To Sing is to Pray Twice
by Eileen Combs
March 28, Saturday – Psalms 137:1-6(7-9), 144, 42, 43; Jeremiah 31:27-34; Romans 11:25-36; John 11:28-44, or 12:37-50
I am a music lover! That is why these words from our readings for today from Psalm 144 verse 9 spoke to me. “I will sing a new song to you, O God…I will make music to you”.
Early church music echoed through massive cathedrals. The people heard and were moved even if they didn’t understand the language in which it was sung. In church we hear many of the old familiar tunes and words that stir up memories of childhood, family, and friends lifting voices in song.
We also experience the new and unfamiliar with texts and melodies that bring us closer to God in ways we can’t explain except in the silence of our hearts. When we all rise as soon as the first notes of the “Hallelujah Chorus” are struck, it is almost an involuntary act.
Music has the power to open the mind, spirit, and soul. Music unites people next to each other in the pew as well as around the world, with its universal language, when it may not be in a language that we even understand. What a gift music is.
God has given it to us to return to Him. How he must rejoice to hear us praise him in song! I was told that to sing, is to pray twice. So, sing to the Lord a new song, or an old song, with all your heart, and He will fill you with the joy and the peace that comes from Him alone.
