I read this scripture with a sigh. Loving to sing, I can't carry a tune in the proverbial bucket. Alhough I savor the sounds of harpsichords and pianos and cellos and harps, I myself am no plucker of strings.
Even with no musical talent, however, I find singing to be a path into prayer. I like to pray with psalms, using the words as a springboard to my own conversations with God. "I will extol you." I read in Psalm 145... and so I do. I begin to thank Him for His goodness and kindness and mercy (this can go on for some time before I turn again to what I'm reading). And when I feel pretty sure no one is within hearing distance, I just might burst into song. Sometimes using a tune I know, sometimes making up my own, I sing to God of His wonders. I set thanksgivings and praises to music; I may even bring intercession into the song. It somehow opens my heart to do this, and helps unlock the door to conversation with God.
The psalms are a springboard into prayer for me. And music, even if I keep my singing "on the inside," is my personal amen.
"I do not know what I was playing,
Or what I was dreaming then,
But I struck one chord of music
Like the sound of a great Amen." (A. Proctor)
