The Gift of Song

For nearly two years, we escaped the “family sickness.” You know the family sickness. Someone in the family gets sick, then another catches it, and subsequently, the rest of the family members pass it amongst themselves. But a few weeks ago, my husband came down with the crud that had been going around. And about a week later, our daughter became sick. I thought my powerful immune system would hold up, but alas, it did not. And in the past week, I have nearly lost my voice. In this time, God has taught me two lessons. Not the most powerful example of being strong even when you’re weak, but God uses the most mundane events to teach us, if we’ll only pay attention.


First of all, our God, creator of everything, reminded me that He created and gave us the gift of music. A simple piano solo can move me to tears (and did, in fact, yesterday). Much of my musical experience my entire life has been church music, and I’ve grown up loving to sing at church. And I’m not the only one who has loved to worship God through music. In fact, it’s been a tradition for thousands of years.

“Then Moses and the Israelites sang this song to the Lord: ‘I will sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted’” (Exodus 15:1a).

“Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will sing to the LORD, I will sing; I will make music to the LORD, the God of Israel” (Judges 5:3).

“Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the Lord, for he comes to judge the earth” (I Chronicles 16:33).

“I will sing to the Lord, for he has been good to me” (Psalm 13:6).

“Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him” (Psalm 33:1).

“But I will sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress, my refuge in times of trouble” (Psalm 59:17).

“The meadows are covered with flocks and the valleys are mantled with grain; they shout for joy and sing” (Psalm 65:13).

“I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God as long as I live” (Psalm 146:2).

“Praise the Lord. How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him!” (Psalm 147:1).

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).

“Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise” (James 5:13).

And last night, much to my dismay, I couldn’t participate as I normally do in worshiping God with my voice. It surprised me how much I missed it. I did what I could, singing an octave lower than usual, croaking out some phrases, interrupted now and then by a squeak as my voice broke.

At one point, I opened my mouth in song, but nothing came out. And God taught me the second lesson, one He has been trying to get through my thick skull for a while. It occurred to me that perhaps I should just shut my mouth and listen and let God speak to me. And here are the words the church was singing:

“I hear the voice, the voice of the One I love,
He's calling my name.
I hear the voice, the voice of the One I love,
He's calling my name.


“He's saying, Come up higher and hear the angels sing.
Come up higher, My beloved.
Come up higher and leave this world behind.
I find you to be beautiful.”

(“Running” by Gateway Worship)

And I cried for the second time yesterday because of a song that reminded me that I am loved.

Our pastor has quoted I Timothy 6:17 often, which tells us that God “richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment.” What a generous and creative Father who gave us the gift of music. May we daily return the gift to Him.