The Ministry of Music: Scripture
Songs
SINCE MY WORK has been principally in the field of music, I have been interested in the role played by musicians and singers in the Bible.
"And these are the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites, who remaining in the chambers were free: for they were employed in that work day and night" (1 Chronicles 9:33).
I think it is significant to note the importance of these men who had the responsibility for the music in the worship of the Lord. Their names are given, as well as the instruments they played. There was the psaltery, the harp, the trumpet, the cornet, and the cymbals. Although some of these names sound familiar to us, they differed considerably from their modern counterparts.
(It is interesting to note here, that when you buy an LP featuring a small combination of musicians, you will find each instrument listed, with the artist's name.) But, to get back to the singers and musicians listed in I Chronicles, it must be remembered that the music was an integral part of their worship, not just an unimportant addition.
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There is an unfortunate attitude held by some pastors and evangelists, which seems to be, "Let's hurry and get through the music, so the preacher can get started." Yet this view is refuted by many letters to the "Old Fashioned Revival Hour." Many of these people say that they were originally attracted to the broadcast because of the music, and it was later that they became interested in the message, and accepted Christ as Saviour.
It is true, of course, that music can never take the place of the sermon. "For after that in the wisdom of God the world by wisdom knew not God, it pleased God by the foolishness of preaching to save them that believe" (I Corinthians 1:21). However, it is also true that good gospel music increases the effectiveness of the message.
Music has a special and personal ministry to us. "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord" (Ephesians 5:19). And James 5:13 says, "Is any among you afflicted? let him pray. Is any merry? let him sing psalms."
Look back on your own experience. How many times have you been able to encourage your heart with a song?
Many times when I play in public, I am playing to myself, too. There are times when I personally need the encouragement and comfort that only the old songs can bring. I remember, after Dr. Fuller's funeral, I came home, sat down at the piano, and played "He the Pearly Gates Will Open." As I thought of the loss of that great Christian warrior, and his abundant entrance into Our
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Lord's presence, I felt the need of the comfort and inspiration of that old hymn.
Music has its message for those around us, as well as to our own hearts. I never tire of reading the sixteenth chapter of Acts, which tells of the time when Paul and Silas were imprisoned at Philippi. Verses twenty-three to twenty-five tell us, "And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely. Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. And at midnight, Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them." I'm sure that Paul and Silas weren't singing to entertain the other prisoners that night, but their songs were heard, and I am sure those other prisoners never forgot that night in that Philippian dungeon when they heard the two apostles singing praises to God.
Those men were singing, not because of their circumstances, but in spite of them. And only Christ can put such a song in our hearts. Some of our popular music has a lilt to it, and some of the ballads contain a sentimental appeal, but the music of praise to God speaks to the heart.
And when we are out of the will of God, we will find it difficult to sing. When the Jews were taken into captivity in Babylon, they found that they could not sing. We read in Psalm 137:1-4: "By the rivers of Babylon, there we sat down, yea, we wept, when we remembered Zion. We hanged our harps upon the willows in the midst thereof. For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us
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required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?"
How, indeed! These people had been taken into captivity because of their disobedience to God's commandments. And now their captors wanted them to sing! But their harps were silent, their voices were stilled, in the hostile atmosphere of that pagan land. Add to this, the guilt and shame that must have been theirs, in the knowledge that they had failed their God.
There is a fearful passage in the eighteenth chapter of the Book of Revelation which speaks of the judgment and fall of Babylon.
"And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.
"And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of pipers, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee . . . " (vs. 21, 22).
I think it is significant that one of the consequences of the judgment of God upon Babylon was the stilling of all music!
The greatest of all ministries of music is unto God. The scripture quoted earlier from Ephesians 5:19 says, "Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your hearts to the Lord."
"I will sing unto the Lord as long as I live: I will sing praise to my God while I have my being" (Psalm 104:33). When we sing or play in church, we should bear in mind that first of all, we are singing and playing unto
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the Lord. We are not entertainers; we are not showmen; we are not just men-pleasers—we are rendering our music to the Lord. If you truly believe in this, it will change your whole attitude toward your ministry in music. You will not have to be urged to give your best. Would you dare to do less than your best if you were conscious that God was listening?
I think the best illustration of the power of music is to be found in the Old Testament, in 2 Chronicles, chapter 20. The Israelites were being invaded by the Moabites and the Ammonites. Jehosaphat went before the Lord in prayer, and God promised victory. "Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude; for the battle is not yours, but God's"(v. 15).
What was the plan of battle? It was one of the strangest battles ever witnessed. "And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord, and that should praise the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army, and to say, Praise the Lord, for his mercy endureth for ever" (v. 21). Can you imagine that scene? Can you imagine putting the singers in the front lines? Yet, that is what happened! And what was the outcome? "And when they began to sing and to praise, the Lord set ambushments against the children of Ammon, Moab, and mount Seir, which were come against Judah; and they were smitten" (v. 22). What was it that brought the victory that day? Not the horsemen, nor the chariots, nor the swords, nor the spears. That day, the battle was won by the songs of praise.
I am sure that many battles are won, many hearts are comforted, and many tears are dried by songs of praise.
