I often hear people who are grieving say that music soothes their soul, gives them comfort during great loss. That certainly was true for me. For months, I listened to only one CD in my car. When I drove to any destination, whether it was many miles or just across town, I hit the play button and listened. Even today, when I hear one of the songs, I feel a thickening in my throat, a clutch of the loss I felt.

 

 Amidst the sorrows of the way

Lord Jesus, teach my soul to pray
Let me taste Thy special grace
And run to Christ, my hiding place

You know the vileness of my heart
So prone to act the rebel’s part
And when You veil Your lovely face
How can I find a hiding place

Hiding place, hiding place (Haseltine, Mason, Lowell, Odmark, Mason from Jars of Clay).

I believe God gave us music because He loves music. He gave us music to touch our souls. Heal our hearts. Don’t you agree certain songs fill you with joy?  Make you cry? Help you be strong?

Throughout the centuries, people sing. Lyrics to songs were often debated. Isaac Watts complained to his father the songs at church were boring and slow. His father challenged Watts to write better ones. And he did. Seven-hundred-fifty of them! You might recall “Our God in Ages Past,” “Joy to the World,” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.” Another hymn writer and bishop in the Church of England, Christopher Wordsworth, declared “The duty of a hymn is first to teach sound doctrine and thence to save souls.” I like the verse of one of his songs, “O Day of Rest and Gladness” where he talks about firsts: On thee, at the creation,The light first had its birth;

We might ask the question: what are the words saying? Are they accurate? Are they just a litany of personal experiences, rather than doctrine, or attributes of God himself? I wonder if the debate might go on until Christ returns for his church. I like songs telling about what God has done such as this one:

This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. (Psalm 118:24).

I don’t know what your day is like today. Are you sorrowing a loss? Do you feel alone? Are you wanting comfort? Or are you just happy and feel good because the sun is shining. I suggest you play some music. It can be instrumental. It can be a hymn. It can be contemporary. Let the music touch your soul.