DON'T LOSE YOUR SONG
ARM prison outreach ministries newsletter story, "What would it take to make you lose your song?", by Lester Roloff. "Let me ask you a question. What would it take to make you lose your song? Could you sing in the jail? The Lord taught me to sing in the jail one night. I didn’t plan it, but the Lord did, and I sang.
That was a dark night. That was one of the hardest nights of my life. The devil pressed in that night to get my mind, to wreck my body and to disturb me with the rock&roll and heavy-metal racket that was playing on three or four radios there in the jail. It was a horrible time, but the Lord said, “Why don’t you sing? Why don’t you just sing? Sing to Me.”
Let’s not allow anyone or anything to cause us to lose our song. My dad used to whistle a song, in times that were bad and hard with crop failures and low priced cotton. He’d come from the cow pen, whistling his favorite anthem—"In the Sweet By and By.” He’s over there now.
Can you sing in times that are hard and bad? Mother used to stand at the old west porch, with her hands way down in wash water in a number 3 and a number 2 tub, with homemade lye soap cut up in it, washing the dirty clothes of her boys and her husband. All the while singing, “Sweet Hour of Prayer, That calls me from a world of care, And bids me at my Father’s throne, Make all my wants and wishes known.”
When I’d come home I’d hear her in the kitchen on those old fashioned linoleum floors. We used to have nothing but plank floors, but we got some linoleum, and I remember how cold it was in the winter time. I’d come running down that long hall and dash into the heater room to put my clothes on. She’d be singing, “What a Friend we have in Jesus, All our sins and griefs to bear!” Oh, her songs were so pretty!"
What could cause us to lose our song? The loss of a loved one? After Job buried his 10 kids it says in Job 1:20-21 that he fell to the ground in worship and said, "The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." Some believe he didn't say this, he sang it.
What could cause us to lose our song? Imprisonment? Financial setbacks? A major accident? A serious health condition? Do we find ourselves singing praises in the storm? In the moment of tragedy mourning and sorrow are inevitable but what about after the initial impact? Do we retain our praise? Do we still have the song that was in our heart before the burden took place? We need to make sure we don't lose our song.
1) Jesus and the disciples didn't lose their song.
Mark 14:17-26, "When evening came, Jesus arrived with the Twelve. While they were reclining at the table eating, he said, “I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me—one who is eating with me.” They were saddened, and one by one they said to him, “Surely not I?” “It is one of the Twelve,” he replied, “one who dips bread into the bowl with me. The Son of Man will go just as it is written about him. But woe to that man who betrays the Son of Man! It would be better for him if he had not been born.”
While they were eating, Jesus took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, “Take it; this is my body.” Then he took the cup, gave thanks and offered it to them, and they all drank from it. “This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many,” he said to them. “I tell you the truth, I will not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it anew in the kingdom of God.” When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives."
It's understood that the hymn they sung was a composition from Psalm 113-118 that was common to sing at Passover. Many of these Psalms begin with, "Praise the Lord", "I love the Lord", "Give thanks to the Lord".
We might picture their sadness and melancholy mood in these last hours before Jesus' arrest, torture and crucifixion and we wonder if they were thinking something like, "praise him for what? Give thanks for what? We're losing our teacher, our leader, our rock, our closest friend. And we're supposed to find the strength to sing?"
Who would feel like singing at a time like this? I'm sure it was Jesus' idea to follow the tradition at this final Passover. But when we think of what he was facing it's hard to picture him choosing to sing. If I were Jesus singing would probably be the furthest thing from my mind. But, as the quote goes, "The shadow of the cross did not quench the spirit of praise in Christ."
Hopefully that is true for us. Whether it's the shadow of grief, pain or even death, may we be so inclined to still have a song in our heart and praise on our lips. And we can when we realize that Jesus is the reason we have a song. Tom Cash shares this story.
"Let me tell you about some dear friends of mine: "Punk" and "Beanie". Punk’s real name was Ralph; Beanie’s was Lavena. They were members of Driftwood Christian Church near Vallonia, Indiana. Beanie was a simple farm wife who had an unshakable faith. Dying of liver cancer, I was at the hospital with her family, essentially on a deathwatch. Beanie’s pain was excruciating, and the pain medicine kept her in a nearly unconscious state.
