The Blessing of Music

 In early 2021, I heard of a CD by Carrie Underwood that was about to be released.  The CD was a collection of older hymns that she compiled, arranged, and sang.  The CD is titled “My Savior.”  There are thirteen songs recorded there, including “Softly and Tenderly”, “Blessed Assurance,” and others.  I waited until the CD was released, then ordered it.  When I received it, I put it in the CD player of my pickup.  It is still there in the player, and in fact has been the only CD in the player since it was first put there almost three years ago.

I played it continually for the first year or so, with breaks only occasionally to listen to classical music on the public radio station.  I listen to it a little less often now, but still have it active in the player about half of the time I’m in the pickup, alternating with classical music on the radio.

I’ve often wondered why I many times would turn off the classical station and start the CD from where it left off.  I’ve wondered what it is about that CD that brings me to want to hear it again for at least the two hundred and forty second time.  I’m not a country music fan.  Ms. Underwood can rightly be branded a country music singer.  I’m not necessarily smitten with Ms. Underwood, either.  The only thing I have left is the music itself…not necessarily the way it has been arranged and sung, although those things have, in my mind, enhanced the messages of the songs.  It’s the words that go along with the “enhanced” musical score and go along with Ms. Underwood’s voice and emotion that is palpable in her singing.  It’s the words.  It’s the message.

 

“Come home.  Come home.  Ye who are weary, come home.”

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me.”

“Just as I am, without one plea; but that thy blood was shed for me.”

“Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.  Because He lives, all fear is gone.”

“Great is thy faithfulness, O God my Father.  Thou changest not…thy compassions they fail not.”

“He sought me and bought me with his redeeming blood.”

“Jesus loves me; this I know.’

 

The words of these hymns are as close to timeless as words can be.  And dare I say that many of the words of these songs are truly inspired…inspired by and through the work of the Spirit of God moving in the hearts and minds of the authors…authors such as Will Thompson, John Newton, Bill & Gloria Gaither, Thomas Chisholm, Anna Bartlett Warner and others.  Words that in turn can inspire, comfort, instruct, and bless.

This CD and these hymns can calm my stress, relieve my anxiety, and make me a better driver.  They can prepare me for what may be a rough day at work.  They can encourage me to think beyond the here-and-now.  They can bring to light a reality that transcends any obstacles which may appear in my day.

And sometimes, they just make a good alternative to the radio.  Sometimes I will flip through the stations I’ve put on my radio buttons just to hear the noise coming out of those channels.  Some may be in the middle of a ten-minute commercial break.  Others may be playing some kind of modern noise to which I cannot relate.  Still others may be in a “newstalk” time where someone is raving about the world ending as we know it if this politician gets his or her way.  Or they’re spouting some kind of conspiracy theory or selling a book.

It is then that I switch to the CD and take comfort in a God who is always there, knows exactly what’s happening, knows what he’s doing with His creation, and has promised me a future with him.

I don’t know about you.  Maybe music doesn’t spiritually move you to any great extent.  Maybe it does, but it isn’t hymns…instead, it may be music like Handel’s Messiah or southern gospel.  Maybe it’s music like what is found on Light 99 FM.  Everyone is different, and everyone has their own way of approaching God, appreciating God, and communing with God.  For me, the CD we’ve been talking about, along with some other forms of spiritually-based music are one of the primary ways I connect with the God of the universe.

What is your connection?  How do you approach God?  What part, if any, does music play in your relationship with him?  Humanity has been given a marvelous gift…the gift of music…the gift of poetry…the gift of authors and composers who have been inspired in some way by the Spirit of God to create.

 

May God bless you in the coming days.