Scripture:

Deuteronomy 31:19–22

19 Now, therefore, write this song, and teach it to the Israelites; put it in their mouths, in order that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites. 20 For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I promised on oath to their ancestors, and they have eaten their fill and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, despising me and breaking my covenant. 21 And when many terrible troubles come upon them, this song will confront them as a witness because it will not be lost from the mouths of their descendants. For I know what they are inclined to do even now, before I have brought them into the land that I promised them on oath.” 22 That very day Moses wrote this song and taught it to the Israelites. (NRSVUE)

Observation:

Moses was coming to the end of his life, and it was time to pass on leadership. Not just leadership, but also the faith from one generation to the next. How would the people remember what God had done for them? Through a song!

God instructed Moses to write a song and teach it to the people. The song itself would be a witness to the faithfulness of God and a reminder of the people’s covenant responsibilities. This is striking because you would think the people were to be the witnesses, but it was the song that would hold the truth, even when the people were unfaithful.

Application:

Every night before our grandchildren in England go to bed, they sing songs with their parents. “Jesus Loves Me” is a must! And when their parents aren’t home, the grandparents must sing it with them as well.

There is something special about the power of the song. Music has always been a way that we have passed on the faith from one generation to the next. Sometimes it’s the practices, like music, that help to carry the water of our faith. God knew that the Israelites would not always be faithful, so He wanted them to have a song. The song itself would testify to the faithfulness of God, even when they had forgotten their covenant with Him.

I wonder whether we are passing along the songs anymore. When we moved to contemporary music and began displaying the words on screens, we no longer had a book to look at with the words and the notes. How many of us learned to read music in church! Also, there are so many new songs all the time. While that’s lovely to an extent, sometimes it seems as if we never have time to learn one of the songs before we’ve moved on to others. Often it’s the worship team singing and the congregation trying to figure out how to keep up.

When the previous generation was passing away, we would often sit around the sickbed and sing songs together. There seemed to be a whole group of songs that we knew from memory and could sing. They testified to the faithfulness of God and helped our loved ones on their journey. But now I wonder, what will future generations sing around the sickbed?

There is power in the song. God was intentional in His instructions to Moses. We need to think about how we pass along the faith through our songs as well. Maybe it’s singing at bedtime, or maybe we need to be more intentional about the use of music in our worship and daily lives.

Prayer:

Lord, thank You for the music that has touched my life. Help me to embrace the songs and pass them along. Amen.