Tune Up

Every six months or so a gentleman will come by for his appointment.  He is not here to see the Pastor or any of our staff, but he is here to see our pianos.  His job is a professional piano tuner.  One day I followed him and listened to him begin to tune the ivory keys and it was fascinating to witness.  He said to me in passing, “It doesn’t take much for a piano to get out of tune.”

This past Sunday was a great day of worship. Bro. Scott and our instrumentalists do an amazing job in leading us to sing to our Heavenly Father the praises He deserves.  One of the songs that we sung Sunday caught my attention recently.  The title of the song is Come Thou Fount written by Robert Robertson in 1758.  Robertson was only 22 years old when he penned the words to this great song. It is ironic that he didn’t become a believer until he was 20 years old and 2 years later is writing a song that reflected his life and testimony. One of my favorite phrases he uses in “tune me heart to sing they grace.”

That phrase has been on my mind for several months. To be quite honest, it has become my prayer for my personal life. Why? Because I’ve come to realize that I daily need a tune up spiritually.  How often have I found myself tuned in to the wrong frequency of life. As the piano tuner reminded me, it doesn’t take much to get out of tune. When young Robert Robertson wrote these words, I truly identify with him.  Sometimes our worship is done out of a wrong spirit and attitude.  Often, we worship with our mouth but not our heart. At times we go through worship as a ritual, but our mind is somewhere else. I personally have caught myself allowing preference to prevail over praise. These are just a few signs that show me I’m in need of a spiritual tune up. Worship is not a religious moment it is a relationship opportunity!

Sunday as our church was worshipping God in song, I stopped to listen.  There was a young person sitting behind me and they were singing their heart out. They were not blessed with the best singing voice, but they didn’t care. They kept on singing and I loved it! The Holy Spirit spoke to my spirit and said, “Their voice is off key, but their heart is perfectly in tune with Me!”
 
A young college age boy in 1758 wrote the words, “tune my heart to sing Thy grace.”  What a profound thought that still echoes in churches today.  Maybe it’s not what song we are singing that matters but rather Who we are singing too. Worship is always a matter of the heart.

My prayer will continue in my life that daily God will tune my heart to sing His praise. We have so many choices in life to tune in to that we must intentionally make that decision daily.
 
“Come, thou Fount of every blessing;
tune my heart to sing thy grace;
streams of mercy, never ceasing,
call for songs of loudest praise.
Teach me some melodious sonnet,
sung by flaming tongues above;
praise the mount! I’m fixed upon it,
mount of God’s unchanging love!”