“…but be fulfilled with the Spirit, speaking unto
yourselves with Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making
melody to the Lord in your hearts.”
Ephesians 5:18b-19
I grew up in a house of musical talent. My daddy was an accomplished guitar player
and had a powerful bass voice that could be heard clearly, from any position in
our church’s auditorium during song worship.
This actually came as a blessing many times when he could drown out
another bass singer, who was always just a bit off key.
My mother, with her harmonic alto voice could add
that perfect sound to any song. I have
seen her play a variety of instruments, from a stand-up bass, autoharp (which I
loved “playing” when I was little), to utilizing her piano skills on an
electric keyboard. I’d always loved
hearing her sing!
Dexter, my older brother, had picked up the guitar
at a young age. Being part of band and a
tenor in choir, he just followed the footsteps of the talent that ran in the
family. He’s fortunate enough to have
retained his tenor range, as mine has somewhat diminished. LUCKY!
😊
I can recall many evenings, growing up, when my
daddy and brother would pull out the guitars, mom with her bass or autoharp,
and just have a family jam session in our living room. I was too young to really latch on to
learning an instrument so, I just sang out and looked cute. Also, we spent many Saturday evenings at the
local bluegrass festival, where my daddy, and eventually my brother, would
perform with some of the other talented musicians. Both of my parents also lent their skills in
the church’s adult Christmas programs. I
have worn out the old cassette recordings of those gatherings. Awesome memories!
My wife and I met through music and I love how are
voices sound united. My mornings start
in complete bliss, listening to her sing as she gets ready to go to work. It is a complete state of joy and happiness. This is just another example of the importance
that music (especially vocal music) is a vital part of life.
The Bible references “singing” over 100 times. You would think that God is trying to tell us
the importance of music in our lives. We
use it to express emotions, as a way to commune with others, and to worship our
Creator. In fact, growing up, nothing
would have more of a spiritual impact to me than hearing the harmony created by
the voices of my old congregation. While
some may choose worship with instruments and a band, nothing, to me beats the
sweet sound of a large group harmonizing beautiful hymns.
You don’t have to be a great singer to be able to
praise God through the words of hymnal praise.
You just have to feel it inside.
As the passage says, make melody “in your hearts”. To God’s ears, every voice, praising him in
harmony, is a sweeter sound than anything else around.
Keep the music of your life strong and lift up your
voice in praise to the Father.
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