Meditation:
1 Whoever dwells in the shelter of the Most High, will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.[a] 2 I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust.” 3 Surely, he will save you from the fowler’s snare and from the deadly pestilence. 4 He will cover you with his feathers, and under his wings you will find refuge; his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.
5 You will not fear the terror of night, nor the arrow that flies by day, 6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness, nor the plague that destroys at midday. 7 A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you. 8 You will only observe with your eyes and see the punishment of the wicked. 9 If you say, “The Lord is my refuge,” and you make the Most High your dwelling, 10 no harm will overtake you, no disaster will come near your tent.
11 For he will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways; 12 they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone. 13 You will tread on the lion and the cobra; you will trample the great lion and the serpent. 14 “Because he[b] loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name. 15 He will call on me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him.16 With long life I will satisfy him and show him my salvation.” Psalm 91
Meditation:
Humble and Kind
I love music! All kinds. It is a rare thing not to have music playing in my home or car, mostly through Pandora, so I get my pick. There are a lot of channels that have Christian music, and some of it is the old familiar hymns that you like to sing. Occasionally, they slip in some good, but contemporary, music that just doesn’t appeal to my ear. Give me Sandi Patti to Jars of Clay, please.
Some of the great hymns have been drawn from the Psalms. For example, compare these words from On Eagles Wings with the verses of Psalm 91, above.
You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord, Who abide in His shadow for life
Say to the Lord, “My refuge, my rock in whom I trust!”
And He will raise you up on eagles’ wings
Bear you on the breath of dawn. Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of His hand.
The snare of the fowler will never capture you, And famine will bring you no fear
Under His wings your refuge, His faithfulness your shield.
And He will raise you up on eagles’ wings
Bear you on the breath of dawn, Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of His hand.
You need not fear the terror of the night, Nor the arrow that flies by day
Though thousands fall about you, near you it shall not come.
And He will raise you up on eagles’ wings
Bear you on the breath of dawn, Make you to shine like the sun
And hold you in the palm of His hand.
Some of the praise music that we hear during worship carries a good message that often complements the service. I favor those hymns that are familiar, that are in my range, because I really like to sing out during the worship service. It’s just part of praising the Lord.
In this day and age, it is just plain difficult for us not to sing hymns during the worship service. I understand the science and the argument, however, when we’re sitting far apart, and wearing masks, to not sing-along with the loved and familiar is almost physically painful! I confess, I sing anyway! And, so do those I am sitting with (sorry guys). Do we need absolution?
Enough of that. I like a fair dose of country-western, too. Listen to the lyrics. Some of them are just hilarious. Most are sad about broken hearts when your love died, or worse, when your horse ran off with your best friend. Many have a good message if you can cut through the guitar and fiddle and listen to the lyrics.
There is one going around that is part of an ad, that has a good message. It’s called “Always Stay Humble and Kind”, good advice. If you stumble on this one, listen to the words. Music. It is God’s gift. Here are some of the greatest hymns of all time. I challenge anyone to sit in church during worship and not sing along with any one of these:
- Amazing Grace
- Holy, Holy, Holy
- How Great Thou Art
- I Need Thee Every Hour
- The Old Rugged Cross
- Great Is Thy Faithfulness
- Because He Lives
- It Is Well With My Soul
- What A Friend We Have In Jesus
- In The Garden
- Just As I Am
Closing Prayer:
I could add one more hymn to the above list, and we will use it as our closing prayer. This one I’ll bet you first learned in Sunday school. Remember the book All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten? Well this song is the Bible version of that. Are you ready? Here we go, little children, everybody together, reverently, sing it out –
Jesus loves me this I know,
For the Bible tells me so.
Little ones to Him belong,
We are weak, but He is strong.
Yes, Jesus loves me,
Yes, Jesus loves me,
Yes, Jesus loves me,
The Bible tells me so.
(Yes, it does.)
Amen
