Songs that endure are a treasure.
Before the pandemic, I had the privilege of playing songs for the residents of the Philadelphia Protestant Home, a senior living community in Philadelphia, PA. Every Saturday morning, I would get my guitar, hop in the car, and drive down 95 into the city to play their favorite songs, folk tunes, and hymns. Some residents would greet me with a smile and make requests. Then when I finished in one wing of the building they would clap and follow me to the next. Most residents, however, were limited in how much they could move or say. I played at several deathbeds and many wouldn’t remember me week to week (although they would still light up when they saw the guitar).
One sweet lady, we’ll call her Mary, was always excited to meet the guy with the guitar. Each week she would tell me that her husband used to work in a music shop that sold guitars and that she got to sing with her church choir. I loved to hear her story and see her delight when I started playing. She may not have remembered that she had told me the same story every week for three years but when I played those hymns all the words and harmonies came back to her.
Now Mary may have been in a senior living community but I’m pretty sure she wasn’t around in 1779 when John Newton penned the words of “Amazing Grace”. Still, she remembered every word even if she didn’t remember me… and what great words they are!
“The Lord has promised good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures”
Here she is, unable to rise from her wheelchair, her body failing, her memory fading, yet these words break through to bring her hope. Even in her twilight years, the words of an enduring hymn recall the brilliant light of God’s promises.
As a worship director, I’m always looking for new songs so that I can live out the command to “sing a new song” (Psalm 96). However, in this pursuit of the new I have found that there is a danger of losing that which endures.
Sometimes we need to sing songs in a certain season. Perhaps these songs are only ripe for a few years. This Sunday we’ll be singing a newer Shane and Shane song that we had played at a youth retreat. Will “Psalm 8 (How Majestic Is Your Name)” be a song that endures the test of time? I don’t know. But I do know that it will mean something to our church youth group and it reminds us of the words found in Psalm 8.
In that same service we’re going to sing “Because He Lives”, a song that is beginning to show its enduring quality. Notice the word “beginning”. 52 years is only one lifetime, an infant if we look at it through the lens of church history. It may not be as old as “Amazing Grace” but I know that it means a lot to some of the seniors in our church.
When picking these songs I wrestle with some questions. How do I balance this command to ‘sing a new song’ with our deep need for enduring hymns? What songs will our teens be singing when they are in the senior living community? Will they light up with the same hope that Mary found in the lyrics of “Amazing Grace”? Or will they be faced with the bitter thought that they are no longer healthy enough to sing the songs of their youth? It’s questions like these that drive me to write songs with rich poetry and theology.
When I reach the end and I find myself unable to raise my hands in worship, I pray that I still have songs that captivate my thoughts with God’s truth. I need rich poetry, compelling melodies, and vibrant theology to remind me of who God is. I need songs for the times that I am overjoyed. I need songs for the times that I’m worn down. I need songs of confession, songs of praise, songs of mourning, and songs of rejoicing.
I need songs for every season.
And that is my encouragement to my fellow worship leaders and song writers. Sing songs, write songs, select songs, for every season. Seek out those songs that endure as if you were hunting for a precious treasure. Then, once you find them, give those songs to your children and sing them with your family.
Who knows, maybe one day your song will be the one that makes Mary smile and say “I remember singing that one when I was in youth group”.
by Dan Loch
If you would like to support Dan in his endeavor to write enduring songs you can support Loch & Cain on Kickstarter. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lochandcain/christ-the-hope-of-glory-full-album