My friend Sam sent me an email after our worship time today and told me briefly about why he likes singing “Jesus, Thank You.”
I agree with Sam. It’s a great song for worship that is rich in what God’s word says about what Jesus did for us and also helps us humbly come to the cross with gratitude. Musically it is not a complex song, but lyrically it is powerful and important for us to sing and sing again. It’s one that I hope is becoming one of your favorites too.
But Sam’s email wisdom didn’t stop there, he also reminded me (and now I’m reminding you) of something important about how we worship. He commented how important repetition of certain songs and lyrics is for learning them and writing them to his heart.
It is no coincidence that God has made our brains work and learn better when we hear, say and sing things repeatedly. Smarter people than I who study the human brain have learned that music and repetition help us learn better, not just musically, but mathematically, linguistically and scientifically. This is especially true of children.
Funny how God chose music as one of those ways that we communicate with Him, that we can then learn the truth of His word and character, praise Him for it and then we remember it in deep and profound ways.
A song like Jesus, Thank You is worth repeating because once the truth of its words and the beauty of its simple melody are committed to our memories, God can imprint those words on our hearts as we worship together. We can then truly sing to Him from our helplessness and our total dependence on Him. We can raise our voices and praise the work of Jesus’ death on the cross and genuinely say, “Jesus, Thank You.”
And thanks to you too, Sam, for reminding me of this.
