The Song of Faith
Today’s Scripture Selection: Exodus 15:1-2
Once God acted in power, just as promised, and the people of God were freed, how could they help but sing?
“I will sing to the LORD, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he hurled into the sea. The LORD is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”
How often do we have occasion to sing a similar song? I imagine it is far often than we might sometimes admit.
God sees and hears our distress, God intervenes, and God sets us free – perhaps not literally but just as real.
I remember when I worked in the camping program for my church; there were daily opportunities for the youth to sing their praises to God.
Sometimes the songs were silly little things – just to get the kids laughing and relating to each other.
Sometimes the songs were filled with exuberant praise as only youth can exhibit.
Sometimes there was poignancy, and great emotional content, where the youth let down their guard about being “cool” and sang with great passion.
As we grow older, many of us lose that ability to so freely express our love of God.
Still, we have reason to sing – just as much as people have through the ages when an Almighty God acted in unbounded grace.
“The LORD is my strength and my salvation.”
Now that’s worth singing about.
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By Paul Simrell
The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. “Elpis” is the Greek word for “expectant hope.” He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors, and a member of Spiritual Directors International. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
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