My Life Flows On In Endless Song, ELW 763
1 My life flows on in endless song;
above earth's lamentation,
I catch the sweet, though far-off hymn
that hails a new creation.
Refrain
No storm can shake my inmost calm
while to that Rock I'm clinging.
Since Christ is Lord of heaven and earth,
how can I keep from singing?
2 Through all the tumult and the strife,
I hear that music ringing.
It finds an echo in my soul.
How can I keep from singing?
Refrain
3 What though my joys and comforts die?
The Lord my Savior liveth.
What though the darkness gather round?
Songs in the night he giveth.
Refrain
4 The peace of Christ makes fresh my heart,
a fountain ever springing!
All things are mine since I am his!
How can I keep from singing?
Refrain
Devotion
If you’ve ever wondered why we sing in church, you need look no further than this lovely refrain: “My life flows on in endless song, above earth’s lamentation.” Well, I wish it were so. But my life is more often caught up in the gloomy melodies of failed promises and the weary chants of frustration that too often fill the world around me. Yet it is in our brokenness and weakness that God meets us and gives us nerve and voice and song.
When I sing with brothers and sisters in the faith, the cadence of my life is reset, the metronome of my spirit beats to a deeper rhythm and I am tuned once again to the beat of the Father’s heart. Present reality is neither trivialized nor ignored; it is rather caught up in the greater reality of God’s ultimate victory. The eyes of faith see new words on the world’s screen and my hobbling feet start tapping. The complex and often frustrating realities of this present existence are dipped into the stream of grace that flows from the cross and resurrection.
Ascension Day, 1945, was the day Norway heard of the end of enemy occupation of their country. The report from one village was of people emerging from places of detention and hiding, not with taunts for captors, but singing “O Day Full of Grace.” Jesus is Lord, risen and ascended. “How can I keep from singing?”
Prayer
O most gracious and merciful God, fill my heart and mind with the cadences of your inbreaking kingdom. By your Spirit’s power, make my life a song of hope, love and compassion. In Jesus’ name, Amen.