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.
“A Ride Back Home” by John Mellencamp is a relatively recent addition to spiritual songs with an automotive theme. When I first heard this song a few years ago, I immediately thought of it as an Americana interpretation of the parable of the Prodigal Son, who “took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living” (Luke 15:13). With the abject failure of his life destroying him, “he came to himself” (verse 17) and returned home to his father (verses 18-20a). “But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck [hugged him], and kissed him” (verse 20b). Yes, our Savior God always provides a way home.