How Can I Keep from Singing?

“My life flows on in endless song;
Above earth’s lamentation,
I hear the sweet, though far-off hymn
That hails a new creation.”

California has declared singing in church

Too dangerous

Too easy to spread particulates

Covid-19 still the enemy at our gates

I’m not sure how to worship without song

My restless spirit longs

For something it cannot name

Singing the only thing that gives expression

To the inexpressible

It’s odd that something so seemingly innocuous

So taken for granted

Would suddenly be considered dangerous

I understand the logic of it, the science

But I think worship has always been dangerous

Spiritually speaking

A uniting together in corporate song to worship a living God

Putting self aside to do the very thing we will be doing for eternity

What could be more dangerous?

“Through all the tumult and the strife,
I hear that music ringing
It finds an echo in my soul
How can I keep from singing?”

Worship is more I know

Than merely what happens on a Sunday morning

My whole life an act of worship

Taking captive every thought

Loving others as I love myself

And Christ above all

Loving God and enjoying Him forever

But corporate worship

Still a mystery

How it brings together every believer

Across languages and tribes

Under a single banner

Unifying us in common purpose

The mask wearer and the mask hater

Black and white

Poor and wealthy

We may not agree on anything else this week

May even disagree on whether we like the contemporary chorus

Added to the ancient hymn

But for those few moments we sing

Division is forgotten

Our harsh judgments of one another

And even of ourselves

As we lose ourselves in worship of our King

How can we keep from singing?

“What though my joys and comforts die?
I know my Savior liveth
What though the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night he giveth.”

So many of our joys and comforts

Stripped away

In this time of fear and uncertainty

When the darkness seems to be winning

Though we know

Or should know

He has already won the battle

The ending a foregone conclusion

So if we cannot sing in church

We still must sing

Even if only in our rooms

Our voices raised to our King and Lord

So very worthy of praise

How can we keep from singing?

“No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that refuge clinging
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?”

I lift my eyes up past what I see

Past what I can touch

Into that which is good and true

The realm of the Spirit

Where we cannot fathom what God has done

From beginning to end

How he has set eternity in our hearts

How can we keep from singing?

“I lift my eyes, the cloud grows thin
I see the blue above it
And day by day this pathway smooths,
Since first I learned to love it.”

The blue of sky and water

Stills my soul

Amazing how a color can comfort and inspire

Not for the first time I wish I were an artist

Able to capture the contours of the clouds and sky

With brush and pen

I marvel at the artistry of God

“The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart
A fountain ever springing
For all things are mine since I am his
How can I keep from singing?”

The waterfall tumbles across rocks

The ruins of the old lock in a canal no longer needed

It never runs out of water

It doesn’t seem possible

Water would keep on falling

The water cycle another evidence

Of the glorious creativity and love of God

He could have given us water

Without waterfalls

I wonder how many things God has made

Simply for our enjoyment

For their innate beauty

A living testament to His goodness and provision

For all things that are beautiful come from his hand

“No storm can shake my inmost calm
While to that refuge clinging
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth
How can I keep from singing?”

The soft light wanes

And pinkish light streaks the sky