Summer Playlist: Part 5
SERMON TRANSCRIPT
Good morning. We are in a part five of our summer playlist series. We have been just navigating through the different songs in Scripture. I'm just kind of jumping around all over the place. It's been so good. I really appreciated seeing how many songs are actually in Scripture. I knew there were songs, but I don't think I realized how many songs there actually were, especially outside of the Psalms as well. So first week we looked at Psalm 139, a really popular Psalm. We went to 1 Samuel 2 and talked about Hannah's song. Isaiah 63 and 64 were next and dove into one of the songs that the Israelites sang. Last week we had Psalm 121, that was a Psalm of ascent that they sang on their way to the temple. This series does not build on itself, so you're not behind if you miss a week, but I really do encourage you, if you have missed a Sunday, go back and listen. We have them on our podcast, or if you prefer to watch, you can watch on our YouTube channel, but go back and listen or watch those so that you can experience all of the songs that we're talking about in this series.
Well, today we are in Psalm 46. I actually had planned on doing another Psalm, but the Lord brought Psalm 46 to my attention this week, and I couldn't get it off my mind. So we're going to dive into that. I guess that's where we're supposed to be today. So you can go ahead and turn there in your Bibles or on your phones. It'll be on the screens as well, but before we dive into the actual passage, I wanted to talk a little bit more about music. Throughout this series, we've kind of touched on it. We've talked about the importance of music or the effects of it, but this series has just made me so curious about the effects of music on the brain and the body. So I did some research for us this week, all right? There are many reasons that God included songs in his scripture, and science kind of helps support that, right? The Bible, science is proving what we already know from the Bible. So one study found that music activates multiple brain regions, auditory cortex, motor areas, limbic system, which is our emotion, and prefrontal cortex, so judgment and planning. So essentially what this study is saying is that music is one of the only human activities that light up nearly every part of the brain at once. That is so cool to me because it is engaging the whole brain. We talk about, "Oh, I'm really right-brained, and I'm left-brained." Brain-did? That's not a word. Right-brained or left-brained. And maybe someone's more mathematically inclined or logical thinking. Someone else might be more emotional or creative, artistic thinking. But music encompasses all of it, and it lights up the whole brain. We know that music releases dopamine, which is the chemical involved in reward and pleasure. Things like love and food and relationships. That dopamine is getting released when we listen to music. Other studies have shown that it reduces stress and cortisol levels. Can I get an amen to that? All right, we love music for that. Also, music has been found to, when used in treatment for depression, it's found to lower symptoms of depression, both in conjunction with other treatment options, but also on its own. It lowers symptoms of depression. It improves sleep quality. It stimulates memory. It builds emotional understanding in children. And so when we listen to music or participate and experience it, especially calming and worship music, it has huge effects on our brains and our bodies. And it does matter what music you listen to, the content, and even some of the actual music itself. But that's a whole other conversation, so we won't get into all of that.
