1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,560 Hi everybody, it's Rob from Trinity Streetsville and here at Trinity we're just a group of 2 00:00:09,560 --> 00:00:13,040 ordinary people learning to follow Jesus in our own day. 3 00:00:13,040 --> 00:00:17,640 Hey, every songwriter at some point writes their very last song. 4 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:22,600 They might not know it's their last song, but if they did, I bet they'd want to make 5 00:00:22,600 --> 00:00:26,560 a truly meaningful song that people were singing for years to come. 6 00:00:26,560 --> 00:00:32,040 Well today we are going to look at one of the greatest singer songwriters of all time 7 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:36,680 and a song that he wrote 3,000 years ago and guess what? 8 00:00:36,680 --> 00:00:38,720 People are still singing it today. 9 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:39,720 So what was his secret? 10 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:43,200 We'll stick around and find out. 11 00:00:43,200 --> 00:00:50,920 Reading today is from Psalm 145. 12 00:00:50,920 --> 00:00:53,840 I will exalt you, my God, the King. 13 00:00:53,840 --> 00:00:57,320 I will praise your name forever and ever. 14 00:00:57,320 --> 00:01:02,280 Every day I will praise you and extol your name forever and ever. 15 00:01:02,280 --> 00:01:05,180 Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise. 16 00:01:05,180 --> 00:01:08,360 His greatness no one can fathom. 17 00:01:08,360 --> 00:01:11,360 One generation commends your works to another. 18 00:01:11,360 --> 00:01:13,640 They tell of your mighty acts. 19 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:17,320 They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty. 20 00:01:17,320 --> 00:01:21,360 And I will meditate on your wonderful works. 21 00:01:21,360 --> 00:01:28,200 The Lord upholds all who fall and lifts up all who are bowed down. 22 00:01:28,200 --> 00:01:34,120 The eyes of all look to you and you give them their food at the proper time. 23 00:01:34,120 --> 00:01:39,360 You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing. 24 00:01:39,360 --> 00:01:45,120 The Lord is righteous in all his ways and faithful in all he does. 25 00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:51,920 The Lord is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. 26 00:01:51,920 --> 00:01:55,340 He fulfills the desires of those who fear him. 27 00:01:55,340 --> 00:01:58,560 He hears their cry and saves them. 28 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:04,680 The Lord watches over all who love him, but the wicked he will destroy. 29 00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,840 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord. 30 00:02:07,840 --> 00:02:12,600 Let every creature praise his holy name forever and ever. 31 00:02:12,600 --> 00:02:13,600 The word of the Lord. 32 00:02:13,600 --> 00:02:15,360 Thanks be to God. 33 00:02:15,360 --> 00:02:20,120 Hey, so every single musical artist at some point in their life will sing their very last 34 00:02:20,120 --> 00:02:21,120 song. 35 00:02:21,120 --> 00:02:26,560 And that last song could be filled with deep, deep meaning, or it could be just a trivial 36 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:32,840 song that they rattled off and they didn't know the tragedy was right around the corner. 37 00:02:32,840 --> 00:02:35,560 So let's take for example, this is David Bowie. 38 00:02:35,560 --> 00:02:40,160 David Bowie has written something like 400 to 500 songs throughout his life. 39 00:02:40,160 --> 00:02:45,920 But just before he passed away, he released his very last single and it was a song called 40 00:02:45,920 --> 00:02:46,920 Lazarus. 41 00:02:46,920 --> 00:02:49,960 It was full of deep, deep meaning. 42 00:02:49,960 --> 00:02:51,240 This is Janis Joplin. 43 00:02:51,240 --> 00:02:58,200 Janis Joplin's very last song that she ever wrote was a song called Mercedes Benz. 44 00:02:58,200 --> 00:03:04,720 And the line went like this, oh Lord, won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz? 45 00:03:04,720 --> 00:03:05,720 This is Freddie Mercury. 46 00:03:05,720 --> 00:03:07,600 No, that's not Freddie Mercury. 47 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:09,600 That's Freddie Mercury. 48 00:03:09,600 --> 00:03:12,000 And his last song was a song called Mother Love. 49 00:03:12,000 --> 00:03:13,480 It was Amy Winehouse. 50 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:16,040 Her last song was a song called Body and Soul. 51 00:03:16,040 --> 00:03:21,800 And the king Elvis, his last song that he wrote was a song called Way Down. 52 00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:22,800 Way Down. 53 00:03:22,800 --> 00:03:27,120 Now, the final song that somebody writes isn't necessarily going to be their best song, but 54 00:03:27,120 --> 00:03:31,280 I think if they knew that this was going to be their swan song, was going to be their 55 00:03:31,280 --> 00:03:35,920 last song, then they would really want it to be full of meaning and be the kind of song 56 00:03:35,920 --> 00:03:39,800 that people were singing and singing for years and years to come. 57 00:03:39,800 --> 00:03:44,040 Well, we're in the early stages, middle of a teaching series. 