Inspiration for a Church Speech
by Eric Swanson
Starting an inspiring speech in church would require reference material that adds to the emotion that the speaker wants to convey. Two poems that help greatly in this task are Psalms 23 by King David and the song Since I Met You by DC Talk. These two poems convey a statement of joy and happiness though life might drag a person down often. Through the use of tone, imagery, figurative language, symbol, and syntax these two poems help create an inspiring speech for church.
The tone of these two poems reveal the essence of what the author was trying to say. In the song Since I Met You, the author was implying the joy he feels now that he found Jesus. In the beginning of the song the listener is given a feeling of hopelessness by slow, solemn music coupled with the words of “Was at the end of my rope, had nowhere to go”. This kind of tone continues through the first 40 seconds of the song until the music stops and increases in beat and rhythm. With the music change came a tone change that lasts through the rest of the song. The first verse still claims hopelessness, when it says “At every party and as far as anybody knew – everything was cool, but...I was as lonely as a man could be.” however with the faster, lively music the listener is not taken back to the original tone. Instead the listener is kept tapping his/her foot till the chorus when it first claims the tone it is trying to convey with “Since I met you I’ve been okay You’re rolling my winter into May, Since I met you I’ve been alright, I’ve been okay.” Now through the rest of the song it continues to reaffirm that original tone of happiness in Jesus. This is pinnacled when the writer states, “Now I’m carried away Never seen the sunshine like today, you made something of my life.” This last original verse is the essence of the tone. The word choice and rhyme help to achieve the tone. By the author using the words “carried away” and “sunshine” and using a couplet that has a soft vowel it all works together to get this feeling of happiness and joy. In a similar fashion, King David writes Psalms 23 about his happiness with the Lord. Since the reader is reading in an English translation and not the original Hebrew, the reader is not aided by rhyme to help show the tone of the poem. However, through the word choice the reader is still given a tone of happiness. Through phrases like “I shall not want", "He makes me lie down", and "He restores my soul.” the reader is given a feeling of comfort and relaxation, a happiness knowing the Lord. Further on in the Psalms, the writer goes into the hard times of life similar to what the song did, by stating that the author was walking “through the darkest valley”. However, in the end the original tone of the poem is reaffirmed by the author stating, “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life”. In both poems the author helped convey his message of happiness and comfort in the Lord by the tone that they set within their poem.
Imagery is another major part of the Psalms 23 that helps convey a message of inspiration. Throughout the poem images are used to help bring pictures to the readers mind and reaffirm the original intent. In the beginning King David writes, “He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside still waters.” This image of a person lying down in a field of green grass next to a gentle brook just exudes tranquility and peacefulness. No wonder the next line of the poem states, “he restores my soul” An image of green pastures would definitely restore any soul. Later on to show what the Lord does for him, King David states, “Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil, for you are with me.” In this image the writer is walking through a dark valley. This description creates an image of possible fear and evil lying in this dark valley, but with the Lord with the author he is not afraid. Imagery is an essential part of Psalms 23 that helps create an atmosphere of inspiration.
Figurative language is used in DC Talk’s poem to help convey a message of inspiration. In the song Since I Met You, there are many examples of figurative language that help support the theme. In the second verse the author states, “You got me feeling like a million bucks”. In this example the author tried to compare the happiness he felt with the feeling one gets when they have a million dollars. In another example he states, “The truth it hit me like a sock in the eye” to reemphasis how the revelation of Jesus being his happiness surprisingly struck him. By using figurative language, the poem can be interrupted as an exaggeration of the great happiness he is feeling. Figurative language helps add fullness to the happiness felt in the author.
Symbolism is very prevalent in the Psalms 23 poem. Right in the very beginning, “The Lord is my shepherd.” The author uses shepherd to signify the relationship he has with the Lord. The author does not really have a shepherd to help him function daily, but the relationship that he does have can be likened to a shepherd and his sheep. The author uses this symbol to make the point that without the Lord’s guidance, as does a shepherd does with his sheep, that the author would be lost on how to successfully live this life according to his religious beliefs. Later in the poem, he uses the symbol of a shepherd again. He says, “Your rod and your staff – they comfort me.” In this example he again does not mean that the Lord literally has a rod and a staff and he uses it to comfort his believers. But the author does make the comparison that just like a shepherd uses those tools to help guide and correct his sheep to move in the right direction, so does the Lord have ways to instruct and correct his believers so that they go in the right directions religiously. “My cup overflows” is a symbol of the happiness and contentment he feels in the inside his heart. With the cup being a symbol for the author’s heart, one can easily interrupt the feelings he has been expressing in the poem to be overflowing without bounds. The happiness he feels is just overwhelmingly good. Finally, the author conveys his happiness in staying with this “shepherd” he has found by stating, “and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.” In this example, King David literally does not mean that he will stay in church for the rest of his life and will not come out for anything, but he uses the “house of the Lord” as a symbol for a relationship with the Lord. With all this overwhelming happiness that the author feels it is obvious that the author would want to stay in a relationship with the Lord, so he could experience that happiness all his life. Of course, that is what is proclaimed in the final passage of the poem, highlighting what he has chosen for his life to do and be. In addition, there is symbolism in the song Since I Met You. In the chorus, DC Talk writes that the Jesus is “rolling my winter into May”. This passage does not mean that the seasons are changing, but the seasons are a symbol for the change in his life. Winter is usually a symbol of cold and death. May is a month in spring, which usually is interrupted as a time for life and rebirth. By the author claiming that Jesus is rolling his “winter into May”, he is trying to make the point that before Jesus he felt himself dieing, but that Jesus had gave him a new life. In these examples symbolism plays a great part of Christian poetry. To be able to make a good inspirational speech to church, including poetry that are heavy in symbolism would help greatly.
In addition, syntax can be used as well to help make a speech inspirational. In Psalms 23, syntax is used to make the emphasis of the poem come alive. In the final verse of the poem, the rhythm of the poem becomes faster with “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life.” The organization of the poem all leads up to the final verse in the poem. Also, in these last words, there is a departure of the usual style of the rest of the poem. Here the author is explicitly saying what he means, instead of using figurative language, imagery, or symbolism to make his point. This emphasis on these words helps to convey the message of happiness that the author feels toward the Lord. By him emphasizing that, the poem becomes a great reference in the speech for inspiring. Also in the song Since I Met You, the chorus is the syntax of the poem. By the repeating of those lines the author reemphasizes the happiness he feels and the message he is bringing to the readers and listeners. By using syntax, the author is able to drive the message he is trying to convey in an obvious manner. These two poems use syntax to emphasize the inspiration, comfort, and happiness that are found in the Lord. These two poems would make a great reference for a speech in church.
When trying to make a speech in church, it is always necessary to have references that help support the message you are trying to convey. In a speech that is trying to inspire, two good poems to use are Psalms 23 by King David and Since I Met You by DC Talk. These two poems use tone, imagery, figurative language, symbol, and syntax to help create an inspiring speech for church. A good speech must have a good base context. By using these two poems, a speaker would have a good start in making a great speech to a church.
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Date this page was last updated: 12/06/2002