The Comfort of an Old Hymn

Gerald Wolfe had played gospel music his whole

but the moment that changed him came in his father's bedside.

His dad was near the end. The conversations had grown short

then, pretty rare. The man who raised him was slipping

somewhere Gerald couldn't follow, and most there wasn't much left

to say. One day, Gerald started an old hymn, one his father had

sung a thousand times over the years. He wasn't expecting

anything. He just wanted to fill the room with something familiar.

We'll come back to what his father did next, but

first, welcome to Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. I'm

Bart Leger. I'll admit, modern worship songs usually move me

the most. That's just how I'm wired. But then, I'll read the

lyrics of some old hymns, the ones written a century or two

ago, and the words have a depth to them. Both kinds of music can

reach us, and the old hymns still move many people, even

today. Maybe you felt that too. There's a comfort that comes

when you hear the first few notes of a song you've known

what seems like forever. Maybe it's a hymn you sang as a kid,

standing next to your mom and dad in the pew, holding the

hymnal that they held. Maybe it's the one they play at every

funeral you've ever been to. Before you've thought about a

single word, something in you remembers these moments. The

music has been holding that memory for you, keeping it safe,

connected to a time and a person you loved. And when life gets to

be too much, that melody can reach a place plain words can't.

Paul knew about this, and he built it into how the church was

meant to live.

how Paul says the word of Christ takes up residence in us. And

then he named singing as one of the ways that happens. Psalms

and hymns and spiritual songs. Paul understood that singing

does something, teaching alone can't. A truth you only hear you

might forget by Friday. A truth you've sung a hundred times gets

down inside you and it stays. That's why the words come back

when almost everything else is gone. Here's what that means for

you, especially if your soul feels a bit dry right now. When

you can't seem to pray, when Bible reading feels like a chore

and God feels so far off, you don't have to force your way

back with more effort. Try putting on a hymn you loved as a

kid or some worship song that has meant something to you.

Don't analyze it. Just let it play and let the words come back

on their own. may find that the song is praying for you when you

can't, working truth back into you that you couldn't have

reasoned your way to. Sometimes God meets you in a melody you

forgot you knew. Gerald's father started to sing. The words that

had left him in conversation came back the second the melody

did, verse after verse, like they'd been waiting there the

whole time. That was the last song they'd ever shared and it

planted a question in Gerald that wouldn't let him go about

how many other people were locked away like that with the

hymn still able to reach them. So he started recording old hymn

sayings and mailing the DVDs to nursing homes free to anyone who

would take one. They've gone out to nearly 16,000 of them. In

room after room, people who can't hold a conversation open

their mouths and sing every word. Think about what happened in

that room. Gerald's father had lost the words for conversation.

The hymn reached deeper than conversation, a place the

disease hadn't touched and the song came out whole. That tells

you something about how God wired us. He put his truth in us

in a form that outlasts almost everything else. When the mind

fades and the words go, the song might still be there and it can

still lead a person straight to him. Here is today's challenge.

Sometime today, put on a hymn or worship song that has always

meant something to you and don't multitask through it. Sit down

and sing along if you can, even under your breath. Let the words

preach to you the way they used to. If your faith has felt dry,

let a song you already know remind your soul of what it

already believes. Father, thank you for the gift of song and

putting your truth in us in a way that lasts. When our own

words run out, when our minds tire and our faith runs dry,

meet us in the music. Bring the old songs back to mind and let

them say what we can't. Thank you that even when almost

everything else fades, the truth we've sung stays with us and it

still leads us home to you. In Jesus' name, amen. If you need

prayer today, I'd love to hear from you. You can leave me a

voicemail at dailydevotionsforbusylives.com

slash voicemail. I listen to every single one and it would be

an honor to bring your name before the Lord. Thanks for

joining me on Daily Devotions for Busy Lives. Remember, when

words fail and your soul feels dry, God can meet you in a

melody you forgot you knew. Put on the old song and let it lead

you back. Come back next time for more encouragement to help

you live grounded in God's truth. Until then, God bless and have a

great day.