It is the rare occasion in the history of music that a band will release a single from their debut album that becomes a legendary classic and is still played on rock radio 43 years after its release. Recently a group of musicians covered the song. "Dream On" is 3 years older than the oldest member of this group...Sing with me
The original release of "Dream On" peaked at #59 on the Billboard Hot 100. This "shortened for radio" version had become so popular that by the time a 1976 release of the album track hit, the longer single soared up the charts to #6. It is consistently covered by bands of all styles and is utilized all over the spectrum of media. AND it gets loads of airplay at classic radio. Not too bad for a single from a debut album.
While "Dream On" encourages folks to be persistent in making their dreams come true, there is another facet of the song on which I think many a follower of Jesus should focus...SIng with me
"Sing with me, sing for the years
sing for the laughter, sing for the tears,
sing with me, just for today
maybe tomorrow the good Lord will take you away"
"Oh, sing to the Lord a new song!
Sing to the Lord, all the earth.Sing to the Lord, bless His name;
Proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day.
Declare His glory among the nations,
His wonders among all peoples. "
"Sing praise to the Lord, you saints of His,
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name"
And give thanks at the remembrance of His holy name"
"Sing to Him a new song;
Play skillfully with a shout of joy."
Play skillfully with a shout of joy."
"Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
For God is the King of all the earth;
Sing praises with understanding."
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
For God is the King of all the earth;
Sing praises with understanding."
Do you catch a theme developing here? No, these are not missing lyrics recently discovered by some musicologist in the Aerosmith archives. They are passages from the book of Psalms found in the Bible (Psalm 96:1-3, Psalm 30:4, Psalm 33:2-4, Psalm 47:6-7, New King James Version). Notice the encouragement to sing. It borderlines being a command. The psalmist is suggesting that children of God will continually sing to Him because of His attributes. This begs the question, who are the children of God?
"...Isn't that the way, everybody's got the dues in life to pay..." For those who believe in Jesus those dues have already been paid. You see, the Bible tells us that no person is perfect. ( Romans 3: 9-20 New King James Version of the Bible/The Message paraphrase of the Bible parallel) In the Gospel of John, we see a way that is made for that to change by God sending Jesus to remedy the gulf between a perfect God and imperfect folks. (The Gospel of John 3 NKJV/The Message parallel) Jesus, is the perfect Son of God and the ONLY way our sin, our trespasses, the horrible things we do in this life, can be cleaned away, securing the restored relationship with God that we so desperately need. Jesus died via the most horrible means of death man has ever created, crucifixion. (The Gospel of John 19 The Message/NKJV parallel) Jesus, as our Risen Redeemer, makes a way for us to be in heaven with God when we leave what we know of as the reality of this world, and pass into the eternity of the next.(The Gospel of John 14:1-4 NKJV/The Message parallel) This my friends is a reason to sing with me...
As redeemed people, the joy of our salvation should cause us to explode into song. Unfortunately, many in our churches today refuse to sing. Perhaps you have heard reasons such as this: "I can't sing." "I only sing in the shower." "I don't know any of the new songs." "The songs are too high or too difficult for an average singer like me." "I don't want anyone to hear my voice." You many notice that some of these reasons are about the individual while others are about the person who is leading the music. Regardless of the reason, we have 2 HUGE reasons we should allow our joy to be expressed vocally, especially when we are a part of a congregation on Sunday morning, evening, or whenever your faith body decides to meet. Let's explore some ancient Jewish history for a moment. Cue flashback music...
This is an incredible story of God's deliverance for the children of Judah. King Jehoshaphat saw an enlarging army of enemies beginning to surround him. What did he do? He prayed. He then followed the instructions God gave to him, consulted with his folks, and they came to the conclusion that the singers should be the ones at the front of the battle lines!!! " And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the Lord, and who should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying:
“Praise the Lord,
For His mercy endures forever."
For His mercy endures forever."
What? The singers were at the front?!! Not the archers, or those with swords, but the singers? After the singers did what singers do best, the people looked out into a vast wasteland of what had previously been the enemy. Jehoshaphat was obedient, and God gave them the victory.
You see friend, we are in just as big a battle today as Jehoshaphat was in our history lesson. But just like Jehoshaphat, the battle is not ours, but the Lord's to win. Also, just like in Jehoshaphat's time, the singers of God's army should be at the front of the line lifting their voices to God with a dual purpose. You see friend, a couple of things happen when you sing. 1) The enemy is intimidated and will flee. Just like our story today, God set ambushes for Jehoshaphat's national enemies and they turned on themselves because the people were obedient and sang praises to HIM. When God is praised, the enemy can do nothing more than turn and run. 2) The rest of the army is encouraged. Imagine, what you would do if you heard thousands of your countrymen singing, "Praise the Lord, for His mercy endures forever!!!" at the top of their lungs. Might stir your heart a bit? Might even encourage you to do something you aren't necessarily comfortable doing in public? Sing with me...
So the next time you are at your church, even if you don't feel like it, sing. Those around you will be encouraged as the joy of your salvation spills over. When you sing, the enemy is defeated and the army is encouraged. So step up to the front lines and sing with me, sing for the years, sing for the laughter, sing for the tears, sing with me just for today... For followers of Jesus it is guaranteed that the good Lord will some day take you away!
'Til Tuesday,
Serving HIM by serving you,
Randy
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