Numbers 21:17 Then Israel sang this song: “Spring up, O well! Sing about it.
“I don’t sing because I’m happy; I’m happy because I sing.”- William James.
An upbeat happy song gives us a soul-lift. If we wait to feel good to sing, singing would be a rare occurrence in our tumultuous life. A cheerful song encourages the heart but a melancholic, sad song drains our courage away. Studies have proved that singing alleviates pain, not just temporarily but for upto 6 months! Research shows that there is a real impact on the amount of pain relief medication used by the participants.
Israel on their journey to Canaan, encountered another dry wilderness at the border of Moab. They were at the empty well of Beer (Beersheba) and the Lord said to Moses, “Gather the people together and I will give them water.” (Numbers 21:16b). Though their tongue was dry with thirst, against their norm of complaining and mourning, Israel broke out into an affirmative song. From Mount Pisgah at the border of Moab, they could look over the Promised Land that God had covenanted to them. Their singing caused the streams that were buried under the dry desert to spring up. Singing God’s promises when our situation is dry and dark awakens the springs and wells of waters in our dry land. Singing alleviates pain, calms perturbations and instills positivity. Singing helps us to forget the possible failures and accentuates the promises of God. “When pain perforates, music alleviates”.
Music eases pain:
1. Fill: Faith filled music and singing focuses our mind on the promises of God and not on the dryness or the sickness. There are both psychological and physiological benefits by refocusing the mind to sing when we are stressed. Physiological benefits include improvements to breathing, relaxation of muscle tension, increased energy, improved posture and body control. Fill your mind with songs and music that reiterate the promises of God. Godly music diverts our mind from the pain to the promise.
- Forget: Songs, hymns and spiritual songs help us to forget the pain. Israelites diverted their attention from the sandy desert to the springs under the earth’s surface. Pain is a warning mechanism that influences us to withdraw from harmful stimuli. Similarly, singing and music lightens our mind from tensions and insinuations. Singing takes our mind away from the problem, fixating it on the promises of God.
- Futuristic: Songs divert our thinking from formidable and fearful possibilities to futuristic provisions. When we stop lamenting about what we don’t have and start singing about God’s provision, the desert will bloom into a well watered garden. Good Godly music and songs boosts dopamine (the pleasure neuron) and lowers cortisol (stress hormone) and makes you feel better. Singing diverts our mind from the present pain to the futuristic promise.
“Music can heal wounds that medicine cannot touch” – Debasish Mridha (American physician, philosopher, and author). Music alleviates pain.
Psalm 87:7 Then those who sing as well as those who play the flutes shall say, “All my springs of joy are in you.”
Prayer: Compassionate Father, educate me to alleviate psychological and physical pain with the medication of Godly music. Amen.
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