Narrative Lectionary Key Verse for Today
“My heart is steadfast, O God, my heart is steadfast; I will sing and make melody. Awake, my soul! Awake, O harp and lyre! I will awake the dawn.”
NL Daily Devotion for Saturday, January 13, 2024
by R. M. Fergus, Clergy Stuff
Music is deeply embedded in my religious tradition. I happen to be Lutheran, and I have read how, going back to Martin Luther, Lutheran families sang together. They sang in church. They sang at work. I have always taken this musicality for granted as being in my blood. My great grandfather G. John Markworth, was an organist and music teacher, as was his son (my grandma’s brother) Henry J. Markworth, who was also a composer. So maybe it’s no wonder that the psalms have such an appeal to me, especially the ones that are about praising God with music.
God is music! I hear God’s voice in the cello, the oboe, the French horn, in choirs and tympani and Celtic reels, in children singing (which just makes me cry every time!) and in intense pop music. I feel connected to God when I sing, when I write music, when I crank the stereo in my car (it’s hilarious how often my young adult children tell their mom to “turn it down!”)
The Psalmists knew this. The people felt it. And to this day, many, many people connect to God through experiencing music. Not everyone is musical, of course. So my question for you today is:
Where do I most experience the exuberant, joyful voice of God in my life?
