Your decrees are the theme of my song wherever I lodge. (Ps. 119:54)

“On the road again. I just can’t wait to get on the road again!” Willie Nelson’s hit song was our family’s theme recently. We enjoyed and endured a nine-month season of living out of suitcases and borrowing beds and guestroom floors. Every couple weeks, in a new state, we’d try out different sleeping arrangements like, three kids on the floor, one child on the bed, and the remaining five of us on air mattresses. Change and preparation for the unknown were our only consistencies. When faced with most questions, my response was, “I don’t know!”

What I did know, though? The Lord was with us, just as he’d been with us prior to that season of transition. He gave us his song to sing—and that hope-filled song reminded us of his decrees and consistency.

The psalmist sang a similar tune while he travelled through suffering and change. His song, sung over and over, reminded him of the Lord’s laws and faithful promises. The hope lodged in those promises was his theme.

When you find yourself in a season of change, suffering, or the unknown, sing back to the Lord, loud and strong. Sing the words of his promise. Lean in and listen as the ancient laws sing their song to you. Let the theme of your song remind you of God’s unfailing decrees and his steadfast faithfulness.

Set the Lord’s laws as your theme song; sing them loud and strong!

Jamie Hilty lives in Goshen, Indiana. Singing, story-sharing, and creating bring her joy. She’s grateful her pastor-husband shares his office and parents their kids so she can put words on paper.

© 2019 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission.