A Life That Sings: Finding Your Song in the Midst of Brokenness

Copyright © 2014 Piper Green .

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ISBN: 978-1-4908-5687-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-5686-5 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4908-5688-9 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014918822

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/14/2014

Contents

A Song

Introduction

Chapter 1 Hagar: A Slave-Girl Births A Nation

Chapter 2 Tamar: Keeping The Messianic Line Alive

Chapter 3 Rahab: A Life Held By A String

Chapter 4 Deborah: Israel’s Top Mom

Chapter 5 Hannah: Restoring The Priesthood

Chapter 6 Ruth: From Beggar To Princess

Chapter 7 Michal: Lessons Is Bitterness

Chapter 8 A Well Of Experience

Chapter 9 Woman With The Alabaster Box: Sweet Feet

Chapter 10 Veronica: By The Sweat Of His Brow

Chapter 11 Daughters Of Jerusalem And The Daughters Of Zion: A Dichotomy

Chapter 12 Lydia And The Demon Possessed Girl: A Contrast Of Color

Conclusion

Bibliography

A Song

"SONG, noun

1. In general, that which is sung or uttered with musical modulations of the voice, whether of the human voice or that of a bird.

2. A little poem to be sung, or uttered with musical modulations; a ballad. The songs of a country are characteristic of its manners. Every country has its love songs, its war songs, and its patriotic songs.

3. A hymn; a sacred poem or hymn to be sung either in joy or thanksgiving, as that sung by Moses and the Israelites after escaping the dangers of the Arabian gulf and of Pharaoh; or of lamentation, as that of David over the death of Saul and Jonathan. Songs of joy are represented as constituting a part of heavenly felicity."¹

Song of Degrees:

Song of steps, a title given to each of these fifteen psalms, 120-134 inclusive. The probable origin of this name is the circumstance that these psalms came to be sung by the people on the ascents or goings up to Jerusalem to attend the three great festivals (Deut. 16:16). They were well fitted for being sung by the way from their peculiar form, and from the sentiments they express. They are characterized by brevity, by a key-word, by epanaphora [i.e, repetition], and by their epigrammatic style…More than half of them are cheerful, and all of them hopeful. They are sometimes called Pilgrim Songs. Four of them were written by David, one (127) by Solomon, and the rest are anonymous.²

Shiggaion:

"Shiggaion is interpreted variously to mean ‘mournful erratic, a song of trouble.’ Shigionoth is interpreted to mean ‘wanderings: according to variable tunes.’ For the Church triumphant there will be times when music is exciting, enthusiastic and triumphant because of the work of the Lord in behalf of His people. The Church has had plenty of plaintive and mournful dirgy songs in her history. But victory is God’s ultimate for the Church."³

Song: Strong’s G5603

"‘An ode, song,’ is always used in the NT (as in the Sept.), in praise of God or Christ; in Eph. 5:19; Col 3:16 the adjective ‘spiritual’ is added, because the word in itself is generic and might be used of songs anything but spiritual; in Rev 5:9; 14:3 (1st part) the descriptive word is ‘new’ (kainos, ‘new,’ in reference to character and form: see NEW), a ‘song,’ the significance of which was confined to those mentioned (ver. 3, and 2nd part); in Rev. 15:3 (twice), ‘the song of Moses… and the song of the Lamb,’ the former as celebrating the deliverance of God’s people by His power, the latter as celebrating redemption by atoning sacrifice.’"⁴

Introduction

Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy (Psalm 33:3 NASB).

I have read this Psalm more times than I can recall. I have heard it quoted, preached, used to encourage, and yet I could not identify with the idea. Honestly, for many years I did not know what it meant to sing a new song. As I read Psalm 33, I began to ponder how to sing a new song. I was not aware that I had an old song.

