Friday, August 8, 2014

Music in the Heart of the Believer pt. 2

In Ephesians 5:19, the apostle Paul instructs his readers to “address one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs…”.  What does it mean to address someone in “hymns”?  I would like to suggest that hymns are different in the nature of their construction  than any other type of song, and therein lies the understanding we need to encourage and spur each other on in Christian faith. 

While some songs have a tendency to concentrate on one particular aspect of the faith, a typical hymn takes the time, throughout its many verses, to paint a much more detailed picture of its subject.  Take for example this hymn, “A Mighty Fortress” 

Listen to the melodic strains in your mind as you read these timeless lyrics:

A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing; 
our helper he amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing.  
For still our ancient foe doth seek to work us woe; 
his craft and power are great, and armed with cruel hate, 
on earth is not his equal.

As the eye passes over the text, a flood of memories accompanies its lines.  You can no doubt hear the organ or piano of a church chording along with the congregation as they recite the familiar and comforting words of this great hymn of the faith.  You may even feel a sense of the space in which you sang this song in church when you were a child.  Familiar songs have a way of taking us back in the theater of our minds to significant times in our lives when we sang or played them.  They also carry with them a profound weight of meaning in their text.  

While this verse is most memorable as the opening stanza of the song, it leaves the singer in the precarious position of seeing our great enemy, Satan, as a cruel and powerful threat to our very existence.  It is in the second verse that our helplessness is further detailed, and our victorious King Jesus is brought in to ‘save the day’:

Did we in our own strength confide, our striving would be losing, 
were not the right man on our side, the man of God's own choosing.
Dost ask who that may be?  Christ Jesus, it is he; 
Lord Sabaoth, his name, from age to age the same, 
and he must win the battle.

The third verse gives us reassurance that even when the whole world seems to be set against us, and the powers of darkness bare their vicious teeth to tear our lives apart, we have cause to remain unafraid.  We know that in Christ we will see the ultimate victory.  What does one say, then, to the Christian who lives under religious or governmental persecution?  The answer follows in verse four.
  
...Let goods and kindred go, this mortal life also; 
the body they may kill; God's truth abideth still; 
his kingdom is forever.

Here we are encouraged to hold on to our possessions and even our relationships with others with an open hand.  Even if we endure persecution to the point of death, that is the limit of what Satan can do to us.  God’s word, His truth, and His power will remain long after we are gone.  Even though the enemy may rage and strive against us, his power is limited.  This world is not our eternal home, and we will one day find our final satisfaction and safety in heaven with our Lord.  

To speak to one another in hymns is to encourage and instruct one another with the weighty truth of God’s sovereignty and power.  It is to lay a historical foundation for believing the way we ought, and it is to rejoice in our recognition of all that God has done for us and still continues to do today. Thank God for the rich heritage of song that we have from great hymn writers, both past and present.


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