Sing!

Just singLiving in the Spirit
September 26, 2015

Scripture Reading: James 5:13-20

Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. –James 5:13-16

I think this entire scripture is good advice but when I read it today, I wanted to add a sentence encouraging those who suffer and are sick to also sing. Of course, that makes sense because I love music.

Saul was soothed by David’s playing of the harp,

And whenever the evil spirit from God came upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand, and Saul would be relieved and feel better, and the evil spirit would depart from him. (I Samuel 16:23)

Congreve said it well, Music has charms to sooth a savage breast.   

 We make choices every day that impact the quality of our lives. We can wallow in self-pity or we can look for the good in a bad situation. Can’t you just picture Paul and Silas singing in prison? What gave them the peace to sing in such a place as that? The answer is threefold: The presence of the Holy Spirit, the surety of Gods abundant love in all situations, and the knowledge of the Suffering Servant, our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. We each have these same resources available to us.

O sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth. (Psalm 96:1)

Prayer: Lord, we thank you for your gift of music. Let ours songs of praise to you be a wonderful gift in return. Amen.

All scriptures are quoted from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Anglicized Edition, copyright 1989, 1995, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of Churches of Christ in the United States of American. Used by permission. All rights reserved.