Musical Musing “How Can I Keep From Singing?”, Chris Tomlin

How Can I Keep From Singing?

There is an endless song
Echoes in my soul
I hear the music ring
And though the storms may come
I am holding onTo the rock I cling

How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing

I will lift my eyes
In the darkest night
For I know my Savior lives
And I will walk with You
Knowing You'll see me through
And sing the songs You give

How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I know I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing

I can sing in the troubled times
Sing when I win
I can sing when I lose my step
And fall down again
I can sing 'cause You pick me up
Sing 'cause You're there
I can sing 'cause You hear me, Lord
When I call to You in prayer
I can sing with my last breath
Sing for I know
That I'll sing with the angels
And the saints around the throne

How can I keep from singing Your praise
How can I ever say enough
How amazing is Your love
How can I keep from shouting Your name
I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart
I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart
I am loved by the King
And it makes my heart want to sing
Yeah
I can sing!


I’m sitting here, one day post surgery, on the computer after I decided I needed to take a break from it, blogging because of the joy that I have in me when I listen to this song.

What an infectious melody, driving beat, what a just plain fun song! And yet, behind the fun in this piece, there is the solid truth that buoys the spirits and encourages the discouraged (though, actually, unlike last time, I’m not really discouraged about the result, just bored while I let my eyes heal). Indeed, how can I keep from singing? (I suspect John will look at me at some point because I’ve stopped mouthing the words and signing what few I know and started singing out loud, interrupting his news).

This isn’t the only song in the contemporary Christian market right now that contrasts the idea of singing praise to God despite the circumstances that would suggest despair, not even the only one in recent times. Two others spring to mind readily, one done by Mercy Me and the other by Tree 63. I think it’s the truth that’s inside all of these that I’m tapping into when I’m lifted this way, and it’s the same idea that I was reaching for with Victory In Jesus. I wrote that piece when I was really struggling with non-stop pain from a headache (or series of headaches, I’m not sure we ever knew which) that just refused to go away.

I know I’m not the only one who understands the way that pain just wears at you. Even when it’s within tolerable levels, and you can function in your day, being in pain all the time is exhausting and discouraging. It’s easy to get lost in the pain, to think that our pain has become our new definition, to lose hope. It’s easy to be defeated in situations like that, to begin to fear that the “you” you want to be has died, and this new “you”, the one who is limited by pain or disease is all that remains. If you’ve ever suffered from a serious illness or chronic pain, I’m sure you understand what I’m saying. If you’ve watched someone live that way, you have some concept of what I mean when I say that it’s entirely too easy for us to be defeated by our circumstances.

These songs, like my poem, defy the idea that our identity or emotional state need be defined by our disability or disease. They call us to remember that our identity lies not in this life or this temporary trouble, but in the immortal Savior who has redeemed us. Paul, living with disability and chained for his faith called these things “light and momentary troubles” and encourages us to “not lose heart”. He reminds us that nothing in all of creation can separate us from the love of God, even as he reminds us that life is hard and trials will come.

You see, Beloved, Christianity isn’t a promise that life will go smoothly, or that you can pay all your bills on time, or be wealthy beyond imagining, or healthy and hale all the time. Jesus tells us that trials will come, and forgive me for being bold, but anyone who says that they won’t is repeating a lie from hell.

The power in this song, and those like it, isn’t that we praise God for the good thing, it isn’t that we are thanking Him for all the marvelous blessings we have in Him, though both of those things are good and worthy things. The Bible talks about loving people who are good to us, and dismisses this by saying that “even the pagans do this” (note, I mean “non-believers”, and nothing remotely derogatory by it), but instead challenges us to love those who do ill to us.

The power here, the truth that leaves me singing as I sit here in pain in the darkness with my computer set at a huge font just so I can see clearly enough to write, is that my identity is found in my Savior. I am not defined by my pain. I am not defined by my past. I am not defined by my limitations, my illness, my disability, my mistakes, my failings, my ANYTHING. No, Beloved, my identity is that of redeemed, loved, prized, treasured daughter of the creator of the universe. I am the dearly loved and longed for bride of the King of Kings. I am who HE says I am, I am wanted, I am loved, I have value and worth beyond my own estimations.

My identity isn’t temporary, it’s not based on what I do or who I know, it’s not based on what records I hold, what I know, my abilities, or even my disabilities. When you find your identity separate from the temporary things of this world, separate from the sunny days or the dark ones, when you have a promise that everything so far is so light, so minute, so temporary that even cancer and imprisonment can be called “light and momentary troubles” in the face of the glory to come… well, how could you keep from singing?

Beloved, my faith isn’t based on what I’ve done. It isn’t based on my ability to get myself into Heaven. It isn’t based on how smoothly life goes now. My faith is based in the person of God, who provided a way to bring me home to Him through His son, Jesus, and who has sealed me with His own Spirit. Even now, my God is in heaven, singing for joy over me, my Jesus is preparing a place for me, and eagerly awaiting when I take my place at his side as treasured bride. Let life bring what it may. Let me have the worst it has to offer; I’ve survived things that have destroyed others, and even if I don’t survive, I will be with the One who created me, who loved me so much that even before my birth He provided my redemption, who seals me and keeps me for Himself, who even now intervenes and intercedes on my behalf and is waiting to bring His bride to Himself. Bring it, life… because you don’t define me, and I won’t be defeated by temporary things.

You tell me… how can I keep from singing?