John Stocker wrote a hymn, “Thy Mercy My God, Is The Theme Of My Song,” in 1776 that I discovered on the pages of a Gadsby’s Hymnal about ten years ago. I wrote a new melody to his four stanzas that afternoon, and these words have been an arresting companion for me in many changing seasons since that day.

Love. Joy. Peace. Patience. Kindness. Goodness. Faithfulness. Gentleness. Self-control. When I read the familiar list of the fruit of the Spirit, I immediately think, YES. I want to be all those things! Who doesn’t love joy and peace? Who couldn’t use more kindness and self-control?

I was a little intimidated to record a new version of “Great Is Thy Faithfulness” for this new She Reads Truth project, but I was also drawn to it for the same reason—because it felt like a challenge. Sometimes a song feels too big to reduce into a few chords.

Be still my soul, be still. Ka­tha­ri­na A. von Schle­gel, the writer of this hymn, gives us many gifts in these words I carry around with me. Last week, I visited a chapel in New Jersey, a building about as old as these lyrics. I wandered into the dim, resonant space on that bright, autumn afternoon. The pews were empty but for a few folks milling about on the outside aisles. As I found my way to a well-worn bench toward the middle, I began to trace the storylines of the painted glass in the arched ceilings above my head.

I think children often imagine themselves as the center of all things, even the weather. And I think there’s something commendable about their curiosity, how they can attune their hearts and minds to what surrounds them. Psalm 104 gives me the impression that this is a God-inspired curiosity. Here, the psalmist wills his own soul to consider the beauty and majesty of God, and in doing so, his soul is moved to worship our Creator and admire His creation.

My emotions have been a bit up and down lately. I’ve been writing songs in fits and starts, leaving chords and scribbled notes in papers on the piano, unfinished and forgotten. This is an especially dynamic time for our family as we have recently welcomed a new baby. But as we shift into this new season of life, I find I am once again comforted by chords and lyrics, by the act of praising and worshiping God through them. I find rest when I call to mind these words from the psalmist: “For the word of the LORD is right and true; he is faithful in all he does” (Psalm 33:4 NIV). Our God has made all things with His own hands, and with every new season and turning of our lives, He invites us to sing a new song to Him.