now playing.

good music can affect my mood more than just about anything else.

likewise, good music can stir my affections for jesus more than most things. i treasure those songs that make my soul scream, "yes!! me too! amen!!" you know that feeling when you feel like someone was able to put into words what you didn't even know was inside of you? then, they put those words to good music and i'm just done.

recently, a friend told me about this group called all sons & daughters. i had never heard of them, but she had told me like 17 different times to listen to them, so on a whim, i just opened up the itunes store and bought one of their EPs -- not even sure why i chose the one i did, but i love it. i mean, i LOVE it. every single song is good, but a couple of them especially make my heart freak out.

the first song on the EP is "reason to sing." here's a glimpse at some of the lyrics:

when the pieces seem too shattered

to gather off the floor

and all that seems to matter

is that i don't feel you anymore

no, i don't feel you anymore

i need a reason to sing

i need a reason to sing

i need to know that you're still holding

the whole world in your hands

i need a reason to sing

have you ever been there?! our feelings are so deceiving, aren't they? we can become so overwhelmed by our {very real, yet fleeting} emotions that we miss the nearness of God's presence. in those moments of brokenness, loneliness, emptiness, all theological training goes out the window -- all that matters is being able to know that God is near and that he indeed has the whole world in his hands, or as Paul writes, "He is before all things, and in him all things hold together" (colossians 1.17).

from that heaviness, they move into the next song, "oh our lord," which starts out with these words:

i will sing, sing, sing to my God, my king

for all else fades away

i will love, love, love with this heart you've made

for you've been good always

oh, oh, oh our Lord

oh, oh, oh our Lord

how majestic is your name in all the earth

the whole song is about praising the powerful, majestic name of the Lord. i just love that movement -- from "i need a reason to sing" to "i will sing" -- because i've learned that sometimes that's what it's all about. whether i'm having a bad day, a bad week, or a bad year, in those moments that i can't feel God and i get lost in my worries and questions, i have to force myself to remember truth. i have a friend who often tells me to preach to myself -- to remind myself of truth -- like the psalmist does in psalm 42.5: "why are you cast down, o my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? hope in God; for i shall again praise him, my salvation and my God." usually the truth i remember in those moments is no more advanced than "God is faithful" -- but because i can claim that truth, i have a reason to sing. praising God gives us perspective. 

so whether you jam to spotify, pandora, itunes, or whatever, i can't recommend all sons & daughters highly enough. i have no doubt that they will soon move from my "recently added" to my "top 25 most played." 

what music leads your heart to worship??