58 00:03:44,040 --> 00:03:49,640 We're called Summer Playlist, where we're looking at this wonderful collection of songs 59 00:03:49,640 --> 00:03:51,040 found right in the middle of your Bible. 60 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:53,360 It's called The Book of Psalms. 61 00:03:53,360 --> 00:03:57,040 But really, as we learned a couple of weeks ago, it's a song book. 62 00:03:57,040 --> 00:03:59,920 These were meant to be sung. 63 00:03:59,920 --> 00:04:04,360 And today we're going to focus in on one track in particular on that playlist. 64 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:09,960 This track number 145, or Psalm number 145. 65 00:04:09,960 --> 00:04:14,520 And this is a really interesting song to look at for two reasons. 66 00:04:14,520 --> 00:04:20,280 One, it was the very last song written by one of the greatest songwriters and singers 67 00:04:20,280 --> 00:04:22,040 in all of human history. 68 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:27,640 And secondly, he obviously did something right because we are still singing this song 69 00:04:27,640 --> 00:04:30,320 3,000 years later. 70 00:04:30,320 --> 00:04:33,880 Now, you'd be like, wait, wait, Rob, what are you talking about? 71 00:04:33,880 --> 00:04:36,120 Who is this singer-songwriter? 72 00:04:36,120 --> 00:04:37,120 What are you talking about? 73 00:04:37,120 --> 00:04:38,400 Who wrote Psalm 145? 74 00:04:38,400 --> 00:04:44,240 Well, if you open your Bibles and you turn to Psalm 145, you will see right at the beginning, 75 00:04:44,240 --> 00:04:49,400 right at the very top, before you even get into the song, this like super statement that 76 00:04:49,400 --> 00:04:54,040 says this is a Psalm of praise of David. 77 00:04:54,040 --> 00:04:58,920 In other words, this song was written by David, David Bowie? 78 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:00,520 No, not David Bowie. 79 00:05:00,520 --> 00:05:05,800 The legendary King David, King of Israel. 80 00:05:05,800 --> 00:05:12,720 See traditionally, both Jewish and Christian people have credited David with writing a 81 00:05:12,720 --> 00:05:19,280 good portion of the Psalms found in that playlist in the middle of your Bible, including Psalm 82 00:05:19,280 --> 00:05:20,280 145. 83 00:05:20,280 --> 00:05:27,960 In fact, about 75 of the Psalms specifically say at the top like this, that this song was 84 00:05:27,960 --> 00:05:30,480 written by David. 85 00:05:30,480 --> 00:05:35,040 There are other Psalms that people think David wrote too, and there's other ones in there 86 00:05:35,040 --> 00:05:37,640 that they think David didn't write at all. 87 00:05:37,640 --> 00:05:42,600 But some scholars, let's be fair, some scholars would say, come on, come on, Rob, really, do 88 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:46,720 we really think that David wrote these things? 89 00:05:46,720 --> 00:05:52,160 I mean, surely over time, the authorship could get mixed up and muddled up, and don't people 90 00:05:52,160 --> 00:05:56,600 just attribute these to David, and they're not really coming from David's pen. 91 00:05:56,600 --> 00:05:58,320 These aren't really David's songs. 92 00:05:58,320 --> 00:06:00,480 This is a really, really good question. 93 00:06:00,480 --> 00:06:05,360 It kind of reminds me of the question surrounding the Beatles song, Eleanor Rigby. 94 00:06:05,360 --> 00:06:11,320 Because Eleanor Rigby, if you look at the official credits, the song is written by Paul McCartney 95 00:06:11,320 --> 00:06:12,600 and John Lennon. 96 00:06:12,600 --> 00:06:18,040 But Paul McCartney says he wrote 99% of the song, and that John Lennon hardly did anything. 97 00:06:18,040 --> 00:06:22,560 John Lennon says he wrote most of the song, said, pardon me, he's passed away, he said 98 00:06:22,560 --> 00:06:25,280 he wrote most of the song. 99 00:06:25,280 --> 00:06:31,840 And then actually George Harrison said that he wrote the very first line of Eleanor Rigby, 100 00:06:31,840 --> 00:06:37,040 the line that goes, oh, look at all the lonely people. 101 00:06:37,040 --> 00:06:39,440 Apparently George Harrison said, I did that. 102 00:06:39,440 --> 00:06:44,440 So if there's so much confusion about a song that was written and who wrote it back in 103 00:06:44,440 --> 00:06:50,280 1966, then you can imagine there would be a bit of confusion about who wrote a song that 104 00:06:50,280 --> 00:06:53,920 was written back in 1000 BC. 105 00:06:53,920 --> 00:06:59,760 And yet there is good reason, I think, for us to believe that David had a hand in writing 106 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:03,840 a bunch of the tracks on this summer playlist of ours. 107 00:07:03,840 --> 00:07:04,840 Let me explain why. 108 00:07:04,840 --> 00:07:08,800 For one, we do know that David was musical by nature. 