The Hebrew words used for new song, are chāddāš šiyer. Chāddāš "indicates something new in the sense of new, fresh, a new thing, not seen before."⁵ Chāddāš is used in Ezekiel 18:31, Cast away from you all your transgressions, whereby ye have transgressed; and make you a new heart and a new spirit.⁶ The word šiyer means a lyrical song or a religious song. It also appears several times in Ezra and Nehemiah to refer to songs of Levitical choirs.⁷ Each one of us has a song; we just need to discover it. Life has caused many of us to lose our song; we need to redeem it.

Our song is directly connected to who we are called to be. Each of us has a purpose that is unique, but we are called to tell the world who God is, and what He has done for us; that is our song. When we sing a new song, it will declare a new miracle, or a new victory, but God will receive the glory and honor. Our song will tell the world who God has always been. Only you can sing your song:

In your DNA is musical decodings. In your DNA is your song; they can take your DNA, run it through a computer and play it on a keyboard and hear your song; there is no other song like it. You are the one that carries that song.⁸

Everyone wants a life that sings. Though a seemingly fleeting thought by a gifted teacher of the Word, it clung to me like bees to honey. Those words hit the atmosphere like a flaming arrow, pierced straight into my heart, and caused me to reflect on my life. I found myself staring into the mirror and asking; does my life sing? Am I worshiping God as He deserves? The Holy Spirit began tilling the soil of my heart that day, and He has not ceased.

A few days later, Francesca Battistelli came on the radio with her song Beautiful, Beautiful and it wrecked me. I have heard that song several times, but this day it broke through into my spirit. I desperately desired the poetry and prose of her song to be true in my life. I did not feel that my life was beautiful. I realized that I struggled to find beauty in the midst of the mundane and madness of my life. The cold reality was that I did not have a life that played a pretty tune. I cried through the song and hung my head in shame. The circumstances that I was surrounded with were anything but beautiful—in fact they were downright ugly. I was tired, worn out, and my eyesight had grown dim to the beauty and goodness of God in my life. My song is my worship. I had lost the sense of worship in the midst of trying situations. When we get caught up in circumstances, it is easy to allow the enemy to rob us of our song:

The enemy is always looking for opportunities to rob you of your song, because your song is who God created you to be. You were created to worship, and if you are not a worshiper you forfeit the reason you exist. If you live a lifestyle of forfeiting your worship you will never know your song or your purpose.⁹

We need to respond to the beauty that surrounds us; God has supplied it in abundance.

This is not a salvation testimony. I am a born-again, spirit-filled, walking with the Lord, involved in my church, mature woman of faith. I recognized that I was chained to shame, and could not admit to anyone how ashamed I was of my circumstances. Shame is not from God. Shame is from the enemy, and he trapped me hook, line, and sinker. If we judge the beauty of our lives by how perfect it is according to our circumstances, we will be disappointed every day. If we attempt to be beautiful in our own righteousness, we will resemble Cinderella before her grand transformation. We will be dressed in rags and imprisoned in our circumstances; "For all of us have become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a filthy garment; And all of us wither like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away" (Is. 64:6 NASB).

When I looked at life through my circumstances, I saw ugly, I saw hurt, and pain—I saw shame. God views us through different eyes; when He looks upon us He sees the shed blood of Jesus. Our hearts have been dulled to God’s love, and few of us confidently believe that God is well pleased with our lives, or that He can use us in the middle of our mess. Thankfully, God’s ways are not our ways (see Is. 55:8);

