A New Song!

I've been on a fast from music.  Now that sounds a little bit odd, but I think maybe I've discovered why I've been neglecting this part of my life that used to mean so much to me.

Everyone encounters grief and pain.  My sorrows, if I were to compare them to those of others, wouldn't look unusual or particularly awful.  But the Lord doesn't compare hurts, and he knows our hearts. He's shown me great compassion. 

At each life crisis I worked hard to praise God through the sorrow and pain. Thus, certain praise and worship melodies became associated in my mind with the grief of heart I was bearing when I used those songs in my devotion time.  Without even realizing it or deciding to do so, I gradually stopped singing praises to the Lord.  

I've felt guilty about this situation and this morning decided to remedy it.  I wanted to begin my devotion time with praise but to my dismay, every song I began to listen to brought with it the memory of some painful time.  Three false starts and I gave up.  I was in no mood to suffer again through battles that are now in my past, and music is so evocative; it bypasses the brain and communicates directly with the heart.  So I completed my prayer time as has become usual--speaking a few words of praise and then moving quickly to prayer concerns.

Not a lot of fun for me or for the Lord either, I don't imagine.

Later this morning I was washing dishes when this phrase dropped into my mind:  "Sing to the Lord a NEW song."  Just like that, with the emphasis on NEW, and I understood that I needed to take this admonition literally.  I did a google search for "The top  NEW praise and worship songs" and downloaded the top five.  Amazing!  I had the best, most restorative, sweetest time praising the Lord with these new songs!

With the wonderful flow of new Christian music that is so easily available there is no excuse for me to let music fade from my life again.  I read an article recently emphasizing the importance of music to Alzheimer patients; but in this post I'm encouraging caregivers to include music in their own lives as well.  Sing to the Lord a new song!

To listen to the song that was #1 on the list, click on this Youtube link:   The Same Love by Paul Baloche

And here is the song by Paul Baloche that is so blessed for us as caregivers, thanks to Mary over at "Down the Rabbit Hole" for finding this one:   My Hope by Paul Baloche and Kathryn Scott

"He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him" (Psalm 40:3).