We all have a “song” deep in our soul that typifies us.
Back in the Stone Ages when I was a teenager, we anticipated finding out each week what song was Number one on the Top Ten of WNOE, the powerful station broadcasting from New Orleans.
When our favorite song climbed to the top you could see our smile a mile away. Sometimes, when the radio started to play in the background, you interrupted your conversation with, “Listen! That’s my song.” Couples would say, (with goo-goo eyes), “Listen, there’s our song.”
What’s your song, the theme of your life? The song which follows you around might be, “I’ve Got Tears In My Ears From Lying On My Back In My Bed While I’m Crying Over You,” (Harold Barlow).
Or you could be twanging, “You’re the Reason Our Children Are Ugly,” like Loretta Lynn and Conway Twitty did. You might even sing, “How Can I Miss If You Won’t Go Away?” (the Huntingtons).
Actually none of those songs ever qualified as “my song.” But, I usually have a song with me during the day.
I don’t know if the Psalmist listened to WNOE or not but he probably had his own Top Ten songs (or more). Listen, there’s a snatch of one now!
“I was pushed back and about to fall,
but the LORD helped me.
The LORD is my strength and my defense;
he has become my salvation.
“Shouts of joy and victory
resound in the tents of the righteous:
‘The LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!
The LORD’s right hand is lifted high;
the LORD’s right hand has done mighty things!’
I will not die but live,
and will proclaim what the LORD has done.” (Ps. 118:13-17, CEV)
I suspect that most of us have “our song” which plays in the center of who we are.
How do you know what it is? Listen to the words coming out of your mouth. “I’ve got tears in my ears …” or “the Lord liveth and blessed by my rock”?
And, you’ll know if you pay attention to what you think about all day long. Are you playing a “somebody done somebody wrong song” and that victim is you? Do you sing of “poor old me.” Do you warble about worries in your heart of hearts or do you expect something good, expect help from the Lord, and expect things to work out?
“Let my words and my thoughts be pleasing to you, LORD, because you are my mighty rock and my protector.” (Ps. 19:14, CEV)
“David, I hate my song,” you say but I can’t help it. It’s bigger than I am. What can I do?”
If you don’t like the music, change the station. Before you really knew the Lord you just had to accept whatever played but now you determine what plays in your mind.
God gives you the power to change the music by His Holy Spirit. “He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God.” Ps. 40:3, NASB (+ Rom. 12:2)
Change the music yourself. When you hear, « “Yore cheatin’ heart” start to play, stop the music and put in a song of faith.
Watch where you’re looking. If you’re gazing at a garbage dump you’ll sing about garbage; if you watching the sunset over the mountains you’ll sing about majesty. Look at the Lord and his promises instead of your problems.
You’ve got to do it on purpose. If you just let the music play, there’s no telling what you’ll hear. You determine what goes on in your heart. You determine—by the power of the Lord Jesus—what plays in your soul.
What’s number one on your Top Ten this week?
Question: Have you found some effective ways to change the “music” when you’re plagued by a song you don’t like. I’d love to hear from you. david.porter@agmd.org
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Hmmm …
“It all works out in the end. If it hasn’t worked out yet, then it’s not the end.” Max Lucado