To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David. (55 Psalms!)
Singing and Faith
When I desire to teach something in song, I do not simply hum. While lyricless music is important, useful, and meaningful, there is an even closer tie between the words and faith.
We remember emotions, locations, and events through tunes, yes. But if we do not state those things with words, we cannot communicate those things to others in any sort of effective way. Music without words is much more relative and subjective than music attached to lyrics.
I yearn to learn the music that David played on his harp. But even David knew that the music alone was not enough. That is why David did not merely write harp-tunes. He wrote words along with those harp-tunes. And those words are what remain in God’s Word, in the Psalms.
In Ephesians 5:19, Paul describes this, encouraging us to be, “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” Notice the merging and intertwining and connection of the melody AND the words.
Maybe particularly in this Christmas season, we can see the importance of both tune and word… but the word carries the message. The words we sing nudge us to think, encourage us to remember, advocate our contemplation… and often drive us towards faith.
Maybe not Rudolph, and Santa Clause is Coming to Town… but Silent Night; O Come All Ye Faithful; Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming; and Hark, the Herald Angels Sing.
Take the Faith God grants us.