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
How has it been for you since Easter Sunday? Many of us couldn’t gather in person for worship that festive day. Perhaps we haven’t yet. We have experienced tumult in needing to adapt routines and expectations due to the coronavirus pandemic. Living cooped up with those we love can increase strife in our relationships.
What tumult and strife those first followers of Jesus must have felt during the days and weeks after his rising. Fear of those who killed him? Joy in his appearing? Uncertainty of what might come next? Would they have held on to hope? Would they have sung? Perhaps in words something like these?
“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?
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?”
Prayer
Risen Jesus, life still gives rise to tumult and strife. We know fear and anxiety and grief. Open our ears to hear the good news that death does not keep us from you. When we hear such amazing news, how can we keep from singing? Alleluia! Amen!