Melodic Mondays
Those of you who know me know that I love music even though I am not musical myself. I listen to good music as often as I can. It is beneficial to the brain, valuable to the vocabulary, and strengthening to the soul. Isaiah 12:2-3 is a lovely passage that includes this soaring statement of surety: “The Lord JEHOVAH [YAHWEH] is my strength and my song.” This could be translated, “God is my mountaintop and my music.” Yes, He is! Each Monday, I want to study this subject and suggest a song to listen to. Anyone reading this devotional has easy access to any song. (I am an exception because I do not go on a computer or other information device.) If you do not like my suggestion (and we all have different tastes), you can think of or search for one that speaks to you. Then, it can become a source of encouragement throughout the week.
We read in Matthew 26:30 that, at the end of the institution of the communion service, “when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.” We know that Jesus and His disciples would have been singing Psalm 118, for it was the traditional song at the closing of the Passover meal. Poignantly, this prophetic Psalm (see especially verses 22-23 and 26-27) includes these words: “This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it” (verse 24). It is heart-rending to think of our Savior singing about rejoicing over the day even as He was within hours of His sacrificial death on Calvary, but it was “for the joy that was set before Him” that He “endured the cross” (Hebrews 12:2). Most of us, perhaps all of us, are familiar with the short chorus that echoes these words of hope and certainty. Its simple structure makes memorizing this verse easier; it is an uplifting thought to carry with us wherever we go. The version by Maranatha is a good one.