Keep Singing

Loss of control, disruption of plans, uncertainty. We’ve all experienced this. I think it is safe to say that for most of us, this week has taken our experience to a new level.

Let me tell you about George. At age 20, George Matheson was going blind. He was also in love and planning to get married. As if the loss of his sight was not trial enough, when he told his fiancé that blindness was inevitable, she decided that she did not want to be the wife of a blind man, and she left. In spite of all this, George persevered. He had a reputation of being joyful and had a strong faith. His preaching reached the hearts of many in Scotland. One of George’s sisters was by his side for years, helping him at home, transcribing some of his sermons, a partner of sorts in his life. When he was forty years old, that sister was getting married. Although he must have been happy for her, it meant loss for him. The night before her wedding, the rest of his family had gone to Glasgow for the night and he was alone. In the middle of deep sadness, he wrote a hymn. Of that hymn, George says, “It was the quickest bit of work I ever did in my life. I had the impression of having it dictated to me by some inward voice rather than that of working it out myself. I am quite sure that the whole work was completed in five minutes and equally sure that it never received at my hands any retouching or correction. I have no natural gift of rhythm. All the other verses I have ever written are manufactured articles; this came like a dayspring from on high.” (emphasis mine)

O Love, that wilt not let me go,

I rest my weary soul in Thee;

I give Thee back the life I owe,

That in Thine ocean depths its flow

May richer, fuller be.

O Light, that followest all my way,

I yield my flickering torch to Thee;

My heart restores its borrowed ray,

That in Thy sunshine’s blaze its day

May brighter, fairer be.

O Joy, that seekest me through pain,

I cannot close my heart to Thee;

I trace the rainbow through the rain,

And feel the promise is not vain

That morn shall tearless be.

O Cross, that liftest up my head,

I dare not ask to fly from Thee;

I lay in dust life’s glory dead,

And from the ground there blossoms red

Life that shall endless be.

Wow. A song given as a gift in the midst of pain. And as for the song coming from the “dayspring on high”… that is the phrase used for Jesus in Luke 1:78-79, “Through the tender mercy of our God, with which the Dayspring from on high has visited us; to give light to those who sit in darkness and the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.”

God, in His mercy, sent Jesus as rescue for the darkness and death of sin, and He sends Jesus as light in our times of darkness, to guide us to peace.

David tells of getting a song as a gift when he was struggling.

“I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him.” Psalm 40:3

Songs encourage us and remind us of truth. God can use them to lift us up out of our own “slimy pits,” and to help us get our feet back on the Rock. As we live/sing our praise to the Lord, even in painful times, it points others to Jesus and the hope that is in Him.

I am blessed to be part of a group of ladies that share prayer and encouragement by texts, and often we communicate just by sending Scripture or a link to a song or even simply the song lyrics. This has been such a blessing to me, and it reminds me of Paul’s instruction in Ephesians 5: “… be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (Ephesians 5:18-20)

My prayer for myself and for you as we walk through this current difficulty, and every trying circumstance to come, and even when we walk through deep sadness and pain, is that we will, like George, know the Love that will not let us go, the Light that is always with us, the Joy that seeks to fill our hearts, and the Cross that brings life out of death.

May God fill our hearts with songs of truth and hope and joy! May we praise Him, and may many see Him because He shines through us.

Borrowing the words from another song as my prayer…

“Lord, I give my life

A living sacrifice

To reach a world in need

To be your hands and feet

So may the words I say

And the things I do

Make my lifesong sing

Bring a smile to You.

Let my lifesong sing to You.

I want to sign my name

To the end of this day

Knowing that my heart was true. “

Please help me to live this way. I pray in the powerful and beautiful and wonderful name, Jesus. Amen.

-Leah