Doug Moody was pretty aware of how to regard his musical gift. And, he passed along to others how to think about music too. This contemporary Psalmist must have sensed what his biblical ancestor did – that musical inspiration has a providential source. If you had a gift that somebody else had given you, how could you best flatter the giver? That’s the question that Moody may have been trying to answer with “You Are the Song that I Sing”.
Moody had been teaching music in the 1970s, including to his brother and future fellow composer Dave, at the Glad Tidings Church in Vancouver, British Columbia in Canada. By the time he wrote “Your Are the Song…” in 1984, he was still teaching, but this time he was making sure his hearers knew how a song with his own name on it had been developed. His name appeared on the song’s subscript, where it says ‘composer’, but Moody knew who really deserved the credit. An author might put in endnotes or footnotes to give proper credit to a deserving source, but Moody used a more direct method. It’s right in the song’s words. And, if Moody’s ministry-life is an indication, he must have been living this same message every day he walked about the church and the community where he worked too. It’s said that his brother Dave’s life in music was greatly influenced by Doug. (Dave wrote few dozen songs, the most well-known of which was “All Hail, King Jesus”). And, as he likewise instructed others through the same ministry, many more probably witnessed his example.
Does one’s life have to be in music for one to feel the Divine influence? Can I be artistic pounding a nail, driving a delivery vehicle, or even cleaning up a mess for a living? Doug Moody’s not here to offer an opinion, but can you guess what he’d say? I can be a man after His heart, and be creative – mimicking Him -- in my own small way no matter what I’m doing. After all, songs that resonate with us have their origin in all kinds of experiences and meaningful stories, not just music instruction. That’s what can make each one so unique. Do you think that’s why He made all of us, so we could multiply His song-making potential with each life on this planet? Just imagine what all that music would sound like! Let’s see, that means there are billions of tunes gestating right now…
An indirect source for Doug Moody’s song story is the book “Our God Reigns: The Stories behind Your Favorite Praise and Worship Songs”, by Phil Christensen and Shari MacDonald, Kregel Publications, 2000.
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