But music is so good for us. And God knew that. God knew what he was doing when he made music for us to enjoy. So then knowing that, knowing what we can see from science about the effects of music, I went a little bit deeper. And I was like, "Okay, there's music all around us." And I wanted to know why companies and brands use music so much in their advertising. And you hear jingles or you hear different things online, and we know brands because of the music that they use. So when I looked into this, there are several reasons, and we won't get into all the nitty-gritty of that. But three things really stood out to me about it. The first one was memory encoding, which we talked about that. We talked about in the past of how it helps with memory. But specifically, it creates better recall. They call it sticky. Music is sticky because it sticks in your brain, and you're better able to recall what you heard because it was set to music. The second thing was emotional triggering. Often music bypasses logic. As I said, the whole brain is lit up. So when music is present, it often can bypass some of the logical thinking and elicits an emotional response. And then the third thing is brand recognition. You associate that song, that lyric, that jingle with a particular brand, and it builds trust because you're familiar with it. Right? Okay. I'm gonna give you some examples. All right. When I say, "Ba-da-ba-ba-ba," what do you think of? McDonald's, right? I don't care if you haven't eaten there in 20 years. You know that jingle is McDonald's, all right? Okay. I have a couple more for us. I'm gonna get a little older. Okay. So hang with me here. I'm gonna start it, and I want you to finish it. Okay? Double the pleasure, double the fun. It's the statement of the great mitten. Double make go. All right. Good job. How about this one? Give me a break, give me a break, break me off a piece of that. There you go. Okay. Good job. See, we know these things. We haven't... Listen, you don't even know it, do you? Right? Because you're too young. You're too old. Okay? But we remember it because it was set to music. Things like rhyming and certain words and visuals also helped it out. But it was set to music. There's this one that I think the commercial was when I was in middle school, maybe. It was the canine advantage commercial. It was a puppy who was off at camp, and he wrote a letter. Anybody remember that? He goes, "Hello, mother. Hello, father. Please take some mosquitoes. Really, father? Thanks for the package. That's why I'm writing. I'm writing. Okay, so he goes, "The canine advantage quickly stopped all the biting." I won't put you through the rest of it. But I guess I don't remember what I had for lunch three days ago, but I remember every lyric to that commercial, and I wasn't even the target audience. Okay, I was in middle school. I was in biting flea intake medication. I don't even know if we had a dog at the time. But I remember it because it was set to music. If that same exact commercial, if that dog had written a letter home and read it in the commercial, I guarantee you I wouldn't be able to repeat it all these years later. But because it was set to music, I can remember it. So it gave me memory recall, right? It triggered emotions. Because, like, oh, it's so cute. A little dog writing home to his mom. And then you remember, you have the brand recognition. I remember it was canine advantage. So the brand and the marketing works because it was set to music.
But here's the thing. Christians are just capitalizing on what God already made. They're capitalizing on what God made music to do and how he made us to respond to music. So since this is not just a TED Talk on marketing or on music psychology, we're going to dive into scripture. And I'm going to connect the dots first, I promise. So let's get into it. We're going to get into Psalm 46 right off the bat. If you look, especially in a Bible, but it should be on the phone as well, there's a title. And it says, for the director of music of the sons of Korah, according to Alamoth, a song. So the sons of Korah were a family in the tribe of Levi. So the Levites, when we're talking about the ancient Israelites, the Levites were the priests. And the sons of Korah were often in charge of the music. They were considered musical masters. They wrote worship songs. They led the people in worship. And they even wrote many worship songs under the reign of King David. So there are multiple Psalms that were written as songs by the sons of Korah. And then according to Alamoth, this word Alamoth, we're not entirely sure what it means, but we believe it's a musical term. Like it's some sort of direction on how to sing it, maybe in like what range to sing it in, like a falsetto or soprano, singing it in a type of way. But it is a song and it was meant to be sung.
Pray with me before we dive into this word. Heavenly Father, we thank you for music. We thank you for your creativity. Speak to us through your word today in your name. Amen.
Psalm 46. I'm just going to read the whole thing for us and then we'll kind of look at different parts. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah, another term often used to mean to pause and reflect. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the most high. God is in the midst of her. She shall not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter. He utters his voice. The earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah, come behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth. He breaks the bow and shatters the spear. He burns the chariots with fire. Be still and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations. I will be exalted in the earth. The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah. This song is full of word pictures to help us better understand who God is. And truly that is what the entire Bible is about. It's about learning who God is. It's about learning about his character, his love, his plan of redemption for his people. So often we look at scripture and we try to find ourselves in it. We try to find where we fit or how we can apply it. And that's not necessarily all bad, but really when we look at scripture and look for God in it, we will then better understand ourselves because our identity should be in him.
