The Source Of Song

He has put a new song in my mouth—Praise to our God; Many will see it and fear, And will trust in the LORD.

Psalm 40:3

Christianity is a religion of song. Agnosticism has no carols. Confucianism and Brahmanism have no anthems or alleluias. Dreary, weird dirges reveal no hope for the present or for the future. Christianity, however, is filled with music. Only the message of Christ puts a song in a person’s heart.

When you have Christ in your heart, something changes inside of you, and a melody starts to form that you can’t really control. It is unlike any other belief system.

As we read the stories of Christmas in the Gospel of Luke, we find six different songs recorded almost back-to-back: the “Beatitude of Elizabeth,” when she was visited by Mary; the “Magnificat of Mary,” Mary’s song; the “Benedictus of Zacharias,” the father of John the Baptist; the “Song of Simeon,” when he was presented with the Christ child at the temple; the “Evangel Song” of the angel of the Lord over the plains; and finally, the “Gloria” of the angelic hosts. When Jesus came into the world, music was reborn.