109 00:07:08,800 --> 00:07:13,880 In fact, once, when David was still very young, the king at the time, a guy named Saul, he 110 00:07:13,880 --> 00:07:15,360 wasn't feeling so good. 111 00:07:15,360 --> 00:07:17,040 He was one of those lonely people. 112 00:07:17,040 --> 00:07:18,560 He was a little bit melancholy. 113 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:21,240 And he said, bring me someone who can play some music. 114 00:07:21,240 --> 00:07:24,480 Bring me someone who can sing and cheer me up. 115 00:07:24,480 --> 00:07:26,520 And his servant said, I know just the person. 116 00:07:26,520 --> 00:07:27,720 There's this kid named David. 117 00:07:27,720 --> 00:07:30,960 He's great with a guitar and he's great at singing. 118 00:07:30,960 --> 00:07:35,720 So they brought in David and he strummed a tune and it cheered up Saul. 119 00:07:35,720 --> 00:07:41,280 So right from the beginning, we see David had this musical ability, this musical ability. 120 00:07:41,280 --> 00:07:47,080 As he grew up, David had this habit of writing songs whenever something amazing happened 121 00:07:47,080 --> 00:07:48,640 in his life. 122 00:07:48,640 --> 00:07:55,760 So for example, in 2 Samuel, we are told that at one time God rescued him from his enemies. 123 00:07:55,760 --> 00:07:56,760 And so what did David do? 124 00:07:56,760 --> 00:07:57,760 He sang about it. 125 00:07:57,760 --> 00:07:59,240 He wrote a song about it. 126 00:07:59,240 --> 00:08:04,280 And you can read that song if you go to 2 Samuel 22. 127 00:08:04,280 --> 00:08:09,520 In fact, David even picked up this nickname because he was so musical. 128 00:08:09,520 --> 00:08:15,480 The author of the book of Samuel referred to David as the sweet psalmist of Israel. 129 00:08:15,480 --> 00:08:17,360 Wouldn't you love a nickname like that? 130 00:08:17,360 --> 00:08:23,360 You're that sweet hitmaker of Israel, the sweet tune master of Israel. 131 00:08:23,360 --> 00:08:28,880 David had a reputation of being musical, of being a singer. 132 00:08:28,880 --> 00:08:35,880 Even Jesus assumed or believed that David was the one who was writing these songs. 133 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:43,360 Once when Jesus was talking about Psalm 110, he described that Psalm as being written by 134 00:08:43,360 --> 00:08:48,880 David under the influence of the Holy Spirit. 135 00:08:48,880 --> 00:08:55,040 So a whole bunch of Old Testament people believe that David wrote these songs and some New 136 00:08:55,040 --> 00:08:56,480 Testament people believe it too. 137 00:08:56,480 --> 00:08:57,920 Jesus himself seemed to believe it. 138 00:08:57,920 --> 00:09:03,800 So I would say that for that reason, where I'm pretty solid ground if we say that at 139 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:10,880 least those songs on this list that bear his name, there is a strong, strong likelihood 140 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:15,320 that they are in fact written by David. 141 00:09:15,320 --> 00:09:20,160 Now all of that, all of that just to say this, that if it's true that David wrote a bunch 142 00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:29,240 of these songs, then that makes song number 145 the last song that was attributed to him 143 00:09:29,240 --> 00:09:35,320 in the Psalter, the last song, the last song that he ever wrote. 144 00:09:35,320 --> 00:09:41,720 His grand finale, his mic drop moment, the last hit from DJ David. 145 00:09:41,720 --> 00:09:47,880 And man, this song has stood the test of time. 146 00:09:47,880 --> 00:09:51,120 David knew how to write a timeless classic. 147 00:09:51,120 --> 00:09:55,960 So let's take a look today at this amazing song that David wrote and maybe we can learn 148 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:59,680 a thing or two about writing a great song ourselves. 149 00:09:59,680 --> 00:10:02,600 By the way, you should have received little notes when you came in today. 150 00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:06,520 You can fill those in if you want, if you want to track along with my thought this morning. 151 00:10:06,520 --> 00:10:07,520 So here's the first thing. 152 00:10:07,520 --> 00:10:10,400 If you were to ask David, David, what is the key of making a great song? 153 00:10:10,400 --> 00:10:13,520 He would say, first thing you got to do is you got to make something that's memorable, 154 00:10:13,520 --> 00:10:14,640 right? 155 00:10:14,640 --> 00:10:18,800 All songs that stand the test of time, there's something about them that are memorable. 156 00:10:18,800 --> 00:10:19,960 They got catchy melodies. 157 00:10:19,960 --> 00:10:22,600 Their words are easy to remember. 158 00:10:22,600 --> 00:10:23,600 They're often repetitive. 159 00:10:23,600 --> 00:10:26,280 Do you remember the song Baby Shark? 