Words and Music
LESSON SUMMARY – SEPTEMBER 10, 2026
WORDS AND MUSIC
David reminds us in Psalm 100: “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.” He expands on the importance of music in worship later in chapter 149:1 and chapter 150: 1-6.
Music came into my life at an early age (7) when I started playing trumpet; in fact, the very first song I ever learned to play was the great hymn “Abide with Me.” As I said, I sometimes regret that I didn’t pursue music as a career because no other art form fills my emotions as much as music, and that is especially true with the music of worship. Whether it is good old hymns, contemporary Christian music, or toe-tapping Gospel Quartet songs, our souls are stirred each time we hear them. No less a musical authority than Johann Sebastian Bach once said: “All music should have no other end and aim than the glory of God and the souls’ refreshment.” Certainly, glorifying God through music provides satisfaction to the soul. I alluded to one of my favorite movies, EDDIE AND THE CRUISERS (I hope you have watched it) where the lead character says: “Words without music or music without words is good, but when you put them together, well, that’s something special.”
Songs with a straight forward Christian theme have become hits on the Pop Charts over the years: “Oh, Happy Day”, “Spirit in the Sky” and “Put Your Hand in the Hand” to name a few. But there have been other hits whose message has been a bit more subtle. I, once again, encourage you to look up the lyrics of these three songs or listen to them in their entirety and instead of thinking of them as love songs between a man and a woman, hear how they are actually love songs to God:
Ø “Sunny” by Bobby Hebb, written to a God who had helped him get through a personal tragedy by shining His radiant love on him.
Ø “You Needed Me” by Anne Murray. The writer of the song calls it “a song about God’s unconditional love for us and our gift of undeserved love from Him.”
Ø “What a Difference You Made in My Life” sung by Ronny Milsap and co-written with Archie Jordan who calls it “an inspirational song about what happens when God comes into our lives.”
Each of these songs talks about the relationship the writer and singer had developed with God and why it was important in their lives. God wants a relationship with us as much as we want a relationship with Him and the best ways to enhance that relationship is through prayer, taking time to really talk to God and, even more importantly, listen to what he is saying to us. And Bible study also builds that relationship by getting to know our Lord even better. And without a doubt, worship music strengthens that relationship as well.
I closed the lesson with a final example of a song from the Bill and Gloria Gaither musical, Alleluia! titled God Gave the Song. In a beautiful narration in the middle of the song, the narrator says:
God gave the song, it’s always been with us
It is a simple, lovely song for everyman that came to us through a manger in Bethlehem
At first, some tried to ignore the song-they said, “There is no song. It simply doesn’t exist.” Others tried to change the song; they made laws in an effort to stop the song. They tried to drown it out. They refused to allow anyone to sing the song and even killed some who sang it. Armies marched against it.
Finally, they nailed that song to a tree and smugly said to themselves, “There! That should take care of that!”
But it didn’t… because three days later that song rose from the depths of an empty tomb and sings in each of our hearts today.
You ask me how I keep on singing
Why I can sing when things go wrong.
Well, since I found the source of music
I just can’t help it
God Gave the Song
