Musicing with
Extended Hands
Psalm 147:7 states, “Sing unto the LORD with thanksgiving;
sing praise upon the harp unto our God.”
We are
admonished many times in the Bible to sing!
We are also commanded to sing unto the LORD. This Scripture verse in the Book of Psalms
instructs us to sing with thanksgiving.
The Hebrew word towdah (84260) has been translated thanksgiving in the
AV. The Hebrew word towdah means “With
extended hands”. So, Psalm 147”7 could
be justly rendered “sing unto the LORD with extended hands…’ Towdah connotes extending or raising one’s
hands in avowal or adoration to God as a confession of faith.
Is the tenor of
your musicing an avowal of faith unto God?
Is God not only the author but also the object of your musicing? Are your hands and your heart reaching up
toward God as you sing or play music? Is
your musicing a deep expression of your love and respect for God? When you extend your hands to direct
congregations, choirs, or instrumental groups, is the movement of your hands
and arms a deep expression of your passion to draw the people into effectual
musical worship? Is your musicing mostly
mere expressions of the science and art of music or are your musical actions
deep and effectual expressions of your heart and soul’s pantings after
God? Does God have preeminence in all
your musical ministry expressions?
If you are
directing a congregation that is sighted, they can all see your musical
directing expressions. They can all see
your facial expressions or lack of expressions.
They all know it if you represent the great stone face as you direct
sacred music. They know if you are
passionately involved in expressing musical worship through your conducting
gestures. When you towdah (extend your
hands) this reaching out of the hands has deep Bible support and spiritual
meaning. Therefore, church music conducting
is very serious business. Ask God to
help you efficaciously worship him, as you conduct congregations, choirs and
instrumental performing groups.
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