2205AFC020422 – Singing Our Way Home
Read it online here, please. And please – when you visit there – use one of the social media links at the bottom of the page to share this post. Thank you! And remember, we now have a READER VIEW available, so share this link or this email often.
Isaiah 6:8 – 8 Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” And I said, “Here am I; send me!”
Psalm 138:1 – 1 With all my heart
I praise you, Lord.
In the presence of angels *
I sing your praises.
Contemporary English Version (CEV) Copyright © 1995 by American Bible Society
* Some translations read “gods;” the word used is אֱלהִים – (elohim) {el-o-heem’} heavenly beings, who were completely subordinate to Israel’s God.
Aloha pumehana, a me ke akua ho’omaika‘i ‘oe, ʻŌmea! Warmest Aloha, and may God bless you, Belovéd! I’ll start with a bit of a heads-up – there’s a LOT of music in this post. I had a great time finding all of it, so I hope you will have a great time hearing it.
I look forward to this set of readings every time they come up. First, we have that passage from Isaiah – “In the year King Uzziah died …” There’s actual history in that because it was about 739 BC. He was the King of Judah for about 52 years. He decided he could short-circuit God’s Absolutely Perfect Plan and burn incense in the Temple. According to the APP (right along with repentance), only Priests were allowed to do that. His son Jotham had to take over for his dad until Uzziah passed. At that time Isaiah was probably in his early 70’s. He was sort of a “late bloomer” and there is inferential evidence that he was from an aristocratic family; his father’s name was Amoz. I look forward to this passage because of the way it ends.
Isaiah is at this big to-do at the temple and suddenly has a vision of God. God is saying, “Disaster is coming from the Assyrians. Who will go to spread the news? Whom shall I send? Who will go for us?” Isaiah said, “Oh it’s me! I know! Pick me! Pick me!” Actually he said, “Here I am! Send me!” And that, of course that leads us to the song we always (well, nearly) sing Here I am, Lord. (↔ Music Link) Dan Shutte wrote that, and I just love it! It chokes me up every time – especially “I will break their hearts of stone, give them hearts for Love alone.” I love to sing it.
Truth be told, I love to sing! and I love to listen to others sing. I’ve been doing something with music since I was about 3. It has always been a significant part of my life. I remember a cartoon we Todd Kids watched called I Love To Sing (Video Link!) . It was about a little owl from a very musical family. They were devoted to Classical Music, but he loved Jazz. Eventually the whole family came to the understanding that Jazz is music, too; it was a very happy moment for all of them. That rejoicing of togetherness comes from the togetherness of rejoicing.
OK, that sounds like double-talk but hang in there with me a little longer. Here’s something to think about. Look at this diagram.
Imagine that each dot is a set of 10,000 pages that look like this one in the image shown, and that each dot on each page represents one angel. That’s a beginning. Then imagine a Google of Googles (one Google is 6.023×10^23 individuals) of such collections of 10,000 pages, and well, that’s still just a beginning.
Now, think about all of those angels (“myriads upon myriads” as in Revelation 5:11) singing with you, “Holy. Holy. Holy (↔ Music Link) LORD, God of power and might. Heaven and Earth are full of your Glory! Hosanna in the Highest!….” And that’s still just a beginning!!
Singing is one of those things which sometimes just happens. Kids make up little goofy songs (I told you once some time ago about my sister’s song Me-oh-my-oh, Me-oh-my-oh, Me-oh-my-oh MOE! Repeat ad nauseum). When young men’s fancies turn (and so also for young women’s fancies, too), ’tis a sign of Spring to hear them sing. When we feel joyful or rejuvenated, we … Love To Sing. (↔ Music Link – a little different take!)
I started thinking about singing this week because of the responsorial Psalm for this Sunday. It is Psalm 138. Folks, that is my absolute favorite Psalm! It is the only Psalm I have ever tried to set to music. I purposely have avoided memorizing it so I can read it new each time I see it. I love it because it grabs me with “In the presence of the angels I will sing your praise; I will worship at your holy temple and give thanks to your name.…” In my lyric-adaptation it goes “In the presence of the angels / I will sing your praise. / I will lift up my hands and / I will praise your Holy Name.” When you think about how GREAT God is, how loving, how kind, how forgiving, how GOD He truly is, then singing, shouting, jumping, dancing – all at once – seem to be just a natural reaction. You can’t stop singing because you really have to sing. (↔ Music Link) ← Don’t miss this one!
