Psalm 7 - The Original Blogger

I have heard the phrase, “There is nothing new under the sun”. I think that is said in reference to the fact that so many things seem to come in cycles. Fashions that were the trend in the 70’s are embraced as new by a generation that wasn’t there to have experienced them in the earlier decade. If you go into any bookstore you will see a whole section devoted to journals filled with empty pages awaiting the pen and thoughts of one compelled to record their life on paper. And, in this electronic age many of these journalists have turned to their computers to compose…and called them blogs. One creative computer whiz may have made it easier to facilitate these eager authors of expression, but the format of “blogging” has been around for centuries. My personal favorite blogger is King David. His Psalms were blogs set to music….songs. He poured out his heart in each and every Psalm that he penned. At various times he expresses his frustration and confusion with life situations, his unbridled joy with surprises which delighted his heart, sorrow at expectations unmet, desperation at situations out of his control and impatience at dreams prolonged. I am always amazed that even though these were composed so many years ago, they ring true to my own heart and I have often cried out to God using David’s words because they so clearly and accurately echo my own feelings. There have been many times when I didn’t have a clue how to verbalize the depth of the pain in my heart and I have turned to the Psalms and found the perfect words already penned by David. I love the fact that David chose to put the words of his heart expression to melody. Lyrics provide the framework to tell the story, but the music provides the drama and passion that paints the picture to complete the thought. Modern day songwriters continue to allow others into the personal journals of their life through the music they write. Sometimes when certain songs come on the radio, it actually transports me back to a moment in time that is etched in my memory because that song was playing in the background providing the musical score for that part of my life journey. I can instantly find myself re-experiencing the emotion that had until then been relegated to only a memory. Music seems to be a universal language. It is interesting that the sound of the words change due to language differences, but the tune or melody is the constant. If we hummed a popular song it would be recognizable to anyone regardless of their native tongue. It is also amazing how much emotion can be created from so few musical notes. The musical scale is composed of just 7 notes, or with sharps and flats factored into the chromatic scale, you have essentially 12 notes. There isn’t an endless supply of notes to choose from, but there is an apparent endless array of possibilities for melodies to give life to lyrics. I love that music is relational, not just in the fact that it can be universally enjoyed, but that it is often formed by the individual talents of two or more people collaborating. One may have the ability to capture a particular story in words and the other is able to set the mood with the music that perfectly compliments the intent of the lyricist. Maybe there is something new under the sun after all. It is called the next song waiting to be written.