And this song in particular helps us to understand better God's power, his providence, and his presence. Love some alliteration. All right. His power, his providence, and his presence. So first, his power. God is our refuge. He's a safe place because he is powerful. You think of a kid who maybe is being picked on at school. They're not going to go looking for their toddler sibling. They're going to go look for their older brother or sister, right? They want the more powerful sibling to come help defend them. They want the big kid on the playground to protect them. God is so powerful that he is our fortress. The world is wild and it is crazy, but we know that God is more powerful than all of it. So here in this passage, it's talking about creation being in an uproar. Things like mountains and waves and the earth giving way. Now, this can be taken literally. Things like natural disasters or other things of that nature. It very much can mean literally and God is powerful even over that. We saw Jesus calm the storm, right? We know he is powerful in that. But it's also metaphorical in that it represents the upheaval in our culture, in politics, in foreign affairs, in just the world stage. There's so much going on that can feel like a storm. It can feel scary. But we know that because we serve an all powerful God, we have nothing to fear. He is our fortress. He is our refuge. Now I feel like this caveat goes without saying, but I'm going to say it anyways. This doesn't mean we won't have hard things. This doesn't mean we won't face tough situations. We will have storms, but we have a fortress in the storm. God will carry us through it because he is all powerful. This can be, again, physical things like physical ailments or financial or relational things, maybe political or world issues. I mean, Middle East, right? Like there's so much. It can also be things more in the spiritual or unseen realm. Maybe it's mental health, emotional issues. Maybe it's a sin struggle that you have been struggling with it no one else knows about. Maybe it's spiritual warfare that feels like it just won't relent. These things elicit fear. And from a human perspective, it's understandable. It makes logical sense for it to elicit fear.
But remember what we said about music is that it often bypasses the logic and we can lean on that emotion of trusting in God, of knowing that even though it doesn't make necessarily logical sense, that God is all powerful. He is our fortress. He's our safe place. And ultimately, all of these things that we are facing, all of these storms in our life, they must submit to the power of God. So we don't have to fear. We can run to him. Second Corinthians 12, nine. And here Paul says of God, he says that my grace is sufficient for you for my, my as in God's power is made perfect in weakness. God is powerful when we are weak. And frankly, we are weak in every sense of that term. And we're powerless over so much. But God is all powerful. I know, I know that there are people in this room who are struggling with feeling powerless over something. Maybe it's just a tough circumstance. Maybe it's a relational thing. Maybe it's just something that is just really annoying that you can't change. But I also believe there are, there is someone in this room that is struggling with feeling powerless over a sin issue. That there is some sin or struggle that perhaps you've been struggling with for years and you feel powerless to change it. I'm here to tell you that we serve a God who is powerful enough even for that sin issue. He is big enough and strong enough to deal with it. And he is kind enough and safe enough to be our safe refuge as we navigate through that. Verse nine says, "He makes wars cease and breaks the bow and shatters the spear." I believe in this context, this was talking about Israel literally and the wars that they were up against. But again, it applies to us in that God fights our spiritual battles. He can make the war cease in our own hearts. He's powerful enough to break the chains of sin and protect you from the enemy of our souls. But we must submit to him. We must submit to that power and go to him as our refuge and our fortress.
Number two, his providence. God cares for his people. He is sovereign over all that takes place. Now this really does go in hand with his power, right? His providence and his power are really connected because he is all powerful and we don't need to fear it because he is powerful. And also he is in control. He's not surprised when bad things happen. He's not shocked when we get the life-altering diagnosis or when someone we love dies or when countries go to war. He is not shocked by any of that. He is sovereign and he is in control. He cares and he's always working and moving in the world and in our lives. Verse eight says, "Come behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth." This refers to his actions that he brought against the enemies of Israel. He brought desolation on the earth to protect his people. He cares for them. His providence is supreme and he cares for us too. Just a few verses to reiterate that. Matthew 10 30 says, "He knows the number of hairs on your head." Exodus 14 14 says, "The Lord will fight for us." Isaiah 41 10 says, "Don't be afraid for I am with you. Don't be discouraged for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you. I will hold you up with my victorious right hand." He is powerful and he is provident. He cares for his people. That's why he allows himself to be our fortress. In his providence, he cares for us and provides for us. And his providence reaches across the whole world and into our own individual hearts.