Others left the room for a moment; only her daughter Harriet and Punk were present with me. Suddenly Beanie opened her eyes. Looking at the ceiling, she said, "Sing." I leaned over her bed and asked, "What did you say, Beanie?" "Sing." "Do you want us to sing a hymn?" She nodded. So I started: "I heard an old, old story, how a Savior came from glory..."
By that time Ralph and Harriet joined in: "How He gave His life on Calvary to save a wretch like me; I heard about His groaning, and His precious blood atoning; Then I repented of my sin and won the victory." Beanie joined in on the chorus. "Oh victory in Jesus! My Savior forever; He sought me and bought me, With His redeeming blood. He loved me ‘ere I knew Him, And all my love is due Him. He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood."
With eyes fastened on the ceiling, Beanie’s voice became stronger as we started singing the last verse: "I heard about a mansion, He has built for me in Glory. And I heard about the streets of gold beyond the crystal sea; About the angels’ singing the old redemption story; And some sweet day I’ll sing up there the song of victory! Oh victory in Jesus! My Savior forever; He sought me and bought me, With His redeeming blood. He loved me ‘ere I knew Him, And all my love is due Him. He plunged me to victory beneath the cleansing flood."
When the song was over we prayed. Hours later, Beanie went home to be with the Lord. Just a few years later her daughter Harriet died of the same type of cancer. Not long ago, Punk also went home to be with the Lord. Out of the four in that room, I am the only one left to tell the story. No matter what trials you face, sing. God is there to help you through." There's no reason to lose our song when Jesus is our song.
2) Paul and Silas didn't lose their song.
A few weeks ago when speaking on the gift of discernment I talked about the fortune telling slave girl who followed Paul and Silas around yelling things about them being servants of God and telling the way to be saved. That all sounds good but Paul was uneasy in his spirit and cast the evil spirit out of her. When her owners got wind of this they were furious that their money maker was no more. They had Paul and Silas brought before the officials and said they were throwing the town into an uproar. That's where we will pick it up the story.
Acts 16:22-34, "The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten. After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully. Upon receiving such orders, he put them in the inner cell and fastened their feet in the stocks.
About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose.
The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”
The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.”
Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house. At that hour of the night the jailer took them and washed their wounds; then immediately he and all his family were baptized. The jailer brought them into his house and set a meal before them; he was filled with joy because he had come to believe in God—he and his whole family."
Stripped, beaten and severely flogged. Then, thrown into prison and shackled. So what does one do in response to this? Yell, scream, swear? Seethe with anger, hatred and bitterness? Shake their fist at God, pound the wall, lash out and retaliate? Cry and wail or withdraw and go into a deep depression? All of these would be normal responses to such treatment. But what do Paul and Silas do? Pray and sing!
Adam Clarke's commentary: "Though these holy men felt much, and had reason to fear more, yet they are undismayed, and even happy in their sufferings: they were so fully satisfied that they were right, and had done their duty, that there was no room for regret or self-reproach. At the same time they had such consolations from God as could render any circumstances not only tolerable, but delightful.
They prayed, first, for grace to support them, and for pardon and salvation for their persecutors; and then, secondly, sang praises to God, who had called them to such a state of salvation, and had accounted them worthy to suffer shame for the testimony of Jesus. And, although they were in the inner prison, they sang so loud and so heartily that the prisoners heard them."
Joy despite their circumstances. Singing despite their oppression. Quote: "It is not in the power of the wicked to make the righteous unhappy, or prevent their rejoicing with exceeding joy." Think about that for a minute. The actions of the wicked do not have to have any bearing on our joy. The frustrations of others does not have to affect our praise. The negative situations we face does not have the power to stop our song unless we allow it to. Paul and Silas didn't allow what they were going through to silence them. The prisoners or the jailer couldn't keep them from openly praying and praising God.
"The prisoners were listening to them." They were probably sleeping until Paul and Silas started to pray and sing. But Paul and Silas weren't going to hold back because people were sleeping. They weren't concerned about any backlash they would suffer from waking them up. They didn't keep it to a whisper-they prayed openly and sang loudly. It didn't matter that they weren't in the church; it didn't matter that it was midnight-the Holy Spirit inspired them to pray and sing and that was what they did.
Psalm 119:61-62, "Though the wicked bind me with ropes, I will not forget your law. At midnight I rise to give you thanks for your righteous laws."
