Sun 17 Nov

If you are wondering how you should speak and teach one another, Paul would say take a close look at what you are singing. You might not have thought that what you sing would encourage anybody. In fact we make excuses for why we shouldn’t sing. It is usually along the lines, “I can’t sing.” Or, “If I do sing people will walk out.” I have yet to see those excuses listed in the Bible.

Why then don’t we sing? Are we afraid of what people will say or think? What then makes a good hymn or spiritual song? We already have at least 150 psalms we can sing. Is it the words? Is it the music? Is it a combination of both?

This morning we meditate on a hymn written during the time of the Judges. It is a hymn reportedly written by Deborah, the Judge we looked at last week. In the song it recounts the battle that Deborah and Barak won over King Jabin and his General Sisera.

It helps when looking at a song or hymn to ponder the situation in which the song is written. In doing so it brings with it a deeper meaning to the words. For example, “It Is Well With My Soul” was written during a time when a father was pondering the drowning of his daughters in the Atlantic Ocean.

For Deborah she writes of the LORD who enabled such a battle victory to take place. She writes of the willing response of the tribes wanting to get involved. Picture yourself in the context of the song’s circumstances. Would you be so willing to help your brother out?