Third, his presence. While he is powerful and he is provident, he is also present. God was present in the Old Testament when he dwelt in the tabernacle and later the temple among his people. Then Jesus was present literally in human form. We see that played out in the New Testament when he was literally Emmanuel, God with us. And now the Holy Spirit in every heart of a believer, the Holy Spirit dwells in us and is present with us. We don't serve a God who is distant or far off or uncaring. He is right here with us. Verse one says he is an ever present help. Deuteronomy 31 says he will never leave us or forsake us. He is always present with us. Here in verse four, it mentions a river. Now something that I found interesting about this is that there wasn't a large rushing river in Jerusalem because it talks about the city of God and Jerusalem was the city of God. Really, what many think that this was referring to was a calm river called Salome. It was small, it wasn't rushing or rapid, but it would just go softly by. And we know from this passage that it says that it makes glad the city of God. Just like this river, God isn't just present in the big, loud, emotional, rushing moment. We also know from scripture that he's in the quiet, he's in the whisper, he's in the still small voice. One commentator wrote, "The spiritual comforts which are conveyed to the saints by soft, silent whispers and which come not with observation are sufficient to counterbalance the most loud and noisy threatenings of an angry and malicious world." His silent whispers are sufficient to counterbalance what we hear from the world. Verse 10 says, "Be still and know that I am God." There's this call to not necessarily literal still, like be still, that's part of it, but it's this sense of peace, this calm, this peace of, and while you're waiting to hear from God. If you're running around like a chicken with your head caught up, it's gonna be real hard to hear a still, small voice. He may be present, but if you're loud, you can't hear him. I am speaking from experience. We have to be still to hear that still, small voice. Sometimes that literally means getting your body still, and sometimes that means getting your heart still and open to hear what he is having to say. He is present with his people. Verses seven and 11 in this chapter are identical. Here's what they say. It says, oh, sorry, I didn't even have it. One second. It says, "The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress." The Lord of hosts is with us. The God of Jacob is our fortress. This is twofold. The Lord of hosts, right? That is the God of many, the God of people. He is the God of peoples, of nations, of groups, the corporate. He is the God of us, plural. So when we come together, we worship a God together, and he is our God. But it also says that he is the God of Jacob, the God of one, the God of the individual. He's my God. And here it's referencing Jacob, which references the covenant that he made with his people, with Jacob specifically.
And that covenant carries through generations, is renewed by Jesus and made new for all of us. So we no longer have to be of Jewish descent or one of his Israelite people in order to be his. He adopted us and granted us in to that covenant. He is present. He is with us corporately and with us individually. He has always been, always is, and always will be present with us. So what does this have to do with the psychology of music that we talked about earlier? Well, I mentioned the impact of music when it comes to marketing, the memory encoding, the emotional triggering, and the brand recognition. And while God does not need help branding himself, I think these apply to him and his word as well. Because when the people sang these songs, they were being reminded of who God is, of the truths that we find in scripture. So when we memorize scripture, when we read and meditate on it and study it, when we sing worship songs that have scripture woven into them, it does the same for our hearts. It helps us have a better recall of what God's word says. That's just science. When you memorize something, when you set it to music, you have better recall. You know when you are in a situation, it just comes to mind because you have hidden it in your heart. It bypasses some of our logical brain in order to trigger the emotions and allows us to open our hearts and minds to God. Some of us are very logical thinkers. We see the process, we know how it should work, how it should go, and sometimes that can actually limit us from understanding who God is, from responding to him in a real and authentic and even emotional way.
So memorizing scripture and hiding it in our heart can help trigger some of those emotions. And then when we are familiar with God through his word, it builds up that recognition of who God is. We can call back and be like, "Oh yeah, he was faithful in this situation. He's going to be faithful again. I don't know how it's going to work out. I don't know how I'm going to get through this storm, but he's done it before and he'll do it again." It helps build that deeper trust because we're familiar with him. We're familiar with what his word says. And we know that he is powerful, he is provident, and he is present. The world is crazy. The enemy of our souls wants to destroy us, but God, but God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in his providence goes before us and fights our battles. By his power, he made a way to save us and conquer our sins so we can find a safe refuge in him. And because of his saving grace and the sacrifice of Jesus's death and resurrection, we are able to enjoy God's presence for all eternity. Amen.