Singing as a Defense

Jesus Kneeling in Prayer and Meditation
by Michael Jarvis Nelson

At Christmas time I made a count down chain.  On each link I wrote something Christmasy to do.  One of those things was to drink hot chocolate and memorize a scripture.  I knew that I would overthink which scripture to memorize and so I asked Google for a scripture.  That led me to pick Isaiah 12:2.

"Surely God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid.  The LORD, the LORD himself, is my strength and my defense.  He has also become my salvation."

I do not know what version of the Bible this particular version of the scripture came from, but I also looked up the King James Version.

"Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust and not be afraid:  for the Lord Jehovah is my strength and my song; he also is become my salvation.

I ended up memorizing both versions, and while thinking about the differences it struck me that in one version it says "defense" where the other says "song".  Because I have loved music all of my life, I can easily recognize how songs, hymns particularly, have been a defense for me.  They have been a means of teaching me what is right, of bringing the Spirit, and of lifting my spirits.  When sadness threatens to overtake me, I often turn to music to lift me up, and remind me that God loves me.