When I first started dating my husband about nine years ago, I would write letters to him everyday, sometimes 2 or three a day. Some were for him, some were just about him. Most I would keep in a shoe box and save for a later day. I would write to him in class and leave it for him in the locker we shared. I couldn’t wait to check it after the next period to see if he’d written back yet. In the letters, I could say what I truly wanted to tell him, whether declaring my “undying love” or just letting him in on what my day consisted of while we were apart or venting to him about whatever crisis was ailing me. Those letters got me through so many days. And they kept my heart turned toward him. It sounds cheesy and childish I know, but at the end of the day, today in fact, I’ve learned an interesting truth - What is a song but a letter set to a melody? What are the Psalms but the heart of David written and sung? “Words immersed in music can touch places in our hearts that nothing else can reach.” (Excerpt from Lisa Bevere’s book, Kissed the Girls and Made Them Cry).

Ephesians 5:18-19Ephesians 5:18-19
English: American Standard Version (1901) - ASV
18 And be not drunken with wine, wherein is riot, but be filled with the Spirit; ¹⁹ speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;  

says this: “Be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart for the Lord.”  All of a sudden, I am taken to the old movies where a lady sings about her affections for her beau to a group of her friends crowded around listening to every word.  I have experienced that. There are a lot of songs that have made me think of my husband and how much I adore him. Just yesterday I was listening to “The Truth” by India Arie. The chorus says this:                                                        Cause he is the truth
Said he is so real
And I love the way that he makes me feel
And if I am a reflection of him then I must be fly because
His light it shines so bright

Just thinking of my husband and singing these words awakened a love for him within me.  Ephesians tells us to sing our love for God to one another. Worship doesn’t only keep our eyes set on Him… it keeps our hearts turned towards Him. He is “enthroned in the praises of Israel” (Ps. 22:3) He is exalted to His proper place in our lives, both as King and as the object of our desire, through our songs.

This lesson has challenged me in the area of my writing. What has been my motive? To write a catchy hook with unpredictable lyrics? Obviously, those are important aspects - creatively.  But the simplicity of honest praise/worship is as easy as a letter. If I can write pages and pages about my feelings toward a man who has the ability to disappoint and cause pain, then surely I can write about a God who never fails and with whom my heart is completely safe - Whether  it be about our undying love, or whatever might be ailing me at the moment, whether to Him or about Him. And if those words can fit well in a melody with a catchy hook and unpredictable lyrics… well then, I’d say that’s a recipe for a freakin’ good song!

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