As for your birth, on the day you were born your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed with water for cleansing; you were not rubbed with salt or even wrapped in cloths. No eye looked with pity on you to do any of these things for you, to have compassion on you. Rather you were thrown out into the open field, for you were abhorred on the day you were born. When I passed by you and saw you squirming in your blood, I said to you while you were in your blood, Live! Yes, I said to you while you were in your blood, Live! I made you numerous like plants of the field. Then you grew up, became tall and reached the age for fine ornaments; your breasts were formed and your hair had grown. Yet you were naked and bare. Then I passed by you and saw you, and behold, you were at the time for love; so I spread My skirt over you and covered your nakedness. I also swore to you and entered into a covenant with you so that you became Mine, declares the Lord God. Then I bathed you with water, washed off your blood from you and anointed you with oil. I also clothed you with embroidered cloth and put sandals of porpoise skin on your feet; and I wrapped you with fine linen and covered you with silk. I adorned you with ornaments, put bracelets on your hands and a necklace around your neck. I also put a ring in your nostril, earrings in your ears and a beautiful crown on your head. Thus you were adorned with gold and silver, and your dress was of fine linen, silk and embroidered cloth. You ate fine flour, honey and oil; so you were exceedingly beautiful and advanced to royalty. Then your fame went forth among the nations on account of your beauty, for it was perfect because of My splendor which I bestowed on you, declares the Lord God (Ezekiel 16: 4-15 NASB).

God reaches down into the miry clay, cleanses us, and uses us for His good purpose—in spite of our mess. Beauty in life is not defined by our circumstances; it is defined by our reaction to the circumstances. The truth is we all have a life that sings, the difference lays in the song. Will we leave the world with a gorgeous melody or an off key tune? A song of joy and thankfulness or a song of bitterness and regret? It all depends on how we react to our trials and whether we will allow God to work in our lives.

God uses broken vessels who have repentant hearts. David serves as an example. He created a few messes in his life; he committed adultery with, and impregnated Bathsheba, and murdered her husband to hide the affair. Regardless of his sin, God referred to him as a man after His own heart (see Acts 13:22). David loved God. He praised God in good and bad times, and completely relied on Him in every circumstance; he had a heart that was quick to repent. He didn’t do it all pretty, but he consistently sought God in every situation and trial that he faced. God appeals to us to do the same. He desires that we praise Him in the good and bad, to go to Him in every circumstance with complete faith and trust, and to have a heart that seeks after Him. We choose whether the storms we endure make us bitter and turn from God, or run to Him, the Strong Tower for protection from the storm. It is our choice. When we choose bitterness, we lose sight of the majestic beauty around us, and all we can see is the mess.

Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, the Whole earth is full of His glory (Is. 6:3 NASB).

God has placed so much beauty around us, but bitterness blinds our eyes to His beauty. John Calvin referred to the world around us as a theater of God’s glory. Eugene Peterson writes,

Creation is our place for meeting God and conversing with him. The voice that spoke Behemoth and Leviathan into being is the same voice that says, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ and invites us to call upon him in our day of trouble…We take box seats in this creation theater when we pray. We look around. The mountains are huge, heaving their bulk upwards. The creeks spill across the rocks, giving extravagant light shows under the hemlocks. The lakes fill up with sky, on earth as it is in heaven.¹⁰

God’s beauty is abundant; creation displays His handiwork. Paul admonishes us concerning creation:

For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse (Romans 1:20 NASB).

If you can’t readily find beauty; look at creation; you will not need to look for long.

Life is hard, but we are not alone. The women we will examine all have stories; each one of us has a story. They have a song; we have a song. Some of the songs began out of tune, but ended beautifully. Many witnessed God’s intervention in their lives as He revealed Himself to them. He gave beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness (Isaiah 61:3 KJV). Some began and ended ugly. Our hearts will break as we see those who refused God’s merciful love and allowed bitterness to reign in their hearts. They allowed circumstances to define their beauty. These women felt unworthy, suffered from abandonment, rejection, abuse, and slavery; naturally and spiritually. Yet, they experienced God’s grace in miraculous ways; He is always faithful. When we experience God’s amazing grace we can exclaim, The story of Jesus Christ met me, walked with me, strengthened me and gave me a new song to sing!¹¹

God is not through with us. In the midst of our heartache, abuse, and betrayals, God sees His beautiful daughters. He takes our hurts and uses them for our good. I heard it said once, What