26 LETTERS AND 88 NOTES

Oh, the music that has been made with this combination! The fabulous songs that have been written! It’s an amazing tribute to God’s creation of language and His gift to men of making instruments and using their voices to sing!

Webster’s has a listing of 470,000 word entries, and that’s just in English. And there have been an estimate of over 100 million songs written worldwide. And there’s room for many more, with new tunes being released continuously. Plus, there are songs that have been written by amateurs and never published. (This author has had a few.)

We could not possibly listen to every song that’s available, so as in every aspect of life we need to make choices. Which kinds of songs, which artists, which instruments, which genre? Some songs make us feel better, others make us want to dance and/or sing, some enable us to worship God through music.

Sadly, some songs are very negative and even harmful. It’s hard to imagine that these bad songs are attractive to any age group, but they are. This is a reminder of the evil and the rebellion in the hearts and minds of humans.

Back to the positive effects of music, here are a few quotes pertaining to its great value.

“Music is like a dream. One that I cannot hear.” – Beethoven 

“Music is the universal language of mankind.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

“Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and life to everything.” – Plato 

“Music is the art of the prophets and the gift of God.” – Martin Luther 

The Bible speaks often of making music, especially in the Psalms, which has been called the Hymnbook of the Scriptures, as well as in the New Testament.

Psalm 95:1 (NKJV) "Oh come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation."

Psalm 92:1-3 (NKJV) "It is good to give thanks to the LORD, And to sing praises to Your name, O Most High; To declare Your lovingkindness in the morning, And Your faithfulness every night, On an instrument of ten strings, On the lute, And on the harp, With harmonious sound."

Colossians 3:16 (NKJV) "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."

Whether we simply listen to good music or sing along with our favorites, music has a healing, uplifting, joyous effect on our body and mind and soul.