Songs Along the Way

 

Back when I taught high school English full time, it was not uncommon for me to recite a sonnet or a portion of another poem in order to illustrate a point. Students were sometimes surprised that I could do that without looking, but I said to them, “You know all kinds of stuff you didn’t have to try to learn. You learn what you love.” Then I reminded them of all the songs and commercials and chants running through their heads. They had to admit I was right.

I thought about this phenomenon recently as I slowly worked my way through the Psalms of Ascent. This group of songs, found in Psalms 120-134, is a collection of work that Jewish travelers sang as they journeyed to Jerusalem for feast days. As I read these psalms that give honor to God as well as voice appreciation for fellowship, godly families, and even the temple, I thought about how such ideas might lighten the journey.

We are familiar with stories of former slaves singing spirituals as they worked in the fields. I recall my own mother singing along with gospel records as she worked around the house, and I have been known to turn the music up loud to help myself get some work done. It just helps to have a distraction sometimes, and if the distraction can remind us of eternal truth, even better!

Better than motivation for work, though, is the blessing that comes from rehearsing God’s goodness and expressing our praise and thanks to Him. In Steve Faulkner’s discipleship class, we have been studying psalms for many months. These studies are a constant source of joy and inspiration. Just this week, we looked at Psalm 121--one of the Psalms of Ascent, and talked about how God’s word gives joy and comfort in difficult times. I shared my own recent experience with traveling along unfamiliar roads facing a bit of a scheduling crisis. As I drove, the words of Psalm 139 came to mind: “Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.” (KJV is easier for me to learn, somehow.) It was such a comfort to me to recall that God saw me on those twisty roads that Google maps had me traveling, and I got to my destination in calm and peace.

Do you love God’s word? I know you do. As you read and re-read favorite passages, I hope you can commit them to memory. It’s worth working at for those moments when you have to keep your hand on the wheel and your eyes on the road.

--Sherry Poff