Sacred Psalms and Secular Songs

When we contemplate the Psalms, we contemplate songs. Granted, we have only the lyrics, the poetry, of these songs, the music having long been lost. But they are songs nonetheless. And I love songs. I love music. I also reject the arbitrary division of music and song into not particularly useful categories of sacred and secular, as in "Is that secular music?"

For example:

Here are the lyrics:

Now if you feel that you can't go on

Because all of your hope is gone

And your life is filled with much confusion

Until happiness is just an illusion

And your world around is crumbling down

Darlin' reach out

Come on girl, reach on out for me

Reach out for me

I'll be there

With a love that will shelter you

I'll be there

With a love that will see you through

When you feel lost and about to give up

'Cause your best just ain't good enough

And you feel the world has grown cold

And you're driftin' out all on your own

And you need a hand to hold

Darlin' reach out

Come on, girl, reach out for me

Reach out for me

I'll be there

To love and comfort you

I'll be there

To cherish and care for you

I'll be there

To always see you through

I'll be there

To love and comfort you

I can tell the way you hang your head

You're out of love now, now you're afraid  [I'm not sure about this line.]

And through your tears you look around

But there's no peace of mind to be found

I know what you're thinkin'

You're alone now, no lover of your own

But darlin' reach out

Come on, girl, reach out for me

Reach out

Just look over your shoulder

I'll be there

To give you all the love you need

I'll be there

You can always depend on me

Desperation. Hopelessness. Confusion. Illusion. Sadness. Loneliness. Fear. Weeping. No peace of mind. Sounds like a Psalm of lament to me. But this one has a twist. Instead of being sung by us to our absent, silent Lord, YHWH sings it to us.

Imagine Levi Stubbs as YHWH. (I hope YHWH's singing voice sounds like Levi's. It's a good Jewish name at any rate.) Imagine YHWH singing these lyrics to you. Because YHWH has sung these lyrics to you, is singing these lyrics to you, and will sing these lyrics to you and to all of us. Contemplate that. Play the song again. Listen to YHWH singing to you.

The author of Levi Stubbs's obit (linked above) wrote that Levi's voice could "evoke a kind of divine desperation." I imagine YHWH singing to us with that same divine desperation: "Just look over your shoulder. Reach out. I'll be there to give you all the love you need. I'll be there. You can always depend on me."

This "secular" song is a "sacred" Psalm for me. In these Lenten days of wilderness wandering, I hope you can hear it that way, too.