The Lord will save me,
    and we will sing with stringed instruments
all the days of our lives
    in the temple of the Lord.

Isaiah 38:20

A few of you have asked about my guitar. Recently, and after neglecting it for far too long, I have started working to get back into the routine of playing a little every day or so. I am, so far, both pleased and disappointed.

On the plus side, I am very happy to be playing again. But at the same time I am seriously concerned about how difficult it is for me. I can’t seem to form and play chords with the dexterity and the clarity I had been accustomed to. There is far too much – and you’ll hear it in this recording – in the way of buzzing and muffling and slipping (I’m talking about my fingers on the fretboard, not me! I’m not audibly creaking quite yet.).

Nevertheless, I agreed to play background music last week during communion at Maundy Thursday worship. Getting ready, I changed out my strings, and this gave me the opportunity to photograph the guitar in more detail. It really is a beautiful instrument.

The model is an Ovation acoustic. I love the tone, as well as the look and feel, and it features proprietary electronics that do a great job of preserving the integrity of the acoustic sound when it is run through an amplifier. But this time I just stood in front of a mic.

Anyway, and in response to several requests, here is the set I played while people were being served the bread and the wine. Mostly chords but with hints at the melody.

I tried to replicate it at home, but of course made far too many mistakes. Regardless, here is the medley: 1) Spirit of the Living God; 2) Turn your eyes upon Jesus; 3) Where you there when they crucified my Lord?

Enjoy. And I hope that I see you in church. Because Easter isn’t over after Resurrection Sunday – this is just the beginning of something remarkably beautiful.

“And we will sing with stringed instruments…” – DEREK