Singing is such an extraordinary form of worship! Hold up your hand if you know the name of the longest book in the B.I.B.L.E.! Yes! The book of Psalms – if measured by counting the number of verses. It is a collection, an anthology if you will, of songs by a wide range of “composers” like David, Moses, and Solomon. Some are attributed to known persons, but many of them have no attribution. SO? So the biggest book in the Bible is a SONG BOOK, therefore, singing must be something important because it’s something God really likes – he inspired all those lyrics you know. He likes poetry, too, because most of the prophetic works in the Bible are written in poetic form. Lots of songs we sing today come from the Psalms. My daughter’s favorite was Sing To The Mountains (↔ Music Link) (those Vrbo commercials are really annoying)
Another favorite that we can really “get into” is Sing a new song (↔ Music Link), and another fun one is the one attributed to St Francis – All Creatures of Our God and King. (↔ Music Link) I remember singing that around the campfire at IdRaHaJe. (↔ Map Link) Singing our worship is such an extraordinary experience. I am utterly baffled by the folks I sometimes see during Mass who manage to stand, sit, and kneel at the designated times, but will not sing a word of the liturgical or worship music! Sometimes the excuse is given “I can’t sing. I can’t carry a tune. My voice sounds terrible.” Well, it’s the voice that God gave you, so let him (make him) listen to it! The old adage attributed to St. Augustine is “He who sings prays twice.” More precisely the quote which St. Augustine actually said (↔ Information Link) was:
“For he that singeth praise, not only praiseth, but only praiseth with gladness: he that singeth praise, not only singeth, but also loveth him of whom he singeth. In praise, there is the speaking forth of one confessing; in singing, the affection of one loving.”
Give me a song to sing which I can use to praise God, and I’m gonna sing out and sing out strong. Now that reminds me of an old Cat Stevens song, “If you want to sing out, sing out.” (↔ Music Link) At least that’s how I remember the title. He wrote that song in the middle of his mania in the sixties, a mania many of us shared then, and it was directed toward finding real peace through expanded consciousness. Some tried everything from Zen to banana peels, acid to astrology, and never settled on anything substantive. Cat ended up embracing Islam, and successfully at that. His Muslim name is Yusuf Islam, and he continued to write music, work for peace, and became known as a great philanthropist and a Man of Peace. Bear that earlier lifestyle in mind when you listen to his lyrics from the mid-sixties. That music link will get you a free trip back through time to listen.
When you get a chance, sing out! Better still, live it up by singing it ^UP^. (get it?) Hum, whistle, make up a tune, yodel, or just drone with a joyful heart. God will absolutely love it, of course, because He absolutely loves YOU!! And there is no choir practice! And (you probably saw this coming) – it’s all in the APP! I pray, I sing, I sing, I pray and every time I feel the Spirit I sing and pray.
I decided that today I would send you a lyric of a tune I wrote way back in 2006. Psalm 138. The melody is in the genre of four-part gospel harmony as you would hear from groups like The Florida Boys. Anyway, I’m trying to memorize it because it’s fun to sing. If you get a chance, look up Psalm 138 and read it for yourself. I just love the idea of standing with the angels and lifting up my hands as I shout out praise God. That’s quite a picture! So, enough of that. Here are the lyrics. Have a great weekend, beloved, and maybe you can make up your own tune for this little ditty! (or ask me for a copy of the sheet music)
CHORUS (ALSO THE FIRST VERSE):
1: In the presence of the Angels I will sing your praise.
I will lift up my hands And I will bless your holy name.
I will bow down before You And your Temple on High.
I will sing of your promises, Your faithfulness and love.
2: I know that you hear me Every time I pray.
You strengthen my heart And you get me through the day.
All of Earth’s Kings and Princes And Peoples of all lands
Praise your Name for your Promises. They shout, and clap their hands.
And: Chorus
3: O Lord God Almighty, I live safely in your care.
The proud and the wicked You point out everywhere.
You bless the meek and lowly, And fill them with your Light.
To the fury of my enemies You lead me in my fight.
So: Chorus
4: Though danger’s all around me And enemies close in
Your strong right hand will save me You are with me to the end.
Your love endures forever. You will not abandon me.
I will sing your praise forever In eternal harmony!
For … : Chorus
P.S. Did you know that when you sing praise to God, the Angels join in? They already know all the words and melodies! Scriptural singing must really be something special
AND THEN THERE ARE THE LOVE SONGS . . 🙂
Whatever, whenever, wherever, whoever, however, if ever, forever —
at your service, Belovéd!
Please pray with us here at Share-a-Prayer.
Unless otherwise indicated, all scripture passages are from the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright © 1989, 1993 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Biblical languages inserts from Bible Hub (Bible Hub: Search, Read, Study the Bible in Many Languages) Visit at http://biblehub.com
Aloha Friday Messages by Charles O. Todd, III is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License
