Recently when my granddaughter, Caly, heard a snippet from the great hymn “Come, Thou Fount of Blessing,” she firmly announced: “That’s Pop-Pop’s song!”
Why does this little two-year-old think her grandpa is the sole possessor of that beloved song? It’s because when Pop-Pop is around, she is accustomed to hearing him belt out the refrain:
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it,
Prone to leave the God I love;
Here’s my heart, O take and seal it,
Seal it for Thy courts above.
He sings it fervently. He sings it often. It’s obvious that regularly singing the words to this hymn has become a useful way for him to focus his heart on the Savior in the daily fight with indwelling sin.
My husband is not the only who has a favorite hymn to help him fix his eyes on Jesus. I once read that “when Hudson Taylor was told about missionaries in his charge being in trouble, he was heard soon after whistling his favorite hymn, ‘Jesus I Am Resting.’”
Singing hymns or other songs of Scripture is a way to battle our sin, cast our cares, and make our souls happy in God. As it says in Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
I want to sing more, because this command to sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs is a means of grace to help me turn my heart to God in repentance, trust, gratitude and hope.
That’s why I love to hear CJ sing--not because of his extraordinary voice (Sorry, Dear, you are extraordinary in every other way!)--but because his singing reminds me to sing.
That’s what I hope this little post will do for you too: remind you to sing.
