Better Than a Hallelujah

Dear Lord; Happy Friday Father!  As I was driving in to work this morning Lord, the song “Better Than a Hallelujah” by Amy Grant came on the radio.  While the inspiration of those wonderful lyrics settled over me, it started me thinking about some the other fantastic messages I’ve received through Christian Music as of late.  As yesterday’s discussion we had was about the disturbing direction some media has taken, I thought today we could focus on the positive message that these songs bring to us instead.

Let’s start with the chorus from “Better Than a Hallelujah” :

“We pour out our miseries
God just hears a melody
Beautiful the mess we are
The honest cries of breaking hearts
Are better than a Hallelujah”

What a wonderful way to say that You love us for who we are, and when we honestly seek You that our plea comes through loud and clear.  It’s a beautiful song, and always warms my heart when I hear it.

Another one I’ve become extremely fond of, and actually posted the video of as a dedication to my wife on Facebook the other day, is “Dancing in the Minefields” sung by Andrew Peterson.  Towards the end of the song, the lyrics contain the following verse :

“Cause we bear the light of the son of man
So there’s nothing left to fear
So I’ll walk with you in the shadow lands
Till the shadows disappear
Cause he promised not to leave us
And his promises are true
So in the face of all this chaos baby
I can dance with you”

I love this!  What an amazingly powerful metaphor connecting marriage and the way that You love us.  It just makes me want to hold Shannon tightly when I hear it… What a wonderful message.

One more for the day Lord, and it comes from the song “Lead Me” as performed by Sanctus Real :

“To lead them with strong hands
To stand up when they can’t
Don’t want to leave them hungry for love,
Chasing things that I could give up

Father, lead me, ’cause I can’t do this alone”

We’ve talked about this song before Father, but this truly represents my hopes and prayers as a father and Your Child so well that it can’t be repeated enough.  I see this song as a prayer from my heart, and strive daily to be the man this verse describes.

There are many more examples as well Lord, but these are a few that touch me the most.  It’s comforting to know that while Your Word may not be on millions of TV screens this Sunday, the airwaves do still carry Your Message of Love to us each day.  Thank You for reminding us of Your Love and Aspirations for us through these talented artists.  Amen.

~Phather Phil