Music has the power to do good and evil. The songs we sing can be powerful tools for teaching, persuading, and helping us remember things. They can trigger the imagination and stir our hearts.

Have you ever heard a song and been quickly taken back to a different time? And how many childhood songs do you remember 20, 30, or 40 years later? Why is music so powerful?

What kind of music do you listen to? Does it help you walk closer to God? Or does it draw you into the world? What kind of worship music do you sing? Does it make much of God or much of man? Why are the songs we sing so important?

Today’s Readings:

Deuteronomy 31 & 32
Psalm 40.6-12
Proverbs 13.11-12
Luke 7.31-50

Why Are the Songs We Sing Important?

Deuteronomy 31 & 32:

Do Not Fear

Moses was about to die and Joshua would soon lead the people into the Promised Land. In the chapters leading up to this one, we heard Moses rehearsing God’s work in their lives and encouraging them to remember all that He had done for them. He had warned them of the curse that comes with disobedience and encouraged them with the blessings of obedience.

Repeatedly, God through Moses told them:

Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you (31.6).

And while He was speaking directly to the nation of Israel, He has made a similar promise to us.

He Will Not Forsake Us

Hebrews 13 says:

⁵ Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” ⁶ So we may boldly say:

Think about that with all that’s going on in our nation and around the world. As we endure another political season, as we receive that medical diagnosis, as we watch the news, and as we seek ways to minimize the effects of inflation, God is with us. 

When we’re tempted to worry about how we’ll pay the bills or what will become of our country, He is with us! He will not forsake us!

And He will continue to be with us whatever happens in the future. To read more on this subject, you might want to read yesterday’s post, “Living in the Presence of God in Adversity.”

The Song of Moses

But as Deuteronomy 31 closed out, Moses used something else to reinforce what he had taught the people, a song:

¹ “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak;
And hear, O earth, the words of my mouth.
² Let my teaching drop as the rain,
My speech distill as the dew,
As raindrops on the tender herb,
And as showers on the grass.
³ For I proclaim the name of the Lord:
Ascribe greatness to our God.
⁴ He is the Rock, His work is perfect;
For all His ways are justice,
A God of truth and without injustice;
Righteous and upright is He.

The rest of the song summarized and warned them of all Moses had been teaching them.

Why a Song?

Why a song? After everything Moses had said in the previous 31 chapters, why would he leave them with a song?

¹⁹ “Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel. ²⁰ When I have brought them to the land flowing with milk and honey, of which I swore to their fathers, and they have eaten and filled themselves and grown fat, then they will turn to other gods and serve them; and they will provoke Me and break My covenant. ²¹ Then it shall be, when many evils and troubles have come upon them, that this song will testify against them as a witness; for it will not be forgotten in the mouths of their descendants, for I know the inclination of their behavior today, even before I have brought them to the land of which I swore to give them” (Deut. 31.19-21).

Songs are powerful. When truths are put to music, they are easier to learn and remember. Have you ever gotten a song stuck in your head? Songs are hard to forget. And the songs we sing can lead us into wrong thinking or right thinking.

Songs can bring back memories from the past. Many a couple has a special song that captures the early days of their courtship. Songs can define a generation or a culture. On the other hand, songs can sometimes deepen depression or fuel anger.

Why Are the Songs We Sing Important?

And it isn’t just secular music that has the power to do good or harm. Hymns and other kinds of Christian music can teach and call to mind powerful truths about God or they can seed believers with weak or even wrong doctrines.

What kind of music do you listen to? Does it point to God? Does it make much of Him or make much of us? How well does it square with Scripture? Or does it create a picture of God as we want Him to be?

This isn’t about style, but about content. I’m not against contemporary music. I grew up in the rock ‘n roll era. But I do think we have cheated ourselves by not singing more of the hymns from earlier generations. So many of them are rich with theology which is lacking in much of today’s music.

But whatever kind of music you sing, think about the lyrics. Understand what they mean and ask yourself if they line up with Scripture.

Go on YouTube and sample some of the hymns that have been sung in times past. You might enjoy them and find them a powerful avenue to worship God. I’ve included a couple to get you started.

Today’s Other Readings:

Psalm 40.6-12:

Delighting in Him

I delight to do Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart (v. 8).

Another Psalm says:

Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart (Ps. 37.4).

The more we write His law on our hearts and get to know Him, the better able we are to really “delight” in Him. And the more we delight in Him, the more He fills our hearts with His righteous desires, which He, in turn, works out in our lives.

Proverbs 13.11-12:

Dishonest Gain is Quickly Gone

Wealth gained by dishonesty will be diminished, but he who gathers by labor will increase (v. 11).

The same corrupt tendencies that lead a person to make money dishonestly will cause him or her to be wasteful and spend it quickly.

Luke 7.1-30 & 7.31-50:

Great Faith

I left this passage for today because of the length of yesterday’s post. Verses 1-10 tell the story of a God-fearing, Roman centurion. His servant was dying and he sent messengers to ask Jesus to heal him:

⁶ And Jesus went with them. When he was not far from the house, the centurion sent friends, saying to him, “Lord, do not trouble yourself, for I am not worthy to have you come under my roof. ⁷ Therefore I did not presume to come to you. But say the word, and let my servant be healed. ⁸ For I too am a man set under authority, with soldiers under me: and I say to one, ‘Go,’ and he goes; and to another, ‘Come,’ and he comes; and to my servant, ‘Do this,’ and he does it.” ⁹ When Jesus heard these things, he marveled at him, and turning to the crowd that followed him, said, “I tell you, not even in Israel have I found such faith.” ¹⁰ And when those who had been sent returned to the house, they found the servant well.

At least in part, his faith included a proper understanding of and respect for authority. I know many reading this are women and we sometimes have trouble trusting God to work through imperfect husbands. But all of us live and work under various kinds of authority. Scripture teaches us to respect and obey those in authority over us. The exception would be if someone asks us to sin (Acts 5.29).

God can and does work through those in authority. We’re to trust in His ability to do so. When we respond properly, we too, are exercising great faith (1 Pet. 3.1-2; Rom. 13.1-7; Heb. 13.17).

Peace with God

Today’s reading includes the story of the sinful woman who washed Christ’s feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. He told her:

Your faith has saved you. Go in peace.

When we put our faith and trust in Him in response to His saving grace, we, too, can go in peace.

You can read more about Christ, His preeminence, and His saving grace in a bible study I did last year. Here is a sample, Colossians & The Preeminent Christ.

Coming Up:

In the coming days, we’ll talk about facing storms, when friends betray us, developing a thirst for God, how faith can be risky, and parenting from the foot of the cross.

I hope you’ll sign up so you don’t miss any of them. 

If you would like to receive a FREE downloadable and printable Bible study through the book of Mark, you can click here for more information.

Blessings as you grow in Christ,
Donna ♥

Note about this post:

I began blogging through the Bible in 2012 and have done so every year since then. These posts are the product of many edits and additions throughout those years. Some days I make major changes, other days fewer. 

A while ago, I read Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him about the attributes of God. One is His incomprehensibility. In it, she says, “God is incomprehensible. This does not mean that he is unknowable, but that he is unable to be fully known.”

I have found that to be true each year as I’ve gone back through the Bible. Sometimes I find myself feeling as if a passage just appeared there for the first time. I’m reminded that no matter how many times we read through the Bible, we have only scratched the surface. I hope you feel the same.

Indeed these are the mere edges of His ways,
And how small a whisper we hear of Him!
But the thunder of His power who can understand?” (Job 26.14)

I sometimes LINKUP with these blogs.