160 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:30,320 See, of course you remember the song Baby Shark. 161 00:10:30,320 --> 00:10:32,800 One of you don't want to remember the song Baby Shark. 162 00:10:32,800 --> 00:10:38,400 You're going to remember it because this tune was just, it just was an earworm. 163 00:10:38,400 --> 00:10:43,360 It was repetitive and the lyrics just kept going over and over in your mind. 164 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:48,760 There's something about making a song memorable that makes it last. 165 00:10:48,760 --> 00:10:51,040 And David did that, actually. 166 00:10:51,040 --> 00:10:52,840 You probably didn't notice this. 167 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:58,920 But when David wrote song 145, he kind of pulled a bit of a Baby Shark. 168 00:10:58,920 --> 00:11:00,280 He said, hey, I know what I'm going to do. 169 00:11:00,280 --> 00:11:06,220 I'm going to make every line of this song start with a different letter of the Hebrew 170 00:11:06,220 --> 00:11:07,220 alphabet. 171 00:11:07,220 --> 00:11:08,220 Right? 172 00:11:08,220 --> 00:11:12,200 So in other words, if it was the English alphabet, it would be like, I'm going to make the first 173 00:11:12,200 --> 00:11:15,760 line start with A and the second line start with B and the third line start with C, D, 174 00:11:15,760 --> 00:11:19,760 D, all the way down to Z at the very, very end. 175 00:11:19,760 --> 00:11:22,560 And this is called an acrostic pattern. 176 00:11:22,560 --> 00:11:28,020 We don't recognize it in our Bibles because we don't read Hebrew. 177 00:11:28,020 --> 00:11:32,440 But if we did read Hebrew, we read it in the original language, we would see that pattern, 178 00:11:32,440 --> 00:11:35,800 A, B, C, D, through the whole alphabet. 179 00:11:35,800 --> 00:11:38,280 Now, David, why would you do that? 180 00:11:38,280 --> 00:11:39,720 What are you trying to do here, David? 181 00:11:39,720 --> 00:11:42,440 To make it memorable, right? 182 00:11:42,440 --> 00:11:49,880 To turn this song into an earworm, A, B, C, D, E, F, G, that people would never forget 183 00:11:49,880 --> 00:11:52,440 that you can keep singing all day long. 184 00:11:52,440 --> 00:12:00,040 In fact, William Gemmerin, who is an Old Testament professor in Chicago, he says, in Jewish practice, 185 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:06,120 this song was recited twice in the morning and once again in the evening, which meant 186 00:12:06,120 --> 00:12:11,800 that if you were to adopt this practice every day three times a day, not once, not twice, 187 00:12:11,800 --> 00:12:15,360 but three times a day, you would be singing this song. 188 00:12:15,360 --> 00:12:17,120 It was so recognizable. 189 00:12:17,120 --> 00:12:19,400 It was so memorizable. 190 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:27,360 And that's David's first rule of making a lasting hit, make something memorable. 191 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:29,680 But David also knew another rule, right? 192 00:12:29,680 --> 00:12:31,360 And that was this. 193 00:12:31,360 --> 00:12:36,480 If you want to write a timeless classic, then you've got to write something that's cross-generational. 194 00:12:36,480 --> 00:12:42,160 If you write a song that is more specific to one generation, then when that generation 195 00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:44,840 dies out, the song is going to die out with it. 196 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:48,240 And the kids of the next generation will say, I don't understand the song. 197 00:12:48,240 --> 00:12:49,400 The song means nothing to me. 198 00:12:49,400 --> 00:12:52,640 You already see this happening between the generations now. 199 00:12:52,640 --> 00:12:54,800 Kids look at their parents' music and say, that's horrible. 200 00:12:54,800 --> 00:12:56,640 I can't listen to that. 201 00:12:56,640 --> 00:13:00,080 Parents look at their kids' music and they say, that's not music. 202 00:13:00,080 --> 00:13:03,280 This rock and roll the kids are listening to today. 203 00:13:03,280 --> 00:13:06,640 Geez, give me some good old stomp and tomm. 204 00:13:06,640 --> 00:13:09,560 Now that's some real music, right? 205 00:13:09,560 --> 00:13:11,800 But you see the good songs. 206 00:13:11,800 --> 00:13:18,000 The songs that really last are somehow able to reach all generations at once. 207 00:13:18,000 --> 00:13:19,640 They're cross-generation. 208 00:13:19,640 --> 00:13:27,640 I came across this photo, this article of a 90-year-old grandma and her teenage daughter 209 00:13:27,640 --> 00:13:32,160 who went to see Taylor Swift's era concert, right? 210 00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:39,040 Together, they went together because they both love to sing and dance to Taylor's music. 211 00:13:39,040 --> 00:13:40,880 That's kind of a unique thing. 