Nehemiah 8:10 states, ”Then he said unto them, Go your way,
eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing
is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the
joy of the LORD is your strength.” Psalm
89:15 states, “Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound [teruah
8643—great acclamation of joy]: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of thy
countenance.” Psalm 149:1-2, “Praise ye
the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of
saints. Let Israel rejoice in him that
made him: let the children of Zion be joyful [giyl, 1523] in their King.” The word giyl is used in a great variety of
applications in the OT but it most often connotes gladness and rejoicing. These scriptures are only a few of the
multitude of Scriptures that teach worshiping with much joy.
Certainly the fact that the Bible repeatedly
mentions singing with joy should encourage us to music with outward joy and
emotion. 1Chronicles 15:16 states, “And David spake to the chief of the
Levites to appoint their brethren to be the singers with instruments of musick,
psalteries and harps and cymbals, sounding, by lifting up the voice with joy [simchah,
8057-exceeding gladness and pleasure].” Isaiah
12:2-3 states, “Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid:
for the LORD JEHOVAH is my strength and my song; he also is become my
salvation. Therefore with joy [sasown, 8342—cheerfulness,
gladness and mirth] shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation.” Zepaniah 3:17 states, “The LORD thy God in
the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy;
he will rest in his love, he will joy [giyl, see above] over thee with singing
[rinnah, 7440—singing with gladness and joy].”
I believe that sacred musical
performance that has been devoid of the aforementioned characteristics has been
one of the reasons that so many Christian musicians becoming disillusioned with
traditional sacred music. One of the
other reasons has been that some busy musicians have failed to seek the aid and
anointing of the Holy Spirit upon their sacred musicing. Therefore, I contend that a part of being a
faithful servant (pistos doulos 4103, 1401) is being completely submissive to
the leadership of the Holy Spirit.
Furthermore, I believe that a part of faithful musical servanthood
involves being as passionate, and being even more passionate, about sacred
musicing than one is about secular musicing.
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