Guidelines For Living

Guest (Male): Take a break from your busy schedule and join Harold Sala for Guidelines for Living.

Harold Sala: A pastor thinking that he was being humorous once introduced me saying, "I've heard him eat and I've heard him sing, and I'd rather hear him eat than sing." Hence, no wonder we have become intimidated when it comes to anything much but singing in the shower where nobody can hear. Yet the one who never sings is one who stifles the music of the soul which gives vent to the deep emotions of feelings within.

Actually, no language is more universal than that of music. Whether it's the cowboy with his guitar, the shepherd who sits on the back of the old pickup playing his harmonica, the aborigine who sits on a dirt floor of a hut and plays a nose flute made from the bone of an animal, or a great symphony whose combined musical voices thunder the 1812 Overture. Music has always had a way of purging our emotions and expressing our hopes, our fears, our loves, and our likes.

Many of us are intimidated by the professionals whose performances are nearly perfect. Yet for those who give vent to the music within, there's a great blessing. Of the seven fine arts, music is considered to be the most heavenly in nature. Among all races and peoples, singing has played a significant part in worship. Surely God created man with a song in his heart that had to be voiced.

The book of Genesis links joy and singing together. Anthropologists tell us that singing and dancing are among the most ancient expressions of humankind. Both are associated with worship. Ancient singers became the historians telling the stories of their exploits and victories in song. Musicians who sang or played instruments always preceded the Ark of the Covenant in ancient Israel.

The Old Testament admonishes, "Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise in the assembly of the saints. Let Israel rejoice in their Maker, let the people of Zion be glad in their King. Let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and harp." The book of James asks, "Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise." Paul links singing with the outworking of God's Holy Spirit in the believer's life.

He says, "Don't get drunk on wine which leads to debauchery. Instead be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Sing and make melody in your heart to the Lord." When John the Apostle had a vision of heaven, yes, he included singing. He says, "Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea and all that is in them singing, 'To Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power forever and ever.'"

So you can't carry a tune, right? Well, that doesn't stop you from letting a melody rise from your soul. Even individuals who were born deaf, having never heard a violin or a mother's sweet song, still sing, tapping out the melody striving to understand the rise and fall of the notes.

In the West, 12 melodic tones form an octave. In other areas, China for example, the scale is different. Yet every race and every group of people who have ever lived, sing and enjoy music. When people are blessed, they break forth in song, and only in the darkest days of Israel's history did they put away their harps, their voices silent.

In nature, God has an uncountable number of musical refrains, all of which are meaningful. So no matter how you sound, use your voice and breath to praise God in song and to express the music He's put in your soul.

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