212 00:13:40,880 --> 00:13:44,480 And I'm not saying that Taylor's music is going to last nearly as long as King David's 213 00:13:44,480 --> 00:13:51,040 music, but what I am saying is that there is some music out there that is cross-generational. 214 00:13:51,040 --> 00:13:56,240 Maybe it is Elton John or The Beatles or Adele or Coldplay or whatever it is, but there 215 00:13:56,240 --> 00:14:03,160 are some bands, there are some songs that every generation loves to sing along with. 216 00:14:03,160 --> 00:14:10,000 And David's song is specifically meant to be sung by the generations. 217 00:14:10,000 --> 00:14:14,360 He says one generation, sing the song to the other, other generations, sing the song to 218 00:14:14,360 --> 00:14:15,360 the first. 219 00:14:15,360 --> 00:14:17,920 Tell about God's mighty acts together. 220 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:20,840 All generations, celebrate God's goodness. 221 00:14:20,840 --> 00:14:23,840 Sing about His righteousness. 222 00:14:23,840 --> 00:14:30,440 This is just a beautiful thing, beautiful thing when all generations can sing songs of worship 223 00:14:30,440 --> 00:14:33,800 together, whether you're 17 or you're 97. 224 00:14:33,800 --> 00:14:39,360 I mean, wouldn't it be great even here in Trinity if the older generation here would 225 00:14:39,360 --> 00:14:46,840 sing songs in such a way that it would inspire the younger generation about how God had moved 226 00:14:46,840 --> 00:14:48,920 and acted in the past? 227 00:14:48,920 --> 00:14:53,960 And wouldn't it be great if the younger generation here at Trinity sang songs in such a way that 228 00:14:53,960 --> 00:14:58,560 it stirred up in the hearts and minds of the older generation the things that God is doing 229 00:14:58,560 --> 00:15:01,360 now, the new things that God is doing in the present time? 230 00:15:01,360 --> 00:15:07,960 Wouldn't it be great if old and young could sing God's praise with each other and even 231 00:15:07,960 --> 00:15:10,000 to each other? 232 00:15:10,000 --> 00:15:15,400 This is what David was aiming at, all generations praising God together. 233 00:15:15,400 --> 00:15:20,280 This is a very hard thing to pull off in churches these days. 234 00:15:20,280 --> 00:15:25,920 It's why you often come across churches, some of whom are filled with very, very young people 235 00:15:25,920 --> 00:15:27,240 and there's nobody older there. 236 00:15:27,240 --> 00:15:30,800 It's because the music and the worship is all geared to that generation. 237 00:15:30,800 --> 00:15:35,880 Or you come across another kind of church which is filled with gray heads and it's a 238 00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:42,320 very old congregation and that's because the worship and the music is aimed at that generation. 239 00:15:42,320 --> 00:15:44,440 But here at Trinity, wouldn't it be great? 240 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:46,000 Isn't this what we're trying to do? 241 00:15:46,000 --> 00:15:52,240 To create an intergenerational cross, generational experience of worship where one generation 242 00:15:52,240 --> 00:15:57,600 can praise God with another and to another. 243 00:15:57,600 --> 00:16:03,040 When that happens, as Marva Don says, she says, when we worship together as a family 244 00:16:03,040 --> 00:16:11,920 of all ages, we're enriched by the diverse perspectives and experiences of each generation. 245 00:16:11,920 --> 00:16:16,280 God is worth more praise than anyone generation can give him. 246 00:16:16,280 --> 00:16:18,880 That's why David's final song has lasted so long. 247 00:16:18,880 --> 00:16:22,000 It was a cross-generational song. 248 00:16:22,000 --> 00:16:26,120 So David says, you want to write something that lives forever, lasts forever, make something 249 00:16:26,120 --> 00:16:27,120 memorable? 250 00:16:27,120 --> 00:16:29,560 Secondly, write something cross-generational. 251 00:16:29,560 --> 00:16:33,880 And thirdly, sing something thoughtful. 252 00:16:33,880 --> 00:16:39,000 When you worship, David is saying to us, don't just engage people's emotions, but engage 253 00:16:39,000 --> 00:16:41,480 their minds as well. 254 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:48,360 Now this is a delicate balance, again, in churches because in some churches we err on one side 255 00:16:48,360 --> 00:16:49,360 or the other. 256 00:16:49,360 --> 00:16:56,920 Some churches might sing songs that are very intellectual, very wordy, but lack emotion. 257 00:16:56,920 --> 00:17:01,440 For example, I can remember as a child growing up and I'm singing this song. 258 00:17:01,440 --> 00:17:05,080 I was not emotionally engaged with this song. 259 00:17:05,080 --> 00:17:09,560 All things bright and beautiful, creatures great and small, all things wise and wonderful, 260 00:17:09,560 --> 00:17:10,760 the Lord God made them all. 261 00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:12,120 It's a beautiful song. 262 00:17:12,120 --> 00:17:14,920 This will probably last forever, this song. 263 00:17:14,920 --> 00:17:18,120 But it didn't engage my emotions so much. 264 00:17:18,120 --> 00:17:20,760 I didn't even know who we were singing to in this song. 265 00:17:20,760 --> 00:17:23,360 It doesn't seem like we're actually singing to God. 266 00:17:23,360 --> 00:17:30,800 We're talking about God and sometimes maybe I felt like I was just reading a theology 267 00:17:30,800 --> 00:17:33,800 textbook when I was singing songs like this. 268 00:17:33,800 --> 00:17:36,440 There wasn't much emotional power. 