Sing Like Judy: Get Happy!
This week the blog is sponsred by Crown and Covenant Publications, and the post is written by Nathan Eshelman, pastor of the Orlando Reformed Presbyterian Church in historic downtown Orlando, Florida. He is the author of two Grassmarket Press books: I Have a Confession: The What and Why of the Westminster Confession of Faith (2022) and Worthy: The Worship of God (Fall 2023). Nathan also writes for Gentle Reformation and Meet the Puritans and is a co-host of The Jerusalem Chamber podcast. Nathan is married to Lydia and they have five children. You can order Grassmarket Press books here.
In 1951, Judy Garland sang at the swanky Palace Theatre in New York City week after week with a tedious two-a-day schedule. The house was always packed. As Judy Garland sang her old classics, she ended each show with a medley of Over the Rainbow and Get Happy, two classic Garland numbers.
She had 184 performances at The Palace that year. “Night after night, the result was the same: tears streaked down Judy’s cheeks as she tried to follow her rainbow, and more tears—a rivulet, then a salty waterfall—came from all those watching and hearing her,” wrote historian Gerald Clark in his book on Judy’s life. Tear-filled standing ovations ensued. One newspaper recorded a three minute, eighteen second standing ovation. Her singing was described as a kiss that awakened New York. Contrast the joy of Judy Garland’s vocal expressions with so much of what passes for congregational singing in our churches. This is not a new problem, but one that shows the need for singing with grace in the heart. In the early eighteenth century, one Reformed minister noted the lack of joy and desire in the singing of his country’s congregations. He said:
It amazes me that the godly in the Netherlands have so little desire to sing….Worldly people sing quite a bit, but they sing vain songs which stir up the heart toward vanity and immorality. The godly are, however, generally silent in these parts. The one says… “I have no voice”; the [other] “I do not know any of the melodies”… All of this is, however, not truly the problem, but it is a lack of desire. If the heart were more spiritual and joyous, we would more readily praise the Lord with joyful song and thereby stir up ourselves and others. (The Christian’s Reasonable Service, 4.35.)
Years before, this pastor lamented the lack of hearty praise in his churches—and long before Judy Garland brought The Palace to nightly tears with her joyful song—the Westminster Confession of Faith provided brief instruction on the singing of the Christian Church. The Confession only mentions singing one time:
The reading of the Scriptures with godly fear; the sound preaching and conscionable hearing of the Word, in obedience unto God, with understanding, faith, reverence; singing of psalms with grace in the heart; as also, the due administration and worthy receiving of the sacraments instituted by Christ; are all parts of the ordinary religious worship of God… to be used in a holy and religious manner. (Westminster Confession of Faith, 21.5.)
Did you catch it?
Christians in public worship are not only to sing Psalms, but to sing with grace in their heart.
Judy Garland was a good singer; some would say that’s an understatement; but many would not. Clark noted that “several of her contemporaries also possessed remarkable machines—some better…with wider ranges and more artful technique—yet also failed to raise the blood pressure in the seats out front,” as Clark wrote.
What made Judy different?
I will not argue that she had “grace in her heart” but I do believe that there’s something that the congregational singer can learn from her song.
One of her musical arrangers noted that “she put the words before the music, instead of the other way around, treating the lyrics will all the reverence due them.”
Judy also told an interviewer once, “I mean every word of every song I sing, no matter how many times I’ve sung it before.” The congregational singer needs to sing with grace in the heart, putting words before the tune, meaning every word that is sung. Singing is a response of faith—and the singer must own what he or she sings.
The next lesson that Judy gives to the grace-filled singer is this, according to Clark: “she needed her audience more than it needed her… she was ‘truly, truly, happy’ only when on stage… they were providing her with an identity.” Garland’s entire happiness and identity was wrapped up, not in who she was or in her extravagant lifestyle in Hollywood, but in this simple fact: she lived for her audience and found happiness only there.
As Christians bring praise from week to week, the grace-filled heart must come to terms with the overwhelming fact that we sing praise to a great God who has redeemed us through Christ and gives us an identity—son or daughter, redeemed, loved, made holy, made holy, Spirit-filled—all with hearts that ought to overflow with grace.
Learn that lesson as you praise.
We must put the words before the tune. We must own that which we sing. We must have our identify in the one to whom we sing. Having these three simple truths in mind, we are better equipped to fulfill what The Confession describes as singing psalms with grace in the heart. For you have been redeemed—sing as though it is true!
In the words of Judy Garland:
“Forget your troubles and just Get Happy, you better chase all your cares away Sing Hallelujah, come on, Get Happy, Get ready for the judgment day.”
You are preparing for eternity. Sing like it! For there’s no place like your eternal home.
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A La Carte (August 22)
Blessings to you today, my friends.
There are some new Kindle deals today (and some from yesterday I forgot to mention).
(Yesterday on the blog: Glorifying God and Glorifying Mountains)
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This is a really helpful look at anger that is sinful and anger that is pure.
The Difference Between Optimism and Biblical Hope
“The Bible speaks a lot about hope, not so much about optimism. That doesn’t mean optimism is necessarily bad! (The Bible doesn’t mention pie, and only a monster would insist we avoid that.) However, both inside and outside of the church, there is confusion about hope and optimism.”
