Hearing the Music

O Sing to the Lord

Following along with the corporate devotional, today’s letter reflects on Psalm 96-100. These verses are beautifully lyrical and filled with praises. They show that as praises to God ring out from the lips of his people, so the very created order joins to shout out in worship too. I was reminded of this same pattern articulated in Isaiah 55, where as the Word of God is declared, as His gospel is proclaimed and cherished among the nations, forests flourish where there were once only briers—and their trees clap their hands.

I think of stopping for a breath on the mountain while skiing, surrounded by silence as the snow muffles all sound. All of a sudden a wind comes, causing the tall skinny pines to sway, clapping their sparse branches--music and life where there was none.

Just as the trees are stirred to song where there was only silence, we too, though we live in a world hellbent against worshiping the Creator God, we the redeemed have the joy of joining creation in raising up our voices to magnify the Maker.

Why is our Lord deserving of such praise? These psalms list many reasons: for God is great, filled with all splendor and majesty, strength and beauty, for he reigns, for he is mighty and just. We praise the Lord because he has made known his salvation, through his son Jesus—his right hand and holy arm (98:1).

Many have said that Sundays are a mini Easter. Absolutely! And in so much as it is, each Lord’s Day becomes an opportunity to taste God’s new creation—already and not yet—and to display that before a watching world.

As I get ready to leave Michigan and head back for Japan in July, I am reminded of how different these two places are. Japan does not have tulip time, mild summers, apple orchards with cider and donuts, or the Great Lakes. But it does have sakura (cherry blossoms), delicious food, and rich history & culture—all signs of God’s common grace. Oh do I, as do all Japanese Christians, long for the day when the name of the Lord would be praised by the masses in Japan in concert with her creation! Until then, we wait, and we praise God with thanks for how He is indeed at work in our midst.

Photo by Casey Horner on Unsplash

On Eagle’s Wings

I think I’ve liked the song On Eagle’s Wings ever since hearing it while growing up, although I don’t remember where I heard it first. I played an arrangement of it in 2013 at Christ Church, but that was mostly because I really liked the tune without paying a lot of attention to the words. It came to my attention more strongly after attending the Catholic funeral mass of an employee, RN, and friend who had ended her two-year struggle with cancer.  

After that day, I actually went home and researched the song online, curious as to why it was almost universally present at Catholic funerals, as well as wanting to research the meaning and origin of the song itself. It was actually written in the late 1970’s by a man not yet ordained to be a priest in the Catholic Church, (now) Father Michael Joncas, who went on to write over 300 other songs. This one remains the most well known. He wrote the song while visiting a fellow seminarian in another state after that friend received word that his father had had a heart attack, and the song was sung during the man’s father’s funeral wake in the days that followed.

The verses of the song were based primarily on parts of Psalm 91, which was part of our reading this past week, and the chorus came from Exodus 19:4 and Matthew 13:43. Father Joncas meant the verses to be sung by a cantor who could handle the wide range of notes, while the chorus was written more simply, and is easier to sing. Nevertheless the whole song is often sung by whole congregations within the Catholic Church. I don’t think many Protestants know or think of it as a funeral song, and I don’t think it has to be thought of that way.

Exodus 19:4 comes from God’s message to the Israelites three months after leaving Egypt, “You have seen what I did to the Egyptians, and how I bore you on eagles’ wings and brought you to myself.” (RSV).  Matthew 13 discusses the meaning of the parable of the sower, and it says “Then the righteous shall shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” Psalm 91’s theme is God as our refuge and fortress, so the song is meant to be a comfort in times of mourning, but can also be used as a reminder to us in many other situations as well.  

Verse 1 of the song, “You who dwell in the shelter of the Lord, who abide in his shadow for life, say to the Lord, ‘My refuge, my Rock in whom I trust,’” is derived from verses 1 & 2 of Psalm 91.  

The refrain expands on Exodus 19:4 and references Matthew 13:43: “And he will raise you up on eagle’s wings, bear you on the breath of dawn, make you to shine like the sun, and hold you in the palm of his hand.” 

Verse 2 comes from Psalm 91:3 & 4: “The snare of the fowler will never capture you, and famine will bring you no fear: under his wings your refuge, his faithfulness your shield.” 

Verse 3 comes from Psalm 91:5-8: “You need not fear the terror of the night, nor the arrow that flies by day; though thousands fall about you, near you it shall not come.”  

Psalm 91:11-12 gives us the last (4th) verse: “For to His angels He’s given a command to guard you in all of your ways. Upon their hands they will bear you up lest you dash your foot against a stone.” Incidentally, we are more familiar with that phrase as a temptation Satan presents to Christ in Matthew 4:6. 

Listening to this hymn during times of stress or trial can definitely be used in our lives as a reminder to rely on Him, as He is our Refuge.

Listen to Vivan and and Janelle sing and play “On Eagle’s Wings.”

Photo by Birger Strahl on Unsplash

Eastertide

As we are now about halfway between Easter and Ascension Day, I reflect on this 40 day period that our risen Lord spent with his disciples. During this period Jesus taught them more regarding his death, which they had not understood, and of his resurrection, which they had witnessed! 

It always strikes me as strange that in many west European countries Ascension Day is a public holiday, while here in North America it hardly gets any notice. Even the name “Christi Himmelfahrt" (in German) or “Hemelvaartsdag” (in Dutch) points very clearly to this very needed event, while here in Grand Rapids “Ascend” is used to draw attention to a pot shop (And the arrow in their logo points downward…).

I say this was a very needed event because our risen Lord used these 40 days to explain to the disciples where he was going. Oh, what heart break it must have been for the group that, after just getting used to the Savior being in their midst again, he was going to leave them!

We read in John 20 that our Lord appeared to the apostles many times during that period. Can you picture what took place? Here all the brothers were together after the crucifixion, fearful of what the Jewish leaders would do next. Would they send the Roman soldiers (who were no choirboys) after them as well?

Think of the upheaval when the women came back from the grave having found the tomb empty, and told Peter and John. We read of the disciples not understanding what this meant going forward UNTIL he himself appeared to them that same evening. Think of what Peter must have felt when Jesus, whom he had betrayed only the week before, stood in front of him and said, “Peace be with you”.

Let’s go further in this 40 day period to when they had gone back to the job they knew, fishing. Then the Lord appeared to them and we read how he took Peter aside. “Do you love me?”, was the question to Peter and to all of us. “Do you truly love me?”

As an aside, the same Don Francisco, whom I referred to on Easter Sunday and who wrote the song, “Adam, Where Are You”, also wrote a song titled, “He is Alive” which describes Peter bursting forth with this confession and joyful release of all his fear and guilt. “He is alive and I am forgiven, Heaven’s gates are open wide, He is alive!”

May this be our confession as we gather this Sunday and every day of our lives.

Photo by Szabo Viktor on Unsplash