269 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:43,640 Now on the other side, sometimes churches sing songs that have no theological or intellectual 270 00:17:43,640 --> 00:17:44,640 thought in them at all. 271 00:17:44,640 --> 00:17:46,040 They're just all emotion. 272 00:17:46,040 --> 00:17:51,600 For example, I wrote this song this week that you could probably sing in some churches 273 00:17:51,600 --> 00:17:52,600 around the land. 274 00:17:52,600 --> 00:17:54,720 I just want to feel you, feel you here. 275 00:17:54,720 --> 00:17:57,240 I just want to feel you, feel you near. 276 00:17:57,240 --> 00:18:02,360 I don't know what the tune for this is, but I just want to feel you nothing more. 277 00:18:02,360 --> 00:18:06,640 I just want to feel you at my core. 278 00:18:06,640 --> 00:18:13,080 Guys I wrote that song, but we will never sing this song because while it demonstrates 279 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:21,560 emotion, borders on emotionalism, playing with emotion, over emphasis of emotion for 280 00:18:21,560 --> 00:18:23,360 emotion's sake. 281 00:18:23,360 --> 00:18:27,400 But David, he seems to get this balance right, right? 282 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:31,480 The balance between emotion and thoughtfulness. 283 00:18:31,480 --> 00:18:34,480 So he begins his song with a lot of emoting, right? 284 00:18:34,480 --> 00:18:36,760 He's like, I will exalt you, my God and King. 285 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:38,720 I will praise you forever and ever. 286 00:18:38,720 --> 00:18:40,320 I just want to feel you. 287 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:41,320 No, he doesn't say that. 288 00:18:41,320 --> 00:18:45,760 He says, every day I will praise you and extol your name forever. 289 00:18:45,760 --> 00:18:47,040 I mean, he's feeling it. 290 00:18:47,040 --> 00:18:48,360 He's feeling it here. 291 00:18:48,360 --> 00:18:57,160 And then by verse five, he's saying, I will meditate on the glorious splendor of your majesty 292 00:18:57,160 --> 00:19:00,840 and on your wonderful works. 293 00:19:00,840 --> 00:19:04,120 David's praise doesn't just come from emotion. 294 00:19:04,120 --> 00:19:06,120 There's a place for that. 295 00:19:06,120 --> 00:19:08,200 But it comes from careful thought. 296 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:12,720 Meditation is to reflect and to think and to engage your mind. 297 00:19:12,720 --> 00:19:18,880 David is using the song as a mental exercise to remember the character of God, to remember 298 00:19:18,880 --> 00:19:21,440 the great actions of God. 299 00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:22,760 He's using his head. 300 00:19:22,760 --> 00:19:24,280 He's using his memory. 301 00:19:24,280 --> 00:19:27,160 It's leading him to praise God. 302 00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:33,680 And that's why David's song has lasted so long because emotions come and go. 303 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:40,160 Emotions may be up and down, but the knowledge of God is the same forever. 304 00:19:40,160 --> 00:19:43,440 And therefore, knowledge of God should lead our singing. 305 00:19:43,440 --> 00:19:50,240 The more we know about God, the more we can sing to God. 306 00:19:50,240 --> 00:19:52,320 David's worship was very thoughtful. 307 00:19:52,320 --> 00:19:55,320 And that's why it lasted. 308 00:19:55,320 --> 00:20:01,000 There's still a few more reasons why David's final song lasted for thousands of years. 309 00:20:01,000 --> 00:20:02,000 Here's one of them. 310 00:20:02,000 --> 00:20:06,320 David knew that if you're going to write a timeless classic, you've got to address something 311 00:20:06,320 --> 00:20:07,320 substantial. 312 00:20:07,320 --> 00:20:11,120 A topic that is substantial. 313 00:20:11,120 --> 00:20:15,200 There are some songs that deal with really, really important issues. 314 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:18,400 John Lennon, imagine, imagine. 315 00:20:18,400 --> 00:20:23,760 That song addresses themes of peace and unity and a world without division. 316 00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,520 You could take a Bob Dylan's, Blowing in the Wind. 317 00:20:26,520 --> 00:20:29,880 He's talking about social justice and freedom. 318 00:20:29,880 --> 00:20:32,560 Fight the power by public enemy. 319 00:20:32,560 --> 00:20:36,960 This is systemic racism and social change. 