Third Sunday of Advent, December 16th, 2012

A Story from Scripture:  Read 1 Samuel 16:14-18, 21, 23

A Devo: Saul experienced an "evil spirit", this passage says.  What is described here would now be called a funk, a depression, the blues, or feeling down in the dumps.  When we feel this way, we find ourselves searching for anything to make the sadness go away.  Saul found solace in the sweet and soothing music of David's harp.  This is not the only place where the Bible details the positive effects the music can have on our mental and emotional well-being.  The children of Israel sang once they crossed the Red Sea and were freed from slavery (Exodus 15:1-21).  The psalms again and again recommend that we sing to our God as a way to remind ourselves of how blessed we are.  (See Psalms 13, 47, 57, 89, 95, 96, 98, 108, and 149.)  St. Paul urges us to make music in our hears to the Lord as a way to give thanks (Ephesians 5:19-20).  Even the songs of the angels on the Bethlehem hillside in Luke 2 rid the shepherds of their initial fears.  So heed the call from Scripture and let music relieve your troubled heart, soul and mind.

A Prayer:  You have provided me with the beautiful gift of music, O Lord.  Let me use this gift when my spirits are low.  Let my spirits be lifted by this gift.  And let me always be reminded of the love song your sing over me every day, even on those days when my life seems out of tune and it is hard for me to hear it.  Amen.