Mercy & Grace – 40 Days with the Music of Amy Grant
Easter Day
These Reflections which take the music of Amy Grant as their theme, were originally published in Lent 2015. They are being republished during the Covid19 pandemic which is affecting the whole world
To Read:
From the Scriptures:
6 Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of mighty thunder-peals, crying out,
‘Hallelujah!
For the Lord our God
the Almighty reigns.
7 Let us rejoice and exult
and give him the glory,
for the marriage of the Lamb has come,
and his bride has made herself ready;
8 to her it has been granted to be clothed
with fine linen, bright and pure’ (Revelation 19.6-8)
From Amy Grant: “Sing Your Praise To The Lord”
Sing your praise to the Lord
Come on everybody
Stand up and sing one more hallelujah
Give your praise to the Lord
I can never tell you
Just how much good that it’s
Gonna do you
just to sing anew
The song your heart learned to sing
When He first gave His life to you
The life goes on and so must the song
You gotta sing again
The song born in your soul
When you first gave your heart to Him
Sing His praises once more
Sing your praise to the Lord…
just to sing aloud
The song that someone is dying to hear,
Down in the madd’ning crowd
As you once were before you heard the song
You gotta let them know
The truth is alive to shine upon the way
So maybe they can go
Sing your praises once more
Sing your praise to the Lord…
Let the name of the Lord be praised,
Both for now and evermore,
Praise him, oh, you servants
Give your praise to the Lord…
Sing, sing sing
Come on
Sing, sing, sing,
I can hear you now
Sing, sing, sing
To Listen:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq2LtG-OEtw
To Reflect:
I suppose if there was an Amy Grant version of Abba’s theme tune, ‘Thank you for the Music’, this is it! A song overflowing with life and love for the One who Loves her and us. Interestingly Amy does not have many ‘Alleluias’ in her songs; I can think of only two others and they are more reflective quiet songs. She keeps the word for special times just as does the church which makes this, if any of her songs, a song for Easter.
The Christian life with all its twists and turns, all its promises and failings, all the disciplines and devotions of seasons such as Lent, if at the end of it there is no song of joy is empty and worthless. The light has shone on us and in our turn we must tell others of that same light. This is difficult to do and each of us must learn to shine that light do it in our own distinctive way. But each of us can sing and when we sing, everybody hears!
Amy’s songs have given me strength and hope for many decades, I pray that over these forty days they have reminded you of the mercy and grace which is God’s free gift and filled your life with a love song for the One who is the Lover of all.
To Do:
Sing!
To Pray:
Rise heart; thy Lord is risen. Sing his praise
Without delays,
Who takes thee by the hand, that thou likewise
With him mayst rise:
That, as his death calcined thee to dust,
His life may make thee gold, and much more, just.
George Herbert in Pilgrim
Acknowledgements:
All of the music on the video clips from YouTube is © Amy Grant. If you enjoy listening to her songs please consider buying her recordings. A full discography and other information about Amy can be found on her website http://www.amygrant.com
Scripture quotes are from the New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright © 1989 the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America
Prayers from Pilgrim are copyright © 2015 Stephen Cottrell, Steven Croft, Robert Atwell and Paula Gooder.
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