A Loud Song in the Morning

This week as I was going for my daily walk to the local gym I had one of the most unusual experiences that I’ve had in a while.  It was a beautiful summer morning and there were several others out walking and enjoying the fresh morning air.  But there was one man in particular that was catching all of our attention.  This particular man was walking towards me waving his arms around and making a kind of dance move with his feet and hips as he glided along the pathway.  While that was noteworthy and it was at first the reason he stood out there was more.  Even though he was some distance away, and even through the sound of my own huffing and puffing up the hill, I thought I could hear him singing.  As the distance between us closed my suspicions were confirmed. Yes, this man was singing as he walked or rather danced along the walkway.  I don’t just mean mumbling at tune under his breath, he was quite literally singing at the top of his lungs.  I didn’t recognise the tune and it was not until he was much closer that I realised that he was singing in a foreign language.  It was such a shock I actually didn’t know where to look as he approached.  I thought he would tone it down a wee bit as I got closer to his airspace but he never let up even for a second.  And he had a really good voice too.  He had perfect pitch and he had obviously had some formal training, which is possibly why I could hear him at first from such a great distance. Where does one look in these kinds of moments? Should I just stare at him as he waved his arms around and sung as though he was in the deep woods with no one around to see or hear him?  I ended up just looking at his left hand and when he took a breath as he passed by I said quickly, “it’s nice to hear a man singing in the morning just because he can!”  To which he responded, “thank you!”   I kept going toward the gym and he kept going in the opposite direction singing at the top of his lungs.  Like I said it was one of the most unusual experiences I’ve had in a long while.   I thought about this man off and on throughout my day.  He was enjoying himself as he sung his happy song and I must admit, that even though I found it odd, I too was enjoying myself as he walked away continuing his song. It just so happens that recently in my regular reading of scripture I read Psalm 40:1-3, I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.  He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand.  He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God…”  Now, I have no idea why this man was singing, perhaps this song was placed in his mouth as a hymn of praise to our God.  And perhaps, the song was also for my benefit, simply to bring a smile across my face and a reminder across my heart of God’s graciousness towards us.  What he has done should put a song of praise, a spontaneous, heart-felt, and passionate response that just can’t help but spill over the brim of our hearts, rush past our vocal chords, setting loose our tongues and lips in a spur of the moment song of praise sung back to God as if he were the only one listening. Think maybe I'll give that a try next time I go for a walk!