Think Before You Sing

As I said in last week’s video , today is a look at a different version of When Morning Gilds the Sky. You can find many of the different version at hymnary.org . We are looking at the representative text that was translated by Edward Caswall. Verse one starts out the same way we say in the video When morning gilds the sky, our hearts awaking cry: May Jesus Christ be praised! This quickly changes in the second half of the verse. in all our work and prayer we ask his loving care: May Jesus Christ be praised! This is not talking about the evening and already feels disconnected. This is asking for Jesus love in all that we do but it seems to be asking it with May Jesus Christ be Praised. Although not a bad thing, do you usually ask for care through praise? Verse two feels unlike anything from the other version. To God, the Word on high, the hosts of angels cry: May Jesus Christ be praised! It starts with angels crying out praise and then connects back to humans. Let m...

In this week’s video on When Morning Gilds the Skies , we went through the definition of mirth – amusement, especially as expressed in laughter. We looked at this as it connected with the lines: When mirth for music longs, This is my song of songs: “May Jesus Christ be praised!” We talked about this as when we are joyful we should be singing praises to Christ. Mirth is used in the Psalm 137:3 The word seems to be used slightly differently in different translations. Let’s just take a look at two of them. KJV For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. ESV For there our captors required of us songs, and our tormentors, mirth, saying, “Sing us one of the songs of Zion!” Depending on how you interpret this you can get the same effect. KJV clearly states that the captors required the captives to be happy and express that in song and laughter. You can read ESV the sam...

If you saw my video on Way Maker then you know my thoughts on it. Those thoughts do not mean it cannot be used as a starting point for a devotion. Let’s take a fresh look at the chorus: Way maker Miracle worker Promise keeper Light in the darkness My God That is who you are I want to look specifically at the line Light in the Darkness. In the video I linked this to John 8:12                   Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” When we connect with this verse we see that there is more to it than simply a statement of who Jesus is. It is an indirect call to follow him. And that is something we need to get out of the song as a whole. Worshiping Jesus is only part of the joyful life we get to live.               ...

Last week’s video was on Therefore,I Am and it had some interesting themes. Overall it was selfish song. I want to contrast that with a song all about the true unselfish I AM , a song with that title recorded by Theocracy. I AM is a long song, around eleven minutes, and is really a series of I am statements, those found directly in scripture and some more modernized but biblically grounded. Because of that I am not getting so deep in the logic of how every line connects. The logic is in the progression of the lines. We see the bulk of the song really divining who He is and then you get to lines all based on the crucifixion. After that, we see a section all about how He connects with us and finally a celebration of what has been done. I have done what I can do add relevant bible verses, be aware that there are other verses that could be used for most of these. We start with a series of lines that connect with weather and have some clear biblical connections. These also...