“As it is said, ‘Today.’”1
- Molly Anderson Orr
- Sep 19, 2022
- 3 min read
Today I was planning on posting a book review earlier, but the weight of music and world events this morning changed my plans. Today, Psalm 23 made its way into the hearing of billions of people. People hearing words thousands of years old and translated into many languages paired with a tune whose span is broader than a century. Psalms were written to be sung; and sung this Psalm has been, traditionally in English-speaking countries with this version originating in Scotland2, to children seeking a gentle Savior and to mourners seeking the same. Last week marked both the birthday and the anniversary of losing a family member whose presence is keenly missed by ourselves and our children. I remember the day realizing that one of my children would never see their loved one again, and that another one of my children would never meet this loved one on this earth. I remember not knowing what words of reassurance I could possibly speak. But at bedtime, in the darkness, already waiting for us was the habit of the same words and music which we’d sung on birth days of tiny ones, and on baby-bedtimes, and on toddler-tuckings-in. “The Lord’s my Shepherd…” ‘Today, if you heard His voice,” open your heart to Him, is the message of the Psalms and of the Testaments old and new. My “today” was being a child and hearing these words and tune at home and in church services. My “tomorrow” was birthing babies and walking beside them through loss, only in the strength of the prayer and knowledge that a stronger One walks beside them with a staff of safety and of leading. My “forevermore” is a sure hope that as generations pass and succeed, all the blood-related family in the faith the Savior gives them- for they are family by virtue of His blood and their faith is a free gift from Him- have an eternal rest in the house of the Lord. There used to be an association between prayers said when going to rest at night and prayers said laying a loved one to final rest. Remembering this, it isn’t at all strange that one of the most popularly taught Psalms for children was also one sung in decades past at the wedding of a sovereign and then today at her funeral. Does your household have a song today? Today is the day to begin, or to continue, or to renew a habit that shall be there when you need it. It can be the Doxology at dinner… “The day Thou gavest, Lord”3 on Sunday nights…or the Shepherd Psalm4 at bedtime. A daily reminder that there is a Saviour who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever.” “Christ is Made the Sure Foundation”5 was a hymn sung at my wedding, and which I heard in the funeral services today as another bridge between old and new, death and birth, words and song. All these occasions are more alike than different. In the realm of faith, as in the habitude of hymnody, every day, whatever events of whatever magnitude it may hold is still “today;” and the response to hearing your King’s voice is still to sing. 1Hebrews 3:15, 4:7 (New Testament); Psalm 95:7-8 (Old Testament) Hebrews 3:15; Hebrews 4:7; Psalm 95:7–11 - As it is said, “Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden… | ESV.org 2The Lord's my shepherd I'll not want — Hymnology Archive
4Psalm 23, same link as above, 23:00
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