“My heart, O God, is steadfast;
I will sing and make music with all my soul.”
Psalm 108:1 (NIV)
The interesting thing about music is that when it is sung, played, or composed from the soul, it speaks to other souls in ways that human vocabulary cannot. That makes every genre of music “soul music”.
Music is a gift that God gave to all of us, as He blessed certain people with the ability to play instruments or sing, or use their talent to write the poetic lyrics of songs. God gave a great gift to those who can create melodies and compose music.
Those of us who cannot sing, write, play, or compose, are still blessed by listening to music. Music touches the soul like no other form of communication. Some people share their musical talent by giving of their time to sing in concerts, church choirs or to entertain children or seniors in singalongs at various facilities. Jesus said whatever we do for the least of these, we are doing for Him.
Music brings joy and comfort to mankind at all stages of life, such as birthdays, anniversaries, marriages or any milestone of life. The psalms were songs written by David, put to music and played on a harp, for the single purpose of worshipping God, who gave us the gift of music, so that we could give it back to Him and to others.
Music can comfort a comatose or dying patient. Research reveals that a person who can no longer speak, see or move, can still respond to auditory stimuli, like the sound of their loved one’s voice, or music played at their bedside. We know this because of the Electroencephalogram which shows the patient’s response to sound through their brain waves.
After doing EEGs during the years that I worked in a hospital, I saw it firsthand. Brain waves always show a change in activity when a loved one spoke to a comatose patient. Knowing that hearing is the last thing to go, and how much I enjoy music, I created my own “Coma playlist,” which I want to have played if I am ever in an unconscious state. People laugh when I tell them about my coma playlist, but I’m glad I selected a list of my favorite music, which brings me peace.
I recently saw a documentary about a young Jewish songwriter, named Ilse Weber, who was sent to a concentration camp during the holocaust in 1940. She was permitted to sing her own lullaby compositions to the children in the infirmary part of her camp.
Even in such a dark period of history, Ilse brought light to others, by singing songs she created from her soul. She sang to the children, comforting them with moments of love and peace, while separated from their families. One day she learned that the children she sang to, were placed on the transport list, to be sent to Auschwitz for immediate extermination. Ilse asked to go with them.
A Nazi soldier remembered Ilse as he later testified seeing her gather the children around her on the floor of the gas chamber, singing her lullabies to them. This is probably the most heartbreaking Holocaust story I’ve ever heard, but Ilse and the children died to the sound of singing lullabies instead of the sound of panic or screaming. Music is like Heaven’s prayer, that draws a soul into the restful arms of God. May Ilse and those children rest in God’s peace and love forever.
Ilse Weber’s lullabies are now being gathered and played by musicians today, thanks to a woman who wrote her biography. Words of the human vocabulary cannot bring the comfort that music brings, because music is interpreted by the soul. Plato once said, “music finds its way into the secret places of the soul.” It’s so true, and God placed those secret places in our souls, as He gave us the sacred gift of music.
Lord, thank you for the gift of music, which soothes and comforts us in suffering and speaks to our soul, drawing us closer to you. Amen
