JOY

Recognize these songs?

Songs are often used to mark a specific time or cause us to remember past times.

“Canon in D,” weddings

“Pomp and Circumstance,” graduations

“Happy Birthday,” numerous celebrations

CAN BE difficult / challenging but HOPEFULLY Joyful

Christmas when music can bring to mind our memories of the past, whether good or bad.

fitting that during the Advent week of joy, we look at Psalm 126, PSALM OF REMEMBRANCE - source of JOY - YAHWEH

Psalm 126

A song for pilgrims ascending to Jerusalem.

1 When the LORD brought back his exiles to Jerusalem,

it was like a dream!

2 We were filled with laughter,

and we sang for joy.

And the other nations said,

“What amazing things the LORD has done for them.”

3 Yes, the LORD has done amazing things for us!

What joy!

4 Restore our fortunes, LORD,

as streams renew the desert.

5 Those who plant in tears

will harvest with shouts of joy.

6 They weep as they go to plant their seed,

but they sing as they return with the harvest.

BODY

==>Psalms of ascent were intended to provoke collective memory.

==>One popular belief is that psalms of ascent were sung by pilgrims traveling up to Jerusalem for annual feasts, which would mean these psalms were associated with specific times of year.

Psalms of ascent reminded the people of God’s faithfulness in both the distant and the more recent past.

==>Music and memory are strongly connected.

==>Our knowledge of the connection between music and memory is why we use songs to teach children things we want them to remember.

THIS IS WHY WE LIKE THE MUSIC WE LIKE - it’s memories, warmth

Eye of the Tiger / Can’t touch this / Bon Jovi Never say goodbye / Johnny Gill “My, My, My” and Luthor Vandross “Here and Now”

==>Good and bad memories can be evoked by music, as well as different eras of our lives.

*** Some studies are even showing a connection between music and healthier aging. There is a documentary on Amazon Prime called Alive Inside that explores the connections between music and memory in Alzheimer’s and dementia patients. The results have been a realization that music can often cause people with memory-related diseases to “come alive” or “rediscover their identity,”

as the documentarian put it after watching people’s demeanor physically change when they listened to familiar music from their past.

==>>Music is part of church liturgy for many of these same reasons. We learn a lot of theology through music.

Because he lives, the old rugged cross, It is well with my soul

Shout to the Lord, Forever God is faithful, Here I am to worship, LORD I LIFT...

Bless The Lord O my soul (10K Reasons), Waymaker, Goodness of God,

The songs of Christmas remind us of Christ’s coming.

The songs of Easter remind us of Christ’s resurrection.

???What are the first songs you remember from church services? Are there songs you gravitate toward more than others? Do you sing particular songs during times of personal hardship? We remember through music.

OUR SONG - “LOVE CAME DOWN”

If my heart is overwhelmed / And I cannot hear Your voice I hold on to what is true though I cannot see And if the storms of life they come / And the road ahead gets steep I will lift these hands in faith I will believe

I remind myself of all that You've done / And the life I have because of Your Son

'Cause Love came down and rescued me / Love came down and set me free And I am Yours, I am forever Yours Mountain high or valley low / I sing out, remind my soul That I am Yours, I am forever Yours

When my heart is filled with hope / When every promise comes my way When I feel Your hands of grace rest upon me Staying desperate for You, God / I'm staying humble at Your feet I will lift these hands and praise, I will believe

I remind myself of all that You've done / And the life I have because of Your Son

(though the darkness hides thee)

I am Yours, For all my days, Jesus I am Yours

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Scripture: Psalm 126

JUST LIKE WHEN THE PEOPLE OF ISRAEL HEARD THE SONG OF PSALM 126 and REMEMBERED WHAT GOD HAD DONE, they also remembered that God was going to do something!

Remembering the past is meant to help us remember forward.

This song of remembrance, it isn’t supposed to be static. It should help the people look forward. The idea is that looking back at where God has been faithful kindles the hope that God will be faithful again in the future.

Advent is a season of remembering forward. We look back at God’s coming in or order to anticipate God’s return. faithfulness , trusting

We look to the past with an eye on the promises of God for the future.

==>THERE IS JOY IN REMEMBERING FORWARD

CONCLUSION

1 When the LORD brought back his exiles to Jerusalem,

it was like a dream!

2 We were filled with laughter,

and we sang for joy.

And the other nations said,

“What amazing things the LORD has done for them.”

3 Yes, the LORD has done amazing things for us!

What joy!

4 Restore our fortunes, LORD,

as streams renew the desert.

5 Those who plant in tears

will harvest with shouts of joy.

6 They weep as they go to plant their seed,

but they sing as they return with the harvest.

Just like the children of God, we may only have seeds in our hands now, but we trust that there will be a harvest. We remember forward, trusting that God will continue to be faithful, just as God was so many years ago when taking on humanity for us. We sing the songs of lament and joy, hope and promise, that we might collectively remember a God who is always faithful.