Remembering to Sing!

Singing a Song of Zion

By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept when we remembered Zion. There on the poplars we hung our harps, for there our captors asked us for songs, our tormentors demanded songs of joy; they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!" How can we sing the songs of the Lord while in a foreign land (Psalm 137:1-4)?

Those who sat and wept refused to sing their sacred songs away from Jerusalem, the city where their God dwelt. Similarly, when the intense challenges of life are upon us we feel catapulted into a foreign land. The temptation to give in to the physical and emotional captors can become very real. 

The messages in the Psalms express the highs and lows that are a part of our life events. Knowing that down through the ages others struggled with our same cries may help us feel less alone.

 “Then my head will be exalted above the enemies who surround me; at his tabernacle will I sacrifice with shouts of joy; I will sing and make music to the Lord” (Psalm 27:6).

“Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre” (Psalm 33:2).

Our faith and trust in God has been established through the years either through a chronic illness or in different crucibles and within shorter seasons of challenges, God forges a deeper reality of himself. He understands. He notices. Rather than hanging up his harp of love and comfort He is ever ready to soothe our soul and heart. He rejoices over us with singing. 

We can rest in this calming reassurance. If we are to be held captive by anything, let it not be by uncertainty and fear but by the One who dwells with us in the midst of them.

Prayer: You have entrusted us with your Presence, Lord. We can choose to walk forward with you and be nourished by the new songs awaiting us. We can excel and sing with you as our maestro! Amen.