One of the definition for the word “Troubadour” according to the Merriam Websters dictionary is “a class of lyric poets and poet-musicians often of knightly rank who flourished from the 11th to the end of the 13th century chiefly in the south of France and the north of Italy and whose major theme was courtly love”.
I came across this term when watching one of my my 3 year old son’s favorite TV shows, Mickey Mouse Clubhouse. This episode was ‘Sir Goofs a Lot’ and the Troubadour character is played by Donald Duck. The word struck me as I started to ponder on it and I slowly realized that we are indeed called to be Troubadours ourselves, which led me to search for it’s exact meaning in the dictionary. The definition was truly a revelation and it amused me to realize that God speaks through straightforward means through his prophets, pastors and preachers but also through mysterious and interesting ways, including a Mickey Mouse TV show.
Closer examination of the definition “a class of lyric poets and poet-musicians often of knightly rank who flourished from the 11th to the end of the 13th century chiefly in the south of France and the north of Italy and whose major theme was courtly love” shows 2 important points.
First it talks about a class/rank of people – knightly and secondly, it talks about a theme of their songs – love.
The Bible says that we are Royal Priests (1 Peter 2:9). Royalty as Knights in God’s Army.
Our theme that we should be singing should be love, God’s LOVE for mankind.
Psalm 89:1 and Psalm 101:1 are few of the many others that states – “I will sing of the mercies of the Lord”. Some translations of the Bible translate the word ‘mercy’ to the word ‘love’ or ‘loving-kindness’ (which is better than life). The Bible also records in Lamentations 3:22-23, that the Lord’s mercies (a.k.a. loving-kindness) is new every morning.
It is akin, to God waking up (if He slept, because He never sleeps nor slumbers) to meet you and me, when we wake up, to tell us that his love (mercy) is new and available for us.
Isn’t that something we should be singing about.
We are to be Troubadour Christians who if Merriam-Websters was to define us who have to define as us
“A class of Royal Priests and Knights in God’s army, that composed songs with a major theme – God’s Mercies a.k.a. Love”
Let us be Troubadour Christians – Let us sing of the mercies of the Lord forever and with us make known his faithfulness and loving-kindness to all generations.