320 00:20:36,960 --> 00:20:39,600 Fast Car by Tracy Chapman. 321 00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:44,920 That car is about living in poverty and going through the struggles of life. 322 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:49,360 All of those are substantial topics, weighty, important topics. 323 00:20:49,360 --> 00:20:57,120 And then there are other songs that spend a whole lot of time not saying much at all. 324 00:20:57,120 --> 00:21:01,440 Barbie Girl is a song about a Barbie doll. 325 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:09,360 Her Ice Ice Baby is basically a song about rapper lifestyle, at least this particular 326 00:21:09,360 --> 00:21:10,360 rapper's lifestyle. 327 00:21:10,360 --> 00:21:12,560 It's not all that deep, right? 328 00:21:12,560 --> 00:21:18,280 But perhaps the most meaningless song that has ever been created was the song What Does 329 00:21:18,280 --> 00:21:20,560 the Fox Say by Ilvis. 330 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:28,480 And this song is basically just wondering out loud what does a fox say? 331 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:32,960 What kind of sound does a fox make? 332 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:36,120 This is not exactly deep stuff, right? 333 00:21:36,120 --> 00:21:37,120 But no, David knew. 334 00:21:37,120 --> 00:21:41,320 If you want to write a great song, write about a great topic, right? 335 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:42,480 Tackle something deep. 336 00:21:42,480 --> 00:21:44,400 Tackle something weighty and substantial. 337 00:21:44,400 --> 00:21:47,880 And so for David, for his swan song, for his last song, he said, I'm going to deal with 338 00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:52,480 the most weighty, substantial, great song anyone could ever write. 339 00:21:52,480 --> 00:21:54,360 And that is the greatness of God. 340 00:21:54,360 --> 00:21:56,200 Great is the Lord. 341 00:21:56,200 --> 00:21:57,560 Greatly to be praised. 342 00:21:57,560 --> 00:22:01,760 There's greatness no one can fathom. 343 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:09,440 I sometimes think that our culture has forgotten what is truly great in our world. 344 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:17,880 Culture finds greatness in romantic love or sexual attraction or wealth or popularity 345 00:22:17,880 --> 00:22:19,280 or celebrity. 346 00:22:19,280 --> 00:22:21,480 Those are the things that we think are great. 347 00:22:21,480 --> 00:22:25,000 Those are the things that so many songs are being written about today. 348 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:26,000 But David knew. 349 00:22:26,000 --> 00:22:27,000 No, no, no, no. 350 00:22:27,000 --> 00:22:31,800 Still greatness can only be found in God himself. 351 00:22:31,800 --> 00:22:38,000 That's why David roots the song in God's omnipresence, his omniscience, his, his omnipotence. 352 00:22:38,000 --> 00:22:41,480 Sorry, too many omnis here. 353 00:22:41,480 --> 00:22:47,120 David's song is about this God who is so consistent and unwavering, this God who demonstrates 354 00:22:47,120 --> 00:22:51,240 selfless love to all creation. 355 00:22:51,240 --> 00:22:53,560 Songs about sex and popularity. 356 00:22:53,560 --> 00:23:00,960 It just, they're so superficial compared to the greatness of God. 357 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:05,400 This should also be noted that David writes this is one line of his song. 358 00:23:05,400 --> 00:23:09,600 I will exalt you, my God and my King. 359 00:23:09,600 --> 00:23:16,720 Interesting because at the time David may have been King or ascending to the throne as King 360 00:23:16,720 --> 00:23:21,520 and yet he doesn't elevate himself and his own greatness in the song. 361 00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:22,520 He says, no, no. 362 00:23:22,520 --> 00:23:29,120 The kingship is nothing compared to the glorious great kingship of God. 363 00:23:29,120 --> 00:23:36,200 So David's song forces us to kind of ask the question, you know, how much time do we spend 364 00:23:36,200 --> 00:23:39,880 pondering the greatness of God? 365 00:23:39,880 --> 00:23:46,520 And how much time do we spend wondering, what does the Fox say? 366 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:50,040 So to write the ultimate chart topper, here's what you got to do. 367 00:23:50,040 --> 00:23:54,480 Sing something memorable, write something cross-generational, sing something thoughtful, 368 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:56,480 address something substantial. 369 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:01,840 If you do all that then you're going to arrive at the final one which is to compose something 370 00:24:01,840 --> 00:24:03,720 eternal. 371 00:24:03,720 --> 00:24:07,560 There are those songs out there that we call timeless classics. 372 00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:09,240 They're eternal songs. 