Rehearse is a word I know well.
I grew up studying the Royal Conservatory of Music curriculum for 18 years. If you’ve ever been “blessed” to take one of these lovely piano exams, you will understand my pain when I say, you’d better show up well rehearsed or it was severely ‘noted’ (ha ha, get it, noted?). *groan* Anyway…
In junior high I joined a jazz choir that rehearsed twice a week.
In high school I joined a jazz band that rehearsed three times a week.
In college my assigned practicum was to lead a music ministry, which placed heavy emphasis on, you guessed it, rehearsal.
So when I formed a band a couple of years after that and began recording music, you can imagine how well I was rehearsed in the art of rehearsal.
After many years and countless hours of rehearsals, I’ve come to deeply understand that to rehearse something means I mentally prepare for something in such a way that I could execute it with my brain turned off.
To rehearse is to know something so well, that you don’t even have to think about it. It’s like second nature. It is to train, drill, prepare, and do something over and over and over so you know it so well that your life eats, sleeps and breathes it.
So what’s my point?
My point is this:
“When my soul is in the dumps, I rehearse everything I know of you…” Psalm 42:6
It means, when life throws you a curve ball, rehearse Him.
When life hands you difficult situations that threaten your peace, double down on rehearsal.
When you’re physically exhausted, mentally drained, and emotionally battered by the circumstances that threaten every ounce of your energy and faith, keep on rehearsing everything you know of Him because to rehearse Him means to train your heart, mind and soul so you know Him so well, that He is what you eat, sleep, live and breathe.