Song sung blue
Everybody knows one
Song sung blue
Every garden grows one

Me and you are subject to the blues now and then
But when you take the blues and make a song
You sing them out again
Sing ’em out again

Song sung blue
Weeping like a willow
Song sung blue
Sleeping on my pillow

Funny thing, but you can sing it with a cry in your voice
And before you know it, get to feeling good
You simply got no choice

Me and you are subject to the blues now and then
But when you take the blues and make a song
You sing them out again

(Source: LyricFind, Songwriters: Neil Diamond, Song Sung Blue lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group)

“Song Sung Blue” was a 1972 Billboard number-one hit song written and recorded by Neil Diamond.  It is now also the title of a movie about two musicians who fall in love while trying to eek out a living being a cover band of Neil Diamond songs. Based on a true story about their struggles in the music industry, they are shown to experience good, even great times, followed by very challenging times demonstrating the human condition of all who seek to find their place in this world.

The real meaning of the song written by Neil Diamond is about the universal human experience of sadness, and the therapeutic power of music to overcome it. The lyrics acknowledge that everyone feels “the blues” from time to time, but turning that sadness into a song can help exorcise those feelings, lift your mood, and bring you joy. 

Could it be that the writers of the psalms are prompted by God to be raw and honest about their times of feeling “the blues” and then inspired by God to know Him more, turn to Him by writing about Him—all so that we will know what to do when we feel sadness?  Expressing sadness, defeat, followed by joy and the power of what God provides in all circumstances was the mantra of David who sang in the fields as he shepherded sheep and then anointed as King over Israel! King David taught Asaph and others how to write other Psalms about God so His “beat goes on”! 

Yes, there is something about writing our feelings in prayer and prose that changes our attitudes even as we jot down our thoughts.  I’m sure God’s Holy Spirit, who leads us to all truth, has a lot to do with turning our current condition and attitudes from ashes into beauty! Writing to God as I listen for God certainly helps me and my attitude each day!  Without “a little talk with Jesus” to begin my day I would remain a mess without a message. But with Him, joy floods my soul like Heavenly Sunlight!  (Yes, another song of joy!)

The following song/psalm is sung blue for sure but remember there is more to come.  Sadness is not the end.  It is never the end—not with God in control.

Psalm 88, The Message

A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. (Musical style expressing lament)

^1-9 God, you’re my last chance of the day.
    I spend the night on my knees before you.Put me on your salvation agenda;
    take notes on the trouble I’m in.
I’ve had my fill of trouble;
    I’m camped on the edge of hell.
I’m written off as a lost cause,
    one more statistic, a hopeless case.

Abandoned as already dead,
    one more body in a stack of corpses,
And not so much as a gravestone—
    I’m a black hole in oblivion.
You’ve dropped me into a bottomless pit,
    sunk me in a pitch-black abyss.
I’m battered senseless by your rage,
    relentlessly pounded by your waves of anger.
You turned my friends against me,
    made me horrible to them.
I’m caught in a maze and can’t find my way out,
    blinded by tears of pain and frustration.

^9-12 I call to you, God; all day I call.
    I wring my hands, I plead for help.
Are the dead a live audience for your miracles?
    Do ghosts ever join the choirs that praise you?
Does your love make any difference in a graveyard?
    Is your faithful presence noticed in the corridors of hell?
Are your marvelous wonders ever seen in the dark,
    your righteous ways noticed in the Land of No Memory?

^13-18 I’m standing my ground, God, shouting for help,
    at my prayers every morning, on my knees each daybreak.
Why, God, do you turn a deaf ear?
    Why do you make yourself scarce?
For as long as I remember I’ve been hurting;
    I’ve taken the worst you can hand out, and I’ve had it.
Your wildfire anger has blazed through my life;
    I’m bleeding, black-and-blue.
You’ve attacked me fiercely from every side,
    raining down blows till I’m nearly dead.
You made lover and neighbor alike dump me;
    the only friend I have left is Darkness.

WHAT DO WE LEARN—HOW DO WE RESPOND?

Pray, seek God, listen to Him and His songs that cleanse our hearts, renew our minds, and shift our attitudes.  My song when in darkness is “It Is Well”.  Weird right?  How can a person in darkness say, “it is well with my soul”?  ICYMI, the composer of It Is Well was at his darkest time in complete sadness over suffering great lost.  Here is the story;

“This hymn was written after traumatic events in Spafford’s life. The first was the death of his son followed shortly by the Great Chicago Fire of 1871, which ruined him financially (Spafford had been a successful lawyer and had invested significantly in property in the area of Chicago that was extensively damaged by the great fire). His business interests were further hit by the economic downturn of 1873, at which time Spafford had planned to travel to England with his family on the SS Ville du Havre, to help with Dwight L. Moody’s upcoming evangelistic campaigns. In a late change of plan, Spafford sent his wife, Anna, and their four daughters, Annie, Maggie, Bessie, and Tanetta, ahead while Spafford was delayed on business concerning zoning problems following the Great Chicago Fire. While crossing the Atlantic Ocean, the ship sank rapidly after a collision with a sea vessel, the Loch Earn, killing 226 people, including Annie, Maggie, Bessie, and Tanetta. Anna survived and sent Spafford the now famous telegram, “Saved alone …”. Shortly afterwards, as he traveled to England to meet his grieving wife, Spafford was inspired to write these words as his ship passed the spot near where his four daughters had died. Bliss called his tune Ville du Havre, from the name of the stricken vessel.

When peace like a river, attendeth my way
When sorrows like sea billows roll
Whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say
It is well, it is well, with my soul

It is well
With my soul
It is well, it is well with my soul

Though Satan should buffet, though trials should come
Let this blest assurance control
That Christ has regarded my helpless estate
And hath shed His own blood for my soul

It is well (it is well)
With my soul (with my soul)
It is well, it is well with my soul…

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_Is_Well_with_My_Soul

What an incredible attitude shift from utter darkness to knowing God held this grieving father and his surviving wife in the palm of His Hand.

We learn that sadness is a normal human response. “Jesus wept.”  But sadness that comes like a tidal wave was not meant to swallow us.  Run to God, speak with Him, tell him all about what is going on and then realize He is already working on our rescue and deliverance. Belief in this truth shifts our attitudes! Turning to God for His comfort, peace, love, mercy, and grace is the only way to being well with our hearts, minds and souls!

We cannot be well until we allow God to rescue us from darkness, renews how we think, while He carries us into His Light of Truth.  There is truly blessed assurance and “joy in the morning” as we trust God to be the One and Only who carries us when we have trouble walking with wobbly weak knees.  Surrender to His best work in us!

Okay, so there are about a million songs, hymns, and praise songs flooding my mind right now as I write this so we will close with praise;

• Praise God from Whom ALL blessings Flow! 
• To Him be the glory, honor, and praise!
• Thank God for bringing out of darkness and into His Light! 
• It IS well with my soul!
• Thank Jesus who provides wellness and wholeness because of His own dark suffering to redeem our souls!

Lord,

Thank you for the dark times that teach us to run to you and fall our knees before you in surrender to your love, mercy, and grace.  YOU change everything as you change and transform us from the outside in and inside out!  To you be the glory!

In Jesus Name, Amen