Little David playing Grandma's piano back in 2009 ~He still loves to play and sing at the top of his lungs...grandma loves it!
Today in church as I was playing the opening song, the little children seated on the stand were belting out the words to "How Firm a Foundation." They knew the words and they were singing as loudly as they could! It gave me goosebumps. I was thinking about the hymns and what they mean in my life. And I remembered something from when I taught a lesson in seminary (several years ago) about music. I dug it out tonight and want to share it. Whether you can sing or not, you should try. Just belt it out like those sweet little children did. Heavenly Father knows your thoughts and feelings...sing with vigor! If you feel like you just can't, then at least open the hymnal and say the words. We have hymns for a REASON. For many reasons...at least 36 of them...
Here are 36 reasons Satan doesn't want us to sing hymns:
They are a form of worship
They are like a prayer
They move us to repentance and good works
They help us rejoice in the Lord
They invite the Spirit
They praise the Lord
They help us focus on spiritual thoughts
They give us a feeling of reverence
They keep bad thoughts out
They bring good thoughts
They calm us down
They cheer us
They rest the weary and comfort the sorrowful
They unify the class
They help build our testimonies
They help spiritual growth
They have conversion power
They bring us closer to heaven
They help us understand the gospel better and remind us of what we need to do
They are enjoyable
They encourage righteous actions
They guide our thoughts to Heavenly Father
They remind us of our heritage
They are written by servants of the Lord
They bring a feeling of love to those who sing
They express gratitude to the Lord
They help us vocalize the deep feelings within us
They give us supoort and remind us of gospel principles
They teach the scriptures
They give us courage
They give answers to prayers
They cause Satan to tremble (one of my personal favorites!)
They are an essential part of worship and add to our church meetings
They help us retain gospel principles learned
They drive out contention
They give spiritual nourishment
I was reminded of this all again as I listened to our youth choir practice tonight for our upcoming Stake conference. Goosebumps were again brought to my arms and a tear to my eye as I felt the Spirit through hymns...
So sing ~ make a joyful noise to the Lord ~ for he said, "the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me."
Let me hear you sing! Do you have anything to add to the list?
3 comments:
As I read this post, I wondered if you were the one who started my Tyler on his great love of the hymns. He would often come home from church spending hours trying to memorize them. I had always wondered what sparked that.
I so loved listening to the Primary children sing that hymn today. It has become a favorite of mine since that is the hymn that was on when my Mom died. Every time I hear it I think of her now, and the firm foundation she gave me.
Thank you for the reminder of how important music is...I thought the program yesterday was extraordinary! Remember how hard it was to get the kids to sing at 6:15 am???? Some of them anyway!
What a wonderful list. Thank you for sharing!
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