Music… in the Bible?
Music has always been part of the human story. It gives voice to the things we celebrate, the things we struggle with, and sometimes the things we can't quite find the words to say.
And if you've spent much time reading the Bible, you've probably noticed that music has a pretty significant place there, too.
From the songs of celebration following Israel's deliverance from Egypt to the prayers, praise, anger, fear, and desperation captured in the Psalms, music has long been a way for people to express what's happening in their hearts.
The Psalms, in particular, are filled with the same emotions we hear in the music around us today: love, loss, doubt, regret, gratitude, hope, and the search for something more.
That connection is what gave birth to the Roadhouse Hymnals.
These devotionals take familiar songs from the blues, rock, and other music I've loved throughout my life and explore the questions they raise through the lens of Scripture.
I'm not suggesting the artists were writing sermons. Sometimes the connection is obvious. Sometimes it's simply a line, an emotion, or a story that sends me looking a little deeper.
And sometimes a song we've heard a hundred times can open the door to a conversation we never expected to have.
May 30, 2026
This hymnal explores the tendency we have to always go it alone and the struggle between independence and vulnerability that comes from recognizing our human limitations…
Ecclesiastes 4:10 (NIV): 9 Two are better than one, because they have a good…
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May 4, 2026
Romans 3:23 (ESV): for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV): The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
If you’re going to have a band fronted…
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Apr 30, 2026
John 3:16 (NIV): For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
Isaiah 53:5 (NIV): But he was pierced for our transgressions, he…
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Apr 25, 2026
Psalm 27: 13 (NKJV): I would have lost heart, unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
John 16:33 (NIV): I have told you these things, so that in…
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Apr 19, 2026
“I’m Your Captain (Closer to Home)” by Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad
Psalm 22: 1 (NLT): My God, my God, why have you abandoned me? Why are you so far away when I groan for help?
Matthew 16:25 (NIV)…
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Apr 12, 2026
“Born to Run” by Bruce Springsteen
Jonah 1:3 (ESV): But Jonah rose to flee to Tarshish from the presence of the Lord. He went down to Joppa and found a ship going to Tarshish. So he paid the fare and…
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Apr 10, 2026
“Landslide” by Stevie Nicks
John 15:2 (GNT): He breaks off every branch in me that does not bear fruit, and he prunes every branch that does bear fruit, so that it will be clean and bear more fruit.
Hebrews 12:10-11…
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Apr 4, 2026
“The Pretender” by Jackson Browne
Ecclesiastes 2 24-26 (NIV): 24A person can do nothing better than to eat and drink and find satisfaction in their own toil. This too, I see, is from the hand of God,25 for without him…
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Mar 31, 2026
“Gimme Shelter” by Mick Jagger and Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones
Psalm 61:1-4 (NIV) 1 Hear my cry, O God; listen to my prayer.2 From the ends of the earth I call to you,I call as my heart grows…
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Mar 30, 2026
“Soulshine” by Warren Haynes
2 Corinthians 4:16-18 (NIV) 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for…
Read more“Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.”
— Psalm 33:3 (NIV)