"His Yoke Is Easy"

In rehearsing for Handel's Messiah, I came across a vocally difficult and challenging choral piece. Desiring to sing the piece well and vocally healthy, I decided to bring it to my voice lesson (you know the one I got for dog sitting?). Upon singing it, working it, singing it, working it and finally singing it well, I again realized the text of this difficult piece that I used to take to heart. It said, "His yoke is easy and His burden is light". The song is anything BUT easy, and, the harder I try to sing, the heavier my sound becomes. This dichotomy was something to be grasped in my singing. Not only in my singing, however. And as much as I would have liked to brush it aside, the thought came back to me through this Psalm:

Psalm 94:18-19
"When I said, 'My foot is slipping',
Your love, O LORD, supported me.
When anxiety was great within me,
Your consolation brought joy to my soul."

The dichotomy also needs to be grasped in my life. A yoke joins two ox to make them one force, both ox must be of similar build. Ox's yokes are simple, yet strong. Though seemingly constraining, they are more than necessary. The burden upon the ox, though still a burden, is light. Like the psalmist said, though I slip, Your love supports me. Though I have anxiety, you lighten it with joy.

I HAVE yokes, I HAVE burdens, I HAVE slipped and I HAVE anxiety... But You, Oh LORD, have become my fortress, the rock in whom I take refuge.

The song is still difficult for me but it will continue to bring increasing joy no matter how challenging it is.