Friday, August 16, 2019

Joyful Musicing unto God


Joyful Musicing unto God
Psalm 27:6, “ And now shall mine head be lifted up above mine enemies round about me: therefore will I offer in his tabernacle sacrifices of joy; I will sing, yea, I will sing praises unto the LORD.”
          The psalmist declared that he would sing with acclamation of joy (teruah 8643).  He also declared that his musicing would be sacrifices of joy.  The Hebrew word zebach (2077) is used 153 times in the OT.  This word refers to various sacrificial offerings made unto God.  This reference is no exception since it refers to a musical sacrifice unto the LORD.  Musicing as here mentioned was made unto God with great acclamation of joy. 
          What should the 21st century Christian musician gain from this OT reference to musicing?  I am not sure of all the meaning to be found in this musical reference, but I believe that the crux of this discussion is the element of joy.  If we are going to music unto God with singing, it must be of a joyful sort!  There is no room for bitter, sad, negative singing.  The psalmist David declared “I will”. What exactly was he declaring that he would do?  He said, “I will sing” and I will make my singing a musical offering.  Furthermore, he declared that make my musicing to be “sacrifices of joy”.  Also he affirmed that his musical sacrifices would be presented “unto the LORD”. 
The world experiences much hate and negativism.  The unbeliever does not need to experience more of it from church musicians who have “a bur under their  saddle”.  Are your musical offerings great acclamations of joy that exude from a holy heart that is crammed full of joy and gratitude unto our wonderful Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?  If you feel a need to complain unto God, I suggest that you do it privately during your one-on-one time with God.  Make sure that you do not put your dirty laundry on the line in the sanctuary so that those who have come to worship are drawn to feel sorry for you and the multiplicity of overwhelming vicissitudes of life that have overpowered you during the previous week.  God deserves a joyful musical offering on Sunday morning.

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