Songs are poems put to music.
The poems are written first. That’s because the words with their meaning and message are the most important. The music is written later to enhance the meaning of the words. Words carry meaning, and words that mean something to us bring meaningful feelings.
Songs are literature, and, like literature of every age, they express the mindset and morals of a people. Harriet Martineau (1802-76) says, “Ballads and popular songs are both the cause and effect of general morals; they are first formed, and then react. In both points of view, they are an index of public morals.”
The songs a church sings say a lot about the spiritual state of the church. Authentic church music uses the words of the songs with their meaning to bring the Word of God to the listener. Any spiritual music with lyrics that portray God, Jesus Christ, the Spirit, and Christianity in an unbiblical way might be popular but will do us no good in the night seasons because they were not written to edify but to entertain.
When people get saved, they dump their old songs and get a new song of praise to God. They then get a favorite song, and it becomes their song. When they hear it, they say, “That’s my song.” No doubt, Paul and Silas sang their favorite songs while imprisoned at Philippi (Acts 16: 25). Elihu said God gives songs in the night (Job 35: 10).
A song in the night is a song we sing during those hard and trying times when the Enemy oppresses us. The song’s words remind us of God’s power, goodness, love, and faithfulness. And such songs lift our spirits and voices above the night clouds into the very presence of God, who hears our song in the night.
What is your night song? Have you had to sing it lately?
(Photo courtesy of pixabay and Firmbee.)
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James H. Cagle has been preaching and getting the Word out since 1982. He has pastored for twelve years. He now writes for twelve newspapers weekly. He has published three books and is working on several others. James spent four years in the Marine Corps and was honorably discharged in 1980 as a sergeant. He grew up in Bemiss, Georgia, and graduated from Lowndes High in 1975. He currently resides in Nashville, Georgia.