Pastor’s Bible Reading Schedule:
1 Chronicles 25-29
Music was crucial in David’s life. While a young shepherd, he was known as “a brave man and a warrior,” but he first came to the court of King Saul because of his ability to play the harp. Although there is no record of David taking time out of his schedule as king to play the harp for relaxation, he did write numerous psalms. Therefore, it is not surprising that David integrated a musical dimension into worship, something that had not existed before.
Clearly, the music was not included in order to create a “worship” mood or simply to express emotion toward God. It served as a way of conveying the commands of God. As we know from the Psalms, many ancient hymns of Israel contained historical and theological references. In Psalm 81, Asaph intertwined the story of Israel in the desert with exhortations to stay true to God. We also know that at times in the Old Testament, music was used to encourage a prophet to speak God’s message.
Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun were responsible for the temple music. The number of their sons added up to twenty-four, thanks in particular to Heman, who supplied fourteen of them. Each son constituted a division, and since there were 288 musically qualified relatives in the combined families, they were able to set up shifts of twelve artists each, listed in verses 9-31. These leaders had four thousand Levites whose talents they could draw from. The twenty-four divisions were under the direction of the man they were named for, but then each son reported to his father (Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun). This was one aspect of the temple service over which David was not going to give up control; the three main ministers of music remained under his supervision.
It is sad that many churches have taken true worship and the design of godly music and replaced it with an emotional filled genre that appeals to the flesh. May we take time to thank God for the Weigles and the spiritually mature approach to using music to truly worship the Lord.
Prayer Requests:
Personal
- Lord, please help me to always use music in the way that you intended it to be used in true worship.
- Lord, please help me to demonstrate gratitude for the gift of music.
- Lord, please help me, to help FBC understand and appreciate truly godly music.
Political
- Representative Gary Howell – District 82 – North Branch
- US Representative Bill Huizenga – District 2 – Zeeland
- Representative Mark Huizenga – District 74 – Grandville