Day 261.
How shall we sing the Lord’s song
in a foreign land?
If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
let my right hand forget its skill!
Let my tongue stick to the roof of my mouth,
if I do not remember you,
if I do not set Jerusalem
above my highest joy! (Psalm 137:4-6 ESV)
In this Psalm the captors demand they sing to them their songs of Zion. They ask to be entertained by their music meant for praise of God. They will not sing. They will not give God’s enemies this pleasure. And yet, that the same time they fear what this might mean for them. Without their songs of praise, will they forget the joy of God’s presence? I think this reminds us of the original intent of music. As people made in the image of God, our calling is to glorify God. What better use of music than this! But music is such a powerful means of stirring the heart it has been taken and used to sing praise to everything under the sun. It has been ripped away from its purpose.
When you think of music, do you think of God? Let us redeem music! Let us make the music of the sanctuary the sweetest sound that we know. Let us give our best as we sing to the Lord.
