Sing Unto The Lord

“I will sing to the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live.” Psalm 104:33

Music has been a very important part of my life always.  It started with my mother’s lullabies, then my father’s folk songs, and then gospel music.  Actually, it was a mixture of them all from my very beginning.   I am very passionate about singing gospel hymns.  I find such biblical truths in the lyrics.  I just love to praise Jesus through song.

I’m no great singer, but I’ve been singing as long as I’ve been talking.  I absolutely love it.  I was only three years old when I sang my first special at church.  I sang, He Filled A Longing.  I remember my mother telling me I was going to sing a song in church, and I just thought that was a great idea.  I couldn’t even read to learn the song, but mom would tell me the verse and then play the stanza so I could hear how it was supposed to sound.  I had no fear at all about getting up there all by myself and singing.  I loved it.  I was making my mom happy, and I was pretty sure this was how Judy Garland started out (which meant I could possibly star in my own Wizard of Oz some day).

Eventually, I began to sing with my older cousins, Shawnna & Tina.  Shawnna played the piano and we would practice and sing together.  Our mothers were sisters, and they had us all in piano lessons before long, including my little sister, Mary.  Those are some of my most precious memories; singing with my sister and my cousins in church.

I have always turned to gospel music for comfort.  As I child, if I wasn’t feeling very good, I would sing to myself, Jesus Loves Me.  As I grew older, the song choice changed from time to time.  In recent years, I had a very serious illness.  I had to be transferred from one hospital to another via life-flight.  I spent a lot of time in the hospital and at home recovering.  I would lay in my hospital bed and sing to myself, “Lord I pray for strength today, that I may show some soul the way”, a line from the hymn, He Cared That Much For Me.  That song carried me through some really difficult days.

The last time my mother was able to go to church, she asked me to sing a special and she would play the piano.  I couldn’t do it.  I knew my mother was dying.  I also knew that would be the last time she would ever go to church.  I just was not able to keep my emotions under control and I knew I would never get through a song that day.  I have deeply regretted that ever since.  I am thankful that when my mother was in the final stages of her life, we were able to sing for her.  Shawnna came to the hospital and played on my nephew’s keyboard and my sister and I sang with her, as we had done thousands of times before.  It was almost perfect.  Unfortunately, Tina couldn’t be with us and that left us all feeling incomplete.  We would finish a song, and Shawnna would turn the pages of the Heavenly Highway Hymns and she’d say, “Let’s sing another.”  It was such a blessing to us all, especially my mom, to praise the Lord in song as she was being escorted to the Pearly Gates.

Singing in times of trouble may seem strange, or even wrong to some people, but if it was good enough for Paul & Silas, it’s good enough for me.  “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.” Acts 16:25  It gives me comfort and draws me closer to the Lord.  I highly recommend it.

“Speaking to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing and making music to the Lord in your heart.” Ephesians 5:19