpist to play soothing music in his presence. Does that remind you of another person in the Old Testament who needed soothing music? Yeah; … King Saul called for David to play for him when God’s Spirit had departed from him and his soul was very disquieted [see 1st Samuel 16: 14-23].

Dr. Smith rightly points out that if you play lilting classical music in the presence of a baby, then if you play hard rock music, you’ll see a vastly different behavioral reaction in the child. Which of those two do you think will promote sleep and which will prevent slumber? Duh?!! We know the answer, don’t we?

Have you noticed how important music is in the worship services of most churches; and we hire “worship leaders” for churches because they have God-given talents to shape music which enhances the message the preacher is going to bring in the worship service. Perhaps you, as do I, use certain Christian praise/worship music to enhance your daily devotional quiet times, especially if you need to have your heart quieted or your attitude set into a more receptive tone of mind (and note how I just used the phrase “tone of mind” to describe having an attitude of worship during my “quiet time” [where I also use another term which describes solitude as opposed to noisiness]). Our minds/hearts are definitely affected by , silence, music, or noisiness; and I maintain that we can worship our God more effectively and purposely if we use music judiciously in our disciplined daily devotional times.

Right now, I’m choosing to go to my I-tunes listing of Christian favorites, which I’ve stored on my I-pod, and I’m bringing up a tune to which I’ve made reference on more than one occasion in my devotionals. It is the old hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, rendered and sung by Alisha Dishong, who does such a beautiful job singing this old Christian classic. I often go back to this one song, sung so liltingly and beautifully by this singer, with such a soothing arrangement, because this song quiets my heart and brings me into an attitude of worship where I’m doing exactly what the lyrics say in the song >>>

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of this earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.

Do you have trouble getting into a proper mood to worship God? Perhaps you have rancid dreams at night and you need to quiet your heart or redirect your mind in order to sleep. Maybe you have trouble getting your baby to sleep at night. Well, if you need some quieting of your heart or you desire to go deeper in your morning devotional, perhaps choosing to use selectively soothing Christian or classical music would be a good strategy to quiet your heart so that you can go more fruitfully before the Throne of Grace.

We know that Saul used David’s harp music to quiet his soul; and in today passage we read that Elisha needed to use the contemporary worship music of his day to soothe his disquieted nature.

So, as I sit here listening to the lovely strains of Alisha Dishong singing about Jesus, maybe it would be good for you to turn on some heart-quieting music, as did Elisha, to calm your continence and bring you closer to your Savior and into a deeper relationship with Him.

My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank You for the music You have given us to help us come to You to worship You in Spirit and in truth. Amen