There’s within my heart a melody.
Jesus whispers sweet and low;
“Fear not, I am with thee,
peace, be still
In all of life’s ebb and flow”
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus,
Sweetest name I know,
Fills my every longing,
Keeps me singing as I go.
Boy, I hope you were singing along with me if you knew that. And I tell you what, God really does keep me singing as I go. Because I tell you what, you gotta sing… I just have to sing! And this happy hymn – kind of an old timey hymn -- goes perfectly with Ephesians 5:19 where we are commanded (not suggested, but told to), “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord.” Boy, do I love that verse. We’re supposed to speak hymns and songs to one another – not only with one another. There’s a time and place to sing with believers; to stand shoulder to shoulder and sing alongside each other, but here, God is asking us to face each other square-on and offer songs to one another, not at or with, but to!
And you can understand why. I mean the words to many hymns are full of such rich doctrine and wisdom and insight. The godly counsel in so many hymns is timeless. Speak to one another in those words. Or, you could take it literally, like I do. Often when I come to work in the morning, instead of saying “Good morning,” I will wheel into the office greeting people with a hymn or a Scripture song, "Happy day, happy day, when Jesus washed our sins away." And when I'm leaving, it will often be, "goodbye, our God is watching over you, goodbye his mercies go before you." Does that sound odd or strange? Well, nowadays in our society, it probably does. But I mean it from the heart...
Which is the second part about verse. Make music in your heart to the Lord. If we're going to be singing, whether to each other... or to the Lord, it better be from the heart. Because if it's not from the heart, it's a clanging cymbal... it's just noise... a pretense, a put on. God even says, these people praise me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. So, friend, stir your heart today. Make music to the Lord and speak to those you love, to those who need the touch of Christ; speak to them the words from a rich, wonderful hymn. When you do, it'll be the Spirit of Christ that'll keep you singing.
Used by permission of
JONI AND FRIENDS
P.O. Box 3333
Agoura Hills, CA 93176
© Joni and Friends