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 JEHOVA [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.
The music of Easter is bittersweet, for it necessarily includes the bleak bitterness of the Crucifixion and the sudden sweetness of the Resurrection.The Gospel message must include both. I Corinthians 15:3-4 is as concise a statement of faith as any found in Scripture: “For I have delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures; and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.” I hesitate to recommend just one song, but I have long been partial to “On a Hill Lone and Gray” by the original Carter Family, a song also called “Calvary” in old hymnals. The traditional lyrics are truly poetical, and the strong voice of Sara and the ground-breaking “pluck and release” guitar work of Maybelle bring out the evocative power of this true Gospel song.