373 00:24:09,240 --> 00:24:12,680 Bohemian Rhapsody, Hotel California, Stairway to Heaven. 374 00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:14,780 I don't know. 375 00:24:14,780 --> 00:24:17,840 You probably got your own timeless classics in mind. 376 00:24:17,840 --> 00:24:23,760 But David takes this song to a whole new level of timelessness. 377 00:24:23,760 --> 00:24:25,920 Psalm 145 isn't just timeless. 378 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:26,920 It's eternal. 379 00:24:26,920 --> 00:24:27,920 It's eternal. 380 00:24:27,920 --> 00:24:35,640 I will praise your name forever and ever and ever and ever and ever. 381 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:40,320 Your kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. 382 00:24:40,320 --> 00:24:46,320 One reason why God's praise is going to last forever is because God's kingdom is going to 383 00:24:46,320 --> 00:24:48,200 last forever. 384 00:24:48,200 --> 00:24:51,520 People come and go, but God lives forever. 385 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,600 Kings come and go, but God reigns forever. 386 00:24:54,600 --> 00:25:00,040 Kingdoms rise and fall, but God's kingdom is an everlasting kingdom which means that 387 00:25:00,040 --> 00:25:05,600 this song is an everlasting song. 388 00:25:05,600 --> 00:25:08,120 That's how you make a timeless classic. 389 00:25:08,120 --> 00:25:11,200 Make something memorable, write something cross-generational, sing something thoughtful, 390 00:25:11,200 --> 00:25:16,520 address something substantial, and compose something eternal. 391 00:25:16,520 --> 00:25:18,080 This is I end. 392 00:25:18,080 --> 00:25:19,920 Some of you are saying, oh, that's great, Rob. 393 00:25:19,920 --> 00:25:23,280 Thanks for the five tips about songwriting. 394 00:25:23,280 --> 00:25:25,760 But surprise, surprise, I'm not a songwriter. 395 00:25:25,760 --> 00:25:30,480 So what am I supposed to do with all this? 396 00:25:30,480 --> 00:25:39,160 Well, to answer that, let's turn to the great songstress Dolly Parton who said, life is like 397 00:25:39,160 --> 00:25:42,040 a song, sing it. 398 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:45,800 Yeah, yeah, most of us are not going to write a hit song. 399 00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:53,040 Most of us are not going to record a great album, but we're going to live a life, right? 400 00:25:53,040 --> 00:25:54,720 And Dolly is right. 401 00:25:54,720 --> 00:26:02,840 The life we live is a song and that other people are going to listen to our lives. 402 00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:04,400 They're going to see our lives. 403 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:07,800 Every day you're writing a few more lyrics, right? 404 00:26:07,800 --> 00:26:11,000 Every week, every month, you're writing another stanza. 405 00:26:11,000 --> 00:26:16,800 Every year you're writing another verse, another chorus, and one day your day is going to come 406 00:26:16,800 --> 00:26:20,080 and you're going to set down your pen and you're going to set down your guitar, and 407 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:21,080 that'll be the end. 408 00:26:21,080 --> 00:26:25,960 And people will then pick up and listen to that life of yours. 409 00:26:25,960 --> 00:26:27,760 They'll listen to the song of your life. 410 00:26:27,760 --> 00:26:30,920 And when they do, what will they hear? 411 00:26:30,920 --> 00:26:33,760 Will it be memorable? 412 00:26:33,760 --> 00:26:37,040 Will your life have been thoughtful? 413 00:26:37,040 --> 00:26:41,440 Will you have lived for something substantial? 414 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:48,360 Will your life be eternal in Jesus Christ? 415 00:26:48,360 --> 00:26:54,160 What kind of song are you writing today? 416 00:26:54,160 --> 00:26:59,040 These are the last words of the last song that David ever wrote. 417 00:26:59,040 --> 00:27:04,280 My mouth will speak in praise of the Lord, let every creature praise His holy name forever 418 00:27:04,280 --> 00:27:05,280 and ever. 419 00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:11,680 And with that, David puts down his pen and he puts down his guitar and he's done. 420 00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:21,120 And if David had said nothing else in his long life, that would still be enough. 421 00:27:21,120 --> 00:27:27,880 So today we can thank God for the songs that David wrote and sung. 422 00:27:27,880 --> 00:27:33,880 More than that, though, we can sing along with those songs, praising God forever and 423 00:27:33,880 --> 00:27:38,040 ever and ever and ever. 424 00:27:38,040 --> 00:27:46,200 And we can remember that every day we too are writing a beautiful song with our own lives. 425 00:27:46,200 --> 00:27:47,200 Thanks be to God. 426 00:27:47,200 --> 00:27:48,200 Amen. 427 00:27:48,200 --> 00:28:07,120 Thank you, David, for this moment.