We don't know what kind of reaction the prisoners were having at first. Were they yelling at them to be quiet? Were they laughing and ridiculing their foolishness to be singing and praising God after what they had been through? If so, it appears their demeanor changed since it says they were listening. They were intrigued by what they were hearing from Paul and Silas-not only because it was abnormal but because it made sense.
Then there was a violent earthquake and the prisoners chains came loose. It's pretty amazing that the prisoners didn't run for the hills. I don't know if they didn't leave because they were in shock or because they were won over by what Paul and Silas were doing but in any event, the fact that they stayed where they were after the doors flew open says a lot.
It certainly had an effect on the jailer-who, although he was sleeping, was convinced he needed saving after everything that happened. He was obviously being worked over by the Holy Spirit before the earthquake and then to see that no one left after being able to spoke volumes to him. He was then convinced that the gospel was the way to be saved. It doesn't say that any of the prisoners came to faith but I think it's probably safe to say that after the whole incident at least some of them were won over.
Paul and Silas sang in an 'unsingable' situation. Jesus and the disciples sang in an 'unsingable' situation. What about us? Can we sing in our 'unsingable' situations? Psalm 69:29-30, "I am in pain and distress; may your salvation, O God, protect me. I will praise God’s name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving." Pain didn't keep David from praising God. David kept his song. Jesus and his disciples kept their song. Paul and Silas kept their song. We need to keep our song.
3) Let's make sure we don't lose our song.
Eph. 5:18-20, "Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ."
I included the verse about getting drunk because what do you often see when you're around a bunch of happy drunks (especially if they're Irish-like myself)? Singing! There's a whole host of drinking songs floating around the pubs. "What do you do with a drunken sailor?" Singing is often a byproduct of feeling good. But now, Paul wants there to be a transition.
From William Burkitt's notes on the NT: "The apostle, in the foregoing verse, cautions the Ephesians against that drunkenness and uncleanness which did commonly attend them at the solemnities of their heathen gods: their Bacchanalia, or feasts dedicated to Bacchus the god of wine, were usually concluded with excessive drunkenness and uncleanness. In these drunken feasts they had their drunken hymns, which they sung to their drunken deity, in praise of him whom they called the god of wine."
So Paul is saying now it's time to replace your drunken songs with holy songs that honor God. We have been given a new song through Christ. Psalm 40:1-3, "I waited patiently for the LORD; he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see and fear and put their trust in the LORD."
Obviously David wrote this before Jesus came on the scene but we can see how it applies to what was done for us in salvation. We've been lifted from the pit of despair; the pit of hopelessness. We've been given a new life and therefore we have a new song to sing. A song of salvation; a song of freedom from sin's possession.
So now we are to be speaking to each other with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. I don't think Paul's suggesting we turn our lives into a perpetual musical and sing all of our dialog to each other. But I do believe Paul meant this literally as well as figuratively. We should encourage each other with the song in our hearts. Whether you sing or speak the lyrics to people share the song that's in your heart.
James 5:13 says, "Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise." And we have much to be happy about; much to praise him for.
Psalm 96:1-6, "Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples. For great is the LORD and most worthy of praise; he is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. Splendor and majesty are before him; strength and glory are in his sanctuary."
We sing about his salvation, we sing about his glory, we sing of his marvelous deeds. We sing that we belong to the God of gods-the King of kings-the Lord of lords. We sing of his creativity, we sing of his splendor, we sing of his majesty. We sing of his strength. Mighty is our God and most worthy of praise!
Typically when we start singing, other like-minded people will join us and next thing you know there's a party going on and in short order our joy meter starts to rise. So often it's the act of singing that lifts our spirits and touches our hearts. It can cause us to deal with life better.
Col. 3:13-16, "Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God. And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
There are some things here that will help us to not lose our song. Bearing with each other instead of fighting with each other. Forgiving instead of harboring bitterness. Loving instead of hating. Letting peace rule instead of being ruled by anger, worry or fear. Being thankful and grateful instead of being discontent and demanding. Being full of the word instead of being full of anything but the word. And having the mindset to do everything with him in mind.
These are the things that will keep our song in our hearts and on our lips. But the negative traits listed here will help us to lose our song. Let's make sure that doesn't happen. Don't lose your song.
