{Scripture Challenge 2} Challenge Word #8, Hymn

Challenge Word #8: Hymn

Do you like to sing? Notice I didn’t ask if you can sing. We are not all blessed with voices that we want to share with others but singing hymns to our precious Lord and praising Him can be done and should be done by all believers. Where is your heart when you sing? Are you truly praising Him and worshipping Him or worried about what everyone thinks about your singing? Our greatest privilege is to know God, worship Him, fellowship with Him, and to give Him the glory in all things. We can certainly get so many truths about our Lord through hymns, and it is just an amazing way to worship Him!

What exactly is a hymn? Dictionary.com says “a song or ode in praise or honor of God.” And a song is “a short metrical composition intended or adapted for singing, esp. one in rhymed stanzas; a lyric; a ballad.” I prefer the word hymn because as I sing I want to give praise and honor to my precious Lord not just sing a song!

As I studied the Gospel of Matthew this week, I was struck by this verse:

Matthew 26:30 “When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives."

How had I missed this before? I don’t ever remember seeing that Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn before they went out to the Mount of Olives. Can you just imagine Jesus singing a hymn with His precious disciples? I wonder what hymn they sang? Wow! Jesus and the disciples are an example to us. We too should be singing our hymns and praises to our Lord.

What music do you align yourself with? What do your children listen to? I will be the first to admit I love music of all kinds—country, good ‘ol rock from the 1970’s, old hymns, contemporary Christian, instrumental, etc. But as a Christian, I need to make sure that I listen to things that will help me live by God’s standards, and I need to stay clear of the music that could steer me wrong. We also need to be that same example to our children. I don’t know about you but when I listen to good Christ-filled music, I am filled with such joy, such happiness, such excitement for the Lord, and my focus remains on Him not the sinful things that I could so easily be swayed to take part in.

For my page this week, I used the new Layers of Color set called “Joyful Noise.” It is a perfect stamp set for my page! Papers: Basic Grey Kioshi, Paper Trey Ink
Stamps: Layers of Color Joyful Noise
Stamp Ink: Adirondack espresso
Embellishments: misc. ribbon, Basic Grey micro-chip alpha stickers, Distress Stickles walnut stain and firebrick red, SEI rhinestone brad, Prima flowers, Martha Stewart double scallop border punch

The scripture I chose was Psalm 40:3a “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God. . .”

I pray that you will go out this week and think about how you are representing the Lord by the music you listen to and how it affects your mood and your thoughts.

When searching for your scripture this week, you may also want to search on the word “song.” If you search the NIV version, you will find only 8 verses in the Bible with the word “hymn” in it but I found 115 verses with the word “song.” Search and find the verse(s) that speak to you.

Remember to use Keyword SCRC210 when posting in galleries. Also, feel free to leave a link here for others to see using Mister Linky. I pray you all are still enjoying the study. I don't hear much so I am not sure what my bloggers are feeling about the study. :) Thank you to those that send e-mails and leave your comments. They truly are a blessing to me. Enjoy your time of study, and remember to see all of our previous lessons, visit this post here. I will be back with another study on April 25th. Blessings to each of you,