There’s Within My Heart a Melody

There’s within my heart a melody Jesus whispers sweet and low,
Fear not, I am with thee, peace, be still, In all of life’s ebb and flow.

Chorus
Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Sweetest Name I know,
Fills my every longing, Keeps me singing as I go.

All my life was wrecked by sin and strife, Discord filled my heart with pain,
Jesus swept across the broken strings, Stirred the slumbering chords again.

Feasting on the riches of His grace, Resting beneath His sheltering wing,
Always looking on His smiling face, That is why I shout and sing.

Though sometimes He leads through waters deep, Trials fall across the way,
Though sometimes the path seems rough and steep, See His footprints all the way.

Soon He’s coming back to welcome me, Far beyond the starry sky;
I shall wing my flight to worlds unknown, I shall reign with Him on high.

Do you know someone who is in a good mood all the time?  Whenever you see them, they have a smile on their face and a rosy outlook on life.  Do you ask yourself, “Can that really be genuine?”  You tell yourself, “No one can be that happy all the time unless they are just oblivious to the things going on around them.”  I may be the only one that feels this way (and if so, let me vent for a minute), but I get this kind of impression when I hear this hymn.  This is one of those songs that will make you tap your toe, and it is very easy to keep singing the chorus once you have heard it.  For those of you that might not be familiar with this song, take a listen:

http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh380.sht

Now that you have heard it, isn’t this the kind of upbeat song that just makes you feel good about life?  But do you wonder if it was written by someone who hadn’t experienced the “real world?”  Well, let me tell you the story behind the author.  The author was a Methodist pastor from Georgia.  He had left his family to speak at a conference in Kentucky where he ministered for two straight weeks.  He was informed that he had a call from home, and he was excited to talk to his wife to tell her all about the meeting he was speaking at.  However, when he picked up the phone, his wife was not on the line.  He was told that his father-in-law’s home (where his wife and children were staying) had caught on fire, and that his wife and three children had all died in the blaze.  I was convicted when I read this story by my faulty assumption that “happy” songs are always written by people with “happy” lives.  The reality is that Godly people that have a joy and peace within are not that way because of their circumstances.  They are that way because they have a closeness to the Lord, and have felt His “sweetness” in a truly personal way, and many times that is through difficult personal situations.

As you read the hymn, I think there are a couple of phrases that give some insight to the author’s personal tragedy that sometimes get overlooked because of the upbeat nature of the song.  The author does a great job of reminding us of God’s grace and comfort during these tough times:

• “Discord filled my hear with pain” – Another word for discord is confusion.  Can you imagine the confusion the author experienced after this tragedy?  Had he not gone on a trip, his family would not have gone to his father-in-law’s home and might be alive today.  How could this happen to him while he was doing work for the Lord?  How does one endure such devastation in their life, and still have a desire to keep singing?  To be honest, I don’t feel adequate to give someone else advice about dealing with a tragedy like that.  I can point someone to promises in Scripture, but I can’t empathize with a situation like that because I don’t know how I would deal with it.  That being said, isn’t it a powerful testimony that someone does both sing and write a song about Jesus being the sweetest name he knows?  A wonderful testimony of someone who had felt the Lord’s closeness and comfort during a difficult time.

• Though sometimes He leads through waters deep – I want to change a few words here to highlight the importance of this line:

1.Though always He leads through waters deep – During a tough time, we may feel like we are always in a trial or tribulation.  The reality is, however, that trials come in seasons and, with the Lord’s help, we endure.  But thankfully, we aren’t always in those kinds of times.

2.Though sometimes He sends through waters deep – Jesus not only promises to be with us and not forsake us, but He has already gone through more pain and trials than we can ever experience.  Whether it is physical or emotional pain, Jesus can lead us through it because He has already been there.  He is not sending us in, but leading us in.

3. Though sometimes He leads through waters shallow – God’s desire is to make us more like His Son – Jesus.  Becoming more like Him will not come as a result of doin g easy things.  No, growing closer to Him will come as a result of struggles, challenges, endurance, perseverance, etc.  Those are “Deep water” kinds of things. 

In the 1970’s, there was a popular song entitled “Sing, Sing a song” that was made famous by the Carpenters.  The advice in this song is somewhat “shallow” in my personal opinion.  “Sing of good things, not bad.  Sing of happy, not sad” is one of the lines.  That advice is “hollow” to me because singing alone cannot change one’s situation.  This “counsel” is not rooted in Biblical truth.  The chorus wasn’t much deeper either – “La la la la la, la-la la la la.” 

For me, I prefer to read the testimony of someone like the author of this hymn who has truly experienced tough situations, but is singing because of the closeness they felt with the Lord, not because life was necessarily “easy.”  The author of this hymn was singing about the Lord Jesus – the sweetest name any of us know.  I pray that I will be the kind of person that “keeps singing” when everything isn’t necessarily going my way.  Not because I am just putting a good face on it, or because I am covering up the pain of life.  But because I have found a constant source that puts a song in my heart.  A source that is unchanging and unending.  A source whose name is worth repeating – “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”  So, I encourage you today to “Sing, Sing a song” about the One who is worthy.  When our focus is on Him and what He has done, we will be able to keep on singing.