Songs that Speak!
The Art of Songwriting!
WHAT CAN PSALMS TEACH ABOUT LIFE?
INTRO
We’ve been on a songwriting journey with the Songs of Psalms for quite some time!
We began this journey as a way to understand songwriting from a real life perspective! We wanted to know how Psalmwriters wrote about the struggles and fears that all people wrestle with throughout life. And we found that the Book of Psalms contained the oldest public records of songs in history.
We felt that as we develop our skills to write music that matters, we had to go deep to understand how these ancient songs can help us become better writers. In this post, we want to share some of the things we uncovered from Psalm 90.
Let’s dig a little into what we can learn about life from the Book of Psalms!
Songs that speak!
“There is a very thought-provoking message hidden in Psalm 90.”
A SONG WITH A MESSAGE!
The Psalmwriters were responsible for creating the music of their time! We wanted to understand what their messages contained and we began our study with these simple questions!
Why were these songs preserved?
Were their messages relatable today?
How can we apply them to our lives?
Our latest journey takes us to Psalm 90! There is a very thought-provoking message hidden in this Psalm. When we read it at first, we found there was nothing special about it! There was nothing in the Psalm that stood out to us or that caught our attention. In fact, we almost skipped over it completely!
But something told us, we needed to go deeper and so we knew we had to take our time with it to find its hidden message!
We began our questions with the Psalmwriter! Who was the Psalmwriter? Why did he write this Psalm? What was he trying to convey?
Moses: An Interesting Songwriter!
Everyone knows Moses! We’ve heard stories of how God used him to supernaturally part the Red Sea so the people of Israel can walk through it to escape slavery! Just think, he single-handedly led 2 million people out of captivity to bring them into a Promised Land! In some cases, it’s a challenge to lead 5 people. When you’re dealing with different personality types and circumstances, it takes a real leader to motivate 5 people to cooperate and do as they’re told.
Songs that Speak!
Moses single-handedly led 2 million people out of captivity!
But imagine leading 2 million? What kind of skill level is needed to lead 2 million people single-handedly? How many challenges did Moses face and what type of coordination did it take to move the entire nation of Israel out of captivity? Its extraordinary to think about it!
Suffice it to say, Moses was an exceptional leader! He successfully led his people out of slavery!
Leading them out seemed to be the easy part! Getting the nation to adapt to their newly-found freedom was not so easy! The people were so used to living as slaves, they didn’t know how to integrate living as a free people!
They struggled with fear and unbelief. They felt that at any moment they would end up becoming slaves again. In addition, they were being led by a man they hardly knew. They didn’t know Moses or his intentions because he left Egypt when he was young and returned at 80 years old. They didn’t understand his intentions nor they fully trusted him. They didn’t fully comprehend that he was only following God’s orders because God loved them and wanted to set them free!
A LESSON TO LEARN
The people of Israel were destined to inherit the Promised Land and it was Moses job to get them there! He did the best he could to guide them and earn their trust. In turn, they complained, murmured and demanded to go back to Egypt.
Ultimately, Israel never made it to the Promised Land. Their constant resistance to change caused them to wander aimlessly in a desert - always striving to arrive at the destination but never getting there!
They spent 40 years living in a desert in close proximity to the land that was supposed to be their inheritance. Bad decisions and an unwillingness to obey the plan of God led the nation to forfeit their inheritance.
Moses wrote Psalm 90 to speak to future generations and help them avoid the same mistake that his generation made. One of the messages of this Psalm is that a person can wander aimlessly in life when they’re unwilling to let go of the past!
In order to move forward, you can’t look back! In order to step into your future, you must be willing to embrace change!
That’s a simple message that we can all follow, right? But yet, it’s so hard to accept.
Songs that Speak!
“Our songs have the power to change lives.”
WRITING SONGS THAT TEACH
Moses ensured that his message in Psalm 90 was preserved for generations to come! He used a prayer song to preserve his message! And this, my friends, is why we’re studying the Psalms! We are learning how these songs relate to us today and how we can apply their message.
Our songs have the power to change lives! We can influence someone with a lyric! We can help them see life differently and help teach them to make better choices!
For Moses, he knew it was too late for his generation to turn their situation around. There was nothing more he could do for them. But as the exceptional leader he was, he figured, it was important to ensure that future generations understood what happened so they could make better decisions for themselves.
Writing this prayer song was his way to contribute and pay it forward. Moses wanted us to apply how to learn from the mistakes of others! His song had a hidden message to invoke positive change and transformation for those are looking to improve their lives.
Our songs won’t influence everyone, but if one person changes because our song spoke to them and inspired them, then we’ve done our job well! We may never know the impact our songs will have but we must write, regardless!
I want to invite you to dig deeper into writing songs that can help others; you will find that as you write for them, you’re also writing for YOU! You will always help yourself first before you help others and that’s a pretty cool thing to happen!
Don’t forget to check out our video blog on Songs of Psalms, where we go through each Psalm. Click on the link below to hear more about how Moses wrote Psalm 90 to teach his people!
Songs of Psalms: A Songwriting Journey - Psalm 90
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