Music – Just A Little Tuesday Afternoon Kitchen Conversation
“Yet the LORD will command his lovingkindness in the daytime, and in the night his song shall be with me, and my prayer unto the God of my life.” Psalm 42:8
I’ve been doing some sewing these past few days and as I sat at the kitchen table pinning up some curtains a little bit ago, an old hymn came to my mind. As I began to hum it, I thought once again of how very, very important it is to fill our homes with Christ-honoring music. I have no idea exactly when I was first introduced to the hymn but I am sure it became ingrained in my heart in my childhood…along with many others.
My thoughts were interrupted by the girls who were fixing lunch at the time. Our conversation went something like this:
BETHANY – “What’s the name of that song?”
ME – “Jesus, Savior, Pilot Me”
BETHANY – “Oh yes, Ed Russ sings it…” (referring to a cd we have)
ME – “Uh-huh”
ANNA – “I woke up the other morning with the words – ‘I’m willing to be just a servant for Thee’ on my mind. I just know bits and pieces so it took me a while to figure out what song it was…”
At that point, I stopped what I was doing in order to seize the teaching moment.
ME – “Girls, I was JUST thinking again how very important it is for children to be surrounded by hymns and choruses. Just like Anna woke up with that song on her heart, there’s no telling the many, many times the Lord has awakened me during the night with a hymn – sometimes one I have not heard in years. Yet, the Holy Spirit brings it to my memory during the night and it is often used to bring comfort or even conviction.”
Oh, the girls have heard me say it before but it bears repeating. Good, godly music is important – it is powerful! But, it’s not just godly music that is powerful…unfortunately, ungodly music is as well. I regret to say that, along with the many good songs in my heart are also some songs that do not bring honor to Christ at all…songs that, during a time of straying from the Lord, I chose to listen to. And, even though I have not listened to that type of music for years and years, every now and then one of those old tunes will just pop in my head and it grieves me to think that those songs are still there. But they are. How very careful we should be with what music we allow to enter our hearts!
Concerning our music, some good questions to ask ourselves today:
Does my music bring honor and glory to Christ?
Does it encourage me to follow Christ?
Does it produce joy in my heart?
If I were going through a very dark valley and this song came to my mind, would it bring me comfort?
If I were faced with a tough decision, would my “song in the night” encourage me to follow Christ? to trust Him?
What about my children? Will the songs they are hearing as a child bring them comfort as an adult? When THEY are going through a very dark valley, will the songs from their childhood point them to the God of all comfort? When THEY are faced with life’s decisions, will the songs from their childhood encourage them to follow Christ?
Just some thoughts going through my head this afternoon. Below are the words to the hymn I was humming earlier. I’m very thankful to know songs such as this…
Jesus, Savior, pilot me
Over life’s tempestuous sea;
Unknown waves before me roll,
Hiding rock and treacherous shoal.
Chart and compass come from Thee;
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.
While th’Apostles’ fragile bark
Struggled with the billows dark,
On the stormy Galilee,
Thou didst walk upon the sea;
And when they beheld Thy form,
Safe they glided through the storm.
Though the sea be smooth and bright,
Sparkling with the stars of night,
And my ship’s path be ablaze
With the light of halcyon days,
Still I know my need of Thee;
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.
When the darkling heavens frown,
And the wrathful winds come down,
And the fierce waves, tossed on high,
Lash themselves against the sky,
Jesus, Savior, pilot me,
Over life’s tempestuous sea.
As a mother stills her child,
Thou canst hush the ocean wild;
Boisterous waves obey Thy will,
When Thou sayest to them, “Be still!”
Wondrous Sovereign of the sea,
Jesus, Savior, pilot me.
When at last I near the shore,
And the fearful breakers roar
’Twixt me and the peaceful rest,
Then, while leaning on Thy breast,
May I hear Thee say to me,
“Fear not, I will pilot thee.”
(Edward Hopper)