Music, Maestro, Please

Psalm 46:10 – Be still and know that I am God.

I have a mug with many sayings about music written on it. Perhaps you know some of them. "Hug a musician, they never get to dance!" "There should be music in every house – except the one next door!" "Music hath charms to soothe the savage breast, soften rocks, or bend a knotted oak." My favourite is "After silence, that which comes nearest to expressing the inexpressible is music." Perhaps that is why the psalmist wrote in his song, "Be still and know that I am God."

Sometimes, when I listen to songs written to worship the Lord, I feel Him so near to me it is as if I could touch Him. Sometimes the melody and the rhythm express my feelings, my hunger, and my need of a risen Saviour. Sometimes the words express my heartache or my joy in a way I could not do myself. Most times I am drawn, eventually, to turn the music off and sit in silence, to be still, and to know the presence of the Lord.

When was the last time you allowed God to minister to you through music? When was the last time you took time to sit quietly and listen to a praise tape, or to sing praises to Him?

Today I'd like to challenge you. It is an easy challenge, but a challenge, nonetheless. Take out your calendar and make an appointment with yourself for a half an hour sometime in the next week. Your goal is to spend half an hour in praise of God. Take thirty minutes and let your soul be still to know your God. You may chose to listen to praise tapes and meditate on the words and music. You may chose to read psalms of praise. You may choose to go to Him in prayer, praising Him for who He is, for His goodness, for His mercy, exalting and magnifying His name. You may choose to sing songs and hymns of praise. Just praise Him; for a full half hour, praise the name of Jesus. Then be still and know the Lord. And when you are done, take a minute and write a line or two somewhere about this experience with God.

Prayer: Father, it is so easy to lose sight of how wonderful and how merciful You are. You are the master creator, our comforter, provider, refuge, and fortress. Draw me close to You, Lord. Draw me to your presence. Lord, when I am with you it's easy, I can't deny Your love, my heart's laid open before You. When I am with You, I'm lost in love. Amen.