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“Christians throughout all time have been, rightly, energized to love God more through this high calling. But I have to say this: There is something greater than the Great Commandment. Before you strike me off as a heretic, hear me out.”
Wings of Wonder (Video)
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“When my dear April died, more than one friend asked me if I found solace in the fact that her death had brought an end to her suffering. In one sense, yes: I’m glad that she is no longer shivering in pain and rejoice that she is with Christ for he is a far better husband than I ever was. Even in death, God is faithful. But in another sense, ‘no.’”
Flashback: 10 Common but Illegitimate Reasons to Divorce
It is clear in the Bible that God’s intention for marriage is that it remain in effect until the death of one spouse. I believe it is also quite clear that God has provided a limited set of circumstances in which a marriage can legitimately be severed. However, many people—even Christians—offer reasons to divorce that are not sanctioned by God.The gospel provides the only true remedy for sexual brokenness. The theological and pastoral challenges we face in the transgender revolution are indeed enormous, but they are not beyond the sufficiency of Christ’s cross and resurrection. —Al Mohler
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Weekend A La Carte (February 24)
My gratitude goes to Coram Deo Pastor’s Conference for sponsoring the blog this week. It is coming up soon and will feature the preaching of Kevin DeYoung, John Piper, Carl Trueman, H.B. Charles Jr., and others. You can’t go wrong with a lineup like that!
Today’s Kindle deals include some newer books and some older ones.
(Yesterday on the blog: God’s Goodness in a Cruel World)Glenna Marshall reflects on youthful promises of obedience. “I liked the idea of promising obedience, of telling the Lord that nothing in this world would be dearer to me than obeying Him. In young, untried faith, I nearly invited him to test me, telling him in a long, journaled prayer that wherever he led, I would most certainly go. I banked on my obedience. I would be stalwart, no matter what came.” But she didn’t know what would come.
“A high-profile new resident arrived in Dumfries and Galloway recently – a ewe once known as ‘Britain’s Loneliest Sheep’. Fiona, as she has been named, was rescued after being stranded for more than two years at the foot of cliffs in the Scottish Highlands. Fiona’s plight hit the headlines after a kayaker photographed her still trapped at the foot of a steep cliff at the Cromarty Firth, two years after a previous sighting.”
This newsletter from CCEF has some great resources for helping teens with porn. Don’t miss this video featuring Todd Stryd.
Andy Naselli explains clearly and helpfully how the Arminian and Calvinist views of election differ from one another. (You can either read or watch what he says.)
“Digital distractions all begin with intentional choice. Once you start checking your phone a few times an hour, intentionally, for the sake of some good thing, you begin to check it unintentionally, regardless of its value.” Yet not all distractions are sinful.
Writing for Club 31 Women, Kelly Tarr says “We can be our own worst enemies. We are often the saboteur of our own lives and it ends up affecting the ones we love, too.”
Rather than following biblical guidance and speaking directly to a person who has offended us, we speak to anyone or everyone else. This invariably erodes relationships in the church and foments disunity.
The sovereignty of God is the one impregnable rock to which the suffering human heart must cling.
—Jerry Bridges -
A La Carte (January 13)
Good morning. Grace and peace to you.
CBD is having a sale with some excellent titles discounted, including: ESV Readers’s Bible (set); Prayer by Tim Keller; Gentle and Lowly & Deeper by Dane Ortlund; 1 2 3 books by Jen Wilkin; Be Thou My Vision; Suffering & New Morning Mercies by Paul Tripp; ESV Study Bible (black genuine leather) and more.
There are a couple of new Kindle deals yesterday and today.
The Speck You See in Their Eye Might Be the Exact Log in Yours
“In a time when the world’s view of conflict resolution seems to be defined by ‘winning’ and humiliating your adversary, there is a lesson that I continually apply in order to try to bring grace and healing to tense situations.” It’s a lesson we’d all do well to consider.
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I appreciate what Kenneth Mbugua has to say about the great need of the church in Africa.
January’s for Reflecting, Not Resolving
I think John Onwuchekwa may be on to something here. “Maybe part of the reason why so many resolutions fail by February is that they were early. Maybe the resolutions weren’t wrong; they were just underdeveloped. Maybe, they needed an extra month or two in the oven.”
God Has Not Given You a Stone
“God has not given you a stone in your circumstances. However pleasant or unpleasant your life may be, God is always giving the bread you need. He is never going to trick you or be cruel to you. God’s providence may lead us to a dry bank, yet even there God commands the raven to feeds us. In all things, even that thing you wish most never to have happened, God has not given you a stone.”
Millennials, Don’t Waste Your Childlessness
These are some interesting thoughts about an infamous tweet regarding intentionally childless millennials.
Homeschooling is a Better Offense than Defense
Samuel argues that homeschooling is better seen as a tool of offense than defense. “What is homeschooling good for? The answer, I think, is also fairly simple. Homeschooling is a powerful vehicle for personal formation, inasmuch as it normalizes a home-centered rhythm of life.”
Flashback: The Greatest Christians and the Most Visible Gifts
…in God’s economy earnestness counts for more than eloquence, obedience for more than acclaim, submission for more than any measure of visible success. If God chooses the weak to shame the strong, perhaps he also chooses the least visible to humble the most prominent.God never leads us through a place too narrow for Him to pass as well. —F.B. Meyer
