{"id":5336,"date":"2020-03-15T09:00:37","date_gmt":"2020-03-15T14:00:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5336"},"modified":"2020-02-03T19:21:03","modified_gmt":"2020-02-04T01:21:03","slug":"music-and-me","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5336","title":{"rendered":"Music and Me"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>A Journal of Joy: Things that\nmake my heart smile\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>By Barbara Dahlgren<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignleft size-large is-resized\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/www.barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Music-and-Me-churchartpro-1024x1014.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-5337\" width=\"208\" height=\"206\" srcset=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Music-and-Me-churchartpro-1024x1014.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Music-and-Me-churchartpro-300x297.jpg 300w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Music-and-Me-churchartpro-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Music-and-Me-churchartpro-768x760.jpg 768w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Music-and-Me-churchartpro-600x594.jpg 600w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Music-and-Me-churchartpro-1536x1521.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/Music-and-Me-churchartpro-2048x2027.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 208px) 100vw, 208px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>I can honestly say I like most genres of music. I enjoy opera, country,\nworship songs, western, pop, rock \u2018n roll, rap, classical, musicals, jazz, the blues,\nold hymns, and most of whatever else is out there. I\u2019m not saying I like every\nsong in every genre, but I can usually find at least one or two I like. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Music can be powerful and beneficial. Kendra Cherry lists the ways in\nher December 2019 article for <em>Verywell\nMind <\/em>entitled \u201cHow Listening to Music Can Have Psychological Benefits.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Music can relieve stress. <\/li><li>Music can improve cognitive performance. <\/li><li>Music can improve your mood.<\/li><li>Music can improve your memory. <\/li><li>Music can help manage pain. <\/li><li>Music can help some sleep better.<\/li><li>Music can improve motivation. <\/li><li>Music can help alleviate depression. <\/li><li>Music can increase endurance and performance. <\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Music can also help teach. When we sing something we remember the\nwords. One of the first songs we teach children ends with, \u201cNow I\u2019ve sung my\nA-B-Cs, next time won\u2019t you sing with me?\u201d Stroke patients who have lost their\nspeech can be taught to speak again by singing. Those who stutter have been\nhelped through singing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When my dad had Alzheimer\u2019s he could not remember people\u2019s names. However,\nhe could listen to a CD of gospel songs and sing every one of them without\nmissing a beat or lyric. There were times he couldn\u2019t remember my name but we\nbonded by singing old hymns together. Then he would look at me, smile, and say,\n\u201cYou know what that song says is true. God is great!\u201d&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God created music and it can be a powerful tool. The Psalms show us\nthat music was used to praise and worship God, but music was used for other\npurposes in biblical times as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Music soothed the soul. When a bad spirit came upon Saul, David played\nhis harp (1 Samuel 16:23). Saul was refreshed and the evil spirit departed. &nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Music inspired. When\nJehoshaphat was going into battle he appointed singers unto the Lord. As they\nwent out before the army, they sang, \u201cPraise the Lord; for his mercy endures forever\u201d\n(2 Chronicles 20:21-22).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Music taught God\u2019s Word. \u201cLet the word of Christ dwell in you richly in\nall wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and\nspiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord\u201d (Colossians\n3:16).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Music released the power of God. Paul and Silas found this out when\nthey were in jail. \u201cAnd at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises\nunto God: and the prisoners heard them. And suddenly there was a great\nearthquake, and the foundations of the prison were shaken: and immediately all\nthe doors were opened, and every one&#8217;s shackles were loosed\u201d (Acts 16:25-26).<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Music etched the mighty power of God into memories. In Exodus 15:1,\nMoses sang a song of praise to God for deliverance from Pharaoh. \u201cThen sang\nMoses and the children of Israel this song unto the Lord: I will sing unto the\nLord, for he hath triumphed gloriously\u2026\u201d It\u2019s quite long so I won\u2019t quote all\nof it here. Some say this song of Moses is the oldest recorded song in the\nworld. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Songs were used throughout biblical times to express joy, triumph,\ngrief, relief, celebration, thanks, praise, and so on. Matthew 26:30 tells us\nthat when the last supper had ended Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn before\nleaving. What a powerful image!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>God created music and it is good, even if man tries to pollute it. God\nput something in me that loves music and I\u2019m so grateful. When I unexpectedly\nhear one of favorite songs \u2013 and I have a lot of favorites \u2013 it fills me with\njoy.&nbsp;&nbsp; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\">*****<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>O Lord, how majestic is Your name\nin all the earth! How great thou art! Fill my heart and my mouth with songs of\npraise for You and Your greatness. When music floods my soul let me remember\nthat You created music and it is good. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Journal of Joy: Things that make my heart smile\u2026 By Barbara Dahlgren I can honestly say I like most genres of music. I enjoy opera, country, worship songs, western, pop, rock \u2018n roll, rap, classical, musicals, jazz, the blues, &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/?p=5336\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5336"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5336"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5336\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5336"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5336"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/barbdahlgren.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5336"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}