And whenever the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, David took the lyre and played it with his hand. So Saul was refreshed and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.

  - 1 Samuel 16.23

Mochuda went with the swine through the woods of the Maine, and heard Carthagus, the aged bishop, singing his psalms; and Mochuda loved the psalms greatly. And he followed the road behind the clerks, and came to the place where they were, to the monastery called Tuam.

  - Anonymous, Life of Mochuda (Irish, 16th century, from a 9th century ms.)

Mochuda – who took the name, Carthage, after his bishop – founded the monastery at Rahen, where he ministered forty years before moving to Lismore in the south to found a monastery there. He is one of the great 7th-century solidifiers of the Celtic revival. 

His life bears some similarities to Patrick: He was raised in a Christian environment, but it only touched him tangentially. He worked for a cruel master – his father – watching pigs (not sheep, as in Patrick’s case). He was drawn to follow the Lord for his life’s calling not by a vision in the night, but by the powerful allure of the psalms. 

Even as a swineherd Carthage had come to love the psalms, and something about the distant singing of his bishop captured his soul, causing him to leave his family and take up the work that would define his life. Like Augustine, whose wandering soul was arrested by the singing of psalms in the church at Milan, Carthage found liberation, direction, calling, and courage in the singing of an old clerk (cleric, or, priest). 

There is power in song to exalt, embolden, and ennoble the soul. I suppose this is one reason why Saul was so helped by David’s singing; it explains why song has always had such an important place in the Christian movement. Over and over the Scriptures command us to sing to the Lord. One of the evidences of the filling of the Spirit is that we find ourselves singing. Singing has power to transform the affections from depression and gloom to exultation and joy. Jesus led His disciples to the Garden of Gethsemane, knowing what awaited Him there, with a song on His lips. 

When will we learn the power to make singing a more vital part of the strengthening of our own souls? For who knows how our singing of God’s psalms may affect, not only us, but others who hear us?

Psalm 47.7, 8 (Truro: “Shout, for the Blessed Jesus Reigns”)
God is the King of all the earth,
Sing praise to Him with glorious psalms!
He rules the nations by His worth,
And on His throne receives their alms.

O God, as Carthage’s singing wooed Mochuda, and Brenda’s chanting of the psalms enthralled all who heard him, so teach me to sing for your glory and to your praise, as often as I may!