Scripture Memory and A Song of the Heart: Isaiah 40: 9-18

Sometimes this is how The Lord works: 

Thursday morning, I stumbled upon a tweet from a young man who was a child the last time I saw him 10 years ago. His tweet contained a reference to Isaiah 40:1-2, and I have provided the passage below, via the ESV: 

Comfort, comfort my people, says your God.

2 aSpeak tenderly to Jerusalem,

and cry to her

that bher warfare1 is ended,

that her iniquity is pardoned,

that she has received from the Lord's hand

double for all her sins.

I read the whole chapter and was particularly struck with verses 9-18. I read them and re-read them, and and by the third or fourth time, a song began to form in my mind. The melody was beautiful, the instruments were elegant, and the voices were very specific. As I heard them, I knew them. 

In a strange way, the experience felt more like a memory than a discovery. To say it was "beautiful" would be an understatement; I was in awe of God for what happened.

As I got off the bus, I hummed the melody and sang the song into my voice memo app. I had little time to do so, but fortunately the song stayed in my head for the day, and I continually replayed the melody to myself--hoping I would not lose it.

I still have not lost it, and some of the verses of that passage have slowly but surely fallen into my memory. During the weekend as I was doing this-task-or-that, I would remember the song and the potency of the experience from Thursday. Over time, the memory of  the melodious words held them captive in my heart. These few verses I had committed to memory almost by accident.

I look forward to committing the rest, and if time allows and the Lord wills it, I would love to meet with a pianist, composer, or musician and discuss the song I heard. How wonderful would it be if a simple tweet on a Thursday morning lead to a new song! What's more, perhaps we will discover that it is already a song, and indeed rather than discovering something new in the ether of beauty, the verses reignited in me some long-dormant memory. 

Either way it's beautiful experience will not be lost on me. As I said, if the Lord wills it I will share the melody he placed on my heart that wonderful day. Here's hoping.

Thanks for reading, 
C

PS - Here are verse 9-18 for those interested. 

Go on up to a high mountain,

O Zion, kherald of good news;5

lift up your voice with strength,

O Jerusalem, herald of good news;6

lift it up, fear not;

say to the cities of Judah,

“Behold your God!”

10 lBehold, the Lord God comes with might,

and his arm rules for him;

mbehold, his reward is with him,

and his recompense before him.

11 nHe will tend his flock like a shepherd;

ohe will gather the lambs in his arms;

phe will carry them in his bosom,

and gently lead those that are with young.

12 qWho has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand

and marked off the heavens with a span,

enclosed the dust of the earth in a measure

and weighed the mountains in scales

and the hills in a balance?

13 rWho has measured7 the Spirit of the Lord,

or what man shows him his counsel?

14 Whom did he consult,

and who made him understand?

sWho taught him the path of justice,

and taught him knowledge,

and showed him the way of understanding?

15 Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket,

and are accounted tas the dust on the scales;

behold, he takes up uthe coastlands like fine dust.

16 Lebanon would not suffice for fuel,

nor are vits beasts enough for a burnt offering.

17 wAll the nations are as nothing before him,

they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness.

18 xTo whom then will you liken God,

yor what likeness compare with him?

“Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version^® (ESV^®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.”