“Jesus loves me… this I know…” I’ve got you singing now, don’t I? It’s a song that so many of us learned in Sunday School or Vacation Bible School. Are you doing the actions now, too?

How long has it been since you sang this song? Probably not as long ago as you think because after you learned it, you sang it to your children and then to your grandchildren. You probably sang this song because it was cute and easy. The tune isn’t hard. The words are easy to remember. As you sang this song to your children and grandchildren, you were teaching them about Jesus and the Bible.

Our history is filled with songs that teach. Our praise songs remind us of a God who is a good, good Father or a matchless God, there is no one like You. Our hymns teach us about a God who is a Might Fortress and Emmanuel, God with us. When we can’t necessarily remember the Scriptures that point to these truths, our songs remind us… teach us again… who God is and how He feels about us.

Our Bible is also filled with songs. Our mind immediately goes to the Psalms, the songbook of the people of Israel, but there are other songs, too. After Moses crosses the Red Sea, he sings a song of praise, proclaiming that God has “thrown horse and rider into the sea” (Ex. 15:1). Hannah sings a song of thankfulness as she conceives a son, Samuel (1 Sam. 2:1) . Isaiah sings a Song of Invitation, “Come, everyone who thirsts, come the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat!” (Isa. 55:1) Before reading and writing were common practices, people used these songs to remember who God is and what He has done for them.

In Luke chapter 1, there are three songs recorded: the Song of Zechariah (1:67-80), the Song of Elizabeth (1:39-45), and the Song of Mary (1:46-56). These three songs are sung as events unfold surrounding Jesus’ birth. Zechariah sings about the God who has visited and redeemed His people. His wife, Elizabeth, sings about the God who is in the womb of her cousin, Mary. Mary sings about what the Lord has done to her and for her. These songs helped pave the way for the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ. These songs helped them remember what God had done for each of them.

This Advent season, during our midweek services, we’ll look at each of these songs from Luke 1 as we prepare for the coming of Jesus… not just at Christmas but also His Second Coming and the resurrection of all flesh. These songs will serve as a reminder… a re-teaching… of God’s love for us so that we might never forget that “Jesus loves me… this I know…”

In Christ,

Tom Vanderbilt