(1) O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and give praise, even with my glory.2Awake, lute and harp! I will awaken the dawn.3I will praise You, O Lord, among the peoples, And I will sing praises to You among the nations.4For Your mercy is great above the heavens, And Your truth reaches to the clouds.5Be exalted, O God, above the heavens, And Your glory above all the earth...
I was drawn to that phrase, "awaken the dawn". I think those words carry with them a sense of entering into God's presence early in the day and offering Him praise and thanksgiving. If He is on our minds and we're allowing Him to activate our souls at the start of the day, setting the tone, directing our steps, then I believe we can carry with us a greater sense of His Spirit as we walk through the day. He gives us His Word upon which to meditate and He has ordained the gift of music as a carrier for spiritual truth and encouragement. Faith Radio includes uplifting music each day in order to encourage you, to provide hope, and to help you enter into a sense of worship and thanksgiving to the Lord.
Ephesians 5 tells us, beginning in verse 18, to be (18) filled with the Spirit,19speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord,20giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ...
Dr. Jill Hamilton is an assistant professor at the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina, and she had a desire to document religious songs that older African-Americans knew but that were no longer being taught to younger generations. “As I gathered song titles and lyrics, people would tell me about the personal meaning of the songs,” she said. “I realized that they were using religious songs to support their mental health in their day-to-day lives.”
She combined efforts with other researchers, including Dr. Harold Koenig from Duke, to conduct one of the first studies to examine how African-Americans use religious songs and the personal meanings associated with them. The study included 65 older adults living in the southeastern United States. They said that during times of stress, religious songs helped them feel comforted, strengthened, uplifted, able to endure and able to find peace. Of the five types of religious songs studied, Hamilton found that those evoking thanksgiving and praise were most often used to cope with stress. “They were praising God even during difficult times,” she said. “These songs were reminders that God had brought them through hard times before and would do it again.”
Many study participants told Hamilton they learned songs at a young age and that their older relatives taught them that a song could get them through a stressful situation. This study can provide some insight into how mental health providers could ask about a favorite song to help a patient feel more comfortable talking about mental health problems.
I would dare say that Dr. Hamilton is on to something that can be helpful to all of us, no matter what the cultural background. One thing we can learn is that our faith traditions can be very important, and should be passed down from generation to generation. Even though contemporary culture might have some different approaches to worship, that certainly does not invalidate what previous generations have done. A hymn arrangement is not an outdated approach to worship, and the knowledge of the theology contained within these classic songs can provide some great spiritual insight.
Another thing we reflect on is that an atmosphere of worship can have value in the physical and mental areas of our lives. Music has an amazing ability to carry a message that other venues might not in certain situations. The Bible, especially the Psalms, direct us to sing and make music to the Lord. Our hearts can be energized and our souls uplifted as we surround ourselves with words of hope, contained in a song. Perhaps you've had that experience of a particular song that has brought comfort to you in a desperate situation, that you carry in your mind or perhaps sing to yourself throughout the day when you're facing a difficult situation. God has given us the powerful tool of music in order to make us more aware of His presence.
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