The Power of Music and Memory

The power of community has been on my mind especially since CORE Groups began again this week.  Being in a small group is refreshing to my soul, challenges my preconceptions and my spiritual lethargy, and journeying with other young couples uplifts my own marriage.  I've come to expect this and look forward to meeting together each week.

One thing I wasn't expecting was spontaneous breaking out into song during our small group meeting.  This wasn't exactly a "Glee" moment, but it did remind me of the power of music.  As we were reading through a passage in the Psalms we came across Psalm 95:6-7,

"Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.  For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture and the sheep of His hand..."

As we read (and probably as you just read it too), people couldn't help humming the melody to the Maranatha chorus from the early '80s.  It was a special moment, a moment when time seemed to stop and our hearts and minds were connected.  We didn't need to communicate verbally, because we were each instantly taken back to a moment in the past when we had sung this song, reminding us of God's care and guidance in our lives.  I love when I come across scripture that I already know by memory because it's in a song.  I love how God uses music that comes from scripture to uplift me in times of trouble.

How has God used music to touch you?  What songs/scripture get sparked in your memory at random times?