“God’s musician”

Meditation – Saturday, April 5, 2025

Psalm 108: 1-6 (Forward, p. 66) CEV p. 624

This psalm by David certainly bares testimony to his well-deserved standing and fame as a musician and poet, particularly when it comes to praising God. (Here he is but one of a long and noteworthy line of such people.) Here David refers to two stringed instruments, generally understood as a harp and lyre. This indicates that David was rather accomplished as a musician, as the harp was bulkier and generally needed to be played while sitting down, whereas a lyre was more portable, was carried about, and could be played while walking.

The psalm also indicates that David started off the day with his praises of God, starting even before the sun rose. And likewise, we discover that he was never without occasions when he felt led to praise God. He was quite able to see everyone as his natural audience, even the foreign nations.

And surely, as the rest of the psalm denotes, David had plenty of reasons to praise God. As he says in verse 4, “Your love reaches higher than the heavens, and your loyalty extends beyond the clouds.”

Indeed, cannot this be said of us as well, that we have abundant reasons to give honour and praises to God, especially considering what He has done for us in Christ Jesus? May we too continually offer our praises to Him, and even while not doing so audibly, still do so in our hearts and our minds, that is, in our thinking.

Forward notes: My heart is firmly fixed, O God, my heart is fixed; I will sing and make melody” (verse 1).

Commemoration: Harriet Starr Cannon

“Harriet Starr Cannon founded the Community of St. Mary, the first religious order for women formally recognized in the Episcopal Church. Though she

was orphaned as a child, raised by relatives, and referred to as a ‘great society girl and not at all religious,’ God had other plans for Harriet. When her sister Catherine died, Harriet found herself called into a life of serving the church, first as a deaconess in the Episcopal Church and later as the founder of the Society of the Community of St. Mary.

“One of the hardest times in my life was when the powers that be in the church would not affirm what I discerned to be a call to ordained ministry. However, after years of agonizing, I have discovered that with a heart firmly fixed in God, answering God’s call looks different for me but is not any less meaningful.

“When we are clear about God’s call, our heart is fixed, we sing, and we know our way regardless of where it lands us.”

Moving Forward: “Where have you heard God calling?”