hymns

When I was a kid we sang a lot of hymns in church. There were a lot of words that I didn't understand at the time.  It was kinda like singing poetry - do you know how hard that is?  You had to learn new (old-fashioned) words and language and try to sing them in a melody.  Trying to figure out what it all meant while doing all that was impossible.

Then one day I grew up (well, not all in one day - it took a while and I'm pretty sure I'm still not yet grown up), and it started to click: the words had been memorized, the melodies had been memorized, and now as an adult I could focus on the meaning, the depth of these hymns and apply them to my life.  

Take these Christmas hymns, for example:

Joy to the world, The Lord is come. 

Let earth receive her King. 

Let every heart prepare Him room. 

And heaven and nature sing, 

and heaven and nature sing, 

and heaven and heaven and nature sing!

 (It's a Christmas celebration, y'all! Sorry, a bit of gospel influence coming out there).

It came upon a midnight clear, that glorious song of old. 

From angels bending near the earth to touch their harps of gold. 

"Peace on the earth, good will to men from heaven's all gracious King."  

The world in solemn stillness lay to hear the angels sing. 

(You can feel that song - the mood is in the words). 

(My favorite verse: the 3rd verse)

Silent Night. Holy Night. 

Son of God, love's pure light. 

Radiant beams from Thy holy face. 

With the Dawn of redeeming grace. 

Jesus, Lord at Thy birth. 

Jesus, Lord at Thy birth.

(This one creates an awesome mental picture for me each time I sing it).

Words that have been in my mind for years are finally able to sink into my heart so that when I do sing them, they are sung to an amazingly generous God from the depths of my soul. That's worship.  And Christmas is the best time to worship.

KC