If you have read my previous posts, you will know I am (still) reading through 2 Chronicles. In chapter 20, when Judah was facing elimination by the Ammonites, Moabites and Mennonites (well, close,) they cried out to God in their distress. Their King, leaders, families with their children and little ones stood before the Lord. He heard and answered, telling them the battle was not theirs but His. Somehow, (we are not told how, but it seemed to come from some kind of focus group consultation – see verse 21) they came up with the brilliant military strategy of sending singers out in front of the army! “As they began to sing and praise, the LORD set ambushes against” their enemies. Luckily, Anabaptism had not been invented yet! But that’s another story.
Yesterday, I was reading about young king Josiah, several generations later, and came upon this music theme again. Unlike his wicked father and grandfather, young Josiah set his heart to seek the Lord. He destroyed the places of idol worship and set the priests and Levites to restoring the temple which was in disrepair. Then I came to this part of the story in 2 Chronicles 34 :
12 The men did the work faithfully. Over them to direct them were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites descended from Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, descended from Kohath. The Levites—all who were skilled in playing musical instruments- 13 had charge of the laborers and supervised all the workers from job to job. Some of the Levites were secretaries, scribes and doorkeepers.
I thought, “What’s with that? What do musical instrumentalists know about supervising renovation workmen?” As I thought about it again today, I thought about the hours of instruction I had to accept, the hours of practice I had to put in when my friends were playing ball, the groups of people I had to humble myself in front of at recitals – in the process of becoming a very mediocre player. People who are good instrumentalists probably have some excellent human leadership abilities. And the text says they “directed” the workmen. Most instruments are not played solo. Their players take direction, work in harmony with others, and learn how being a director works. They probably were not telling the carpenter how to use a saw, nor the stonemason how to use the chisel. They were ensuring the foundation preceded the wall, that the materials were there when the workers needed them, that lunch showed up at lunchtime, that there was enough money on hand for next week’s jobs, etc. They were “directing,” not doing the renos. Maybe musicians were the right choice.
But beyond that, I thought about the whole matter of God and music. Why is there music at all? What is music? What distinguishes music from other combinations of sounds? Why does every human culture have music with instruments and singing? Why does every religion use music? How is it that musical sounds, apart from the content of lyrics, can move us, change us, heal us? There is something divine about music.
Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."
What do you think? What are your answers to these questions? Do you have other like questions?
In a brief foray onto the internet, I found this article about music and the divine. http://www.whosoever.org/v9i5/stars.shtml
Yesterday, I was reading about young king Josiah, several generations later, and came upon this music theme again. Unlike his wicked father and grandfather, young Josiah set his heart to seek the Lord. He destroyed the places of idol worship and set the priests and Levites to restoring the temple which was in disrepair. Then I came to this part of the story in 2 Chronicles 34 :
12 The men did the work faithfully. Over them to direct them were Jahath and Obadiah, Levites descended from Merari, and Zechariah and Meshullam, descended from Kohath. The Levites—all who were skilled in playing musical instruments- 13 had charge of the laborers and supervised all the workers from job to job. Some of the Levites were secretaries, scribes and doorkeepers.
I thought, “What’s with that? What do musical instrumentalists know about supervising renovation workmen?” As I thought about it again today, I thought about the hours of instruction I had to accept, the hours of practice I had to put in when my friends were playing ball, the groups of people I had to humble myself in front of at recitals – in the process of becoming a very mediocre player. People who are good instrumentalists probably have some excellent human leadership abilities. And the text says they “directed” the workmen. Most instruments are not played solo. Their players take direction, work in harmony with others, and learn how being a director works. They probably were not telling the carpenter how to use a saw, nor the stonemason how to use the chisel. They were ensuring the foundation preceded the wall, that the materials were there when the workers needed them, that lunch showed up at lunchtime, that there was enough money on hand for next week’s jobs, etc. They were “directing,” not doing the renos. Maybe musicians were the right choice.
But beyond that, I thought about the whole matter of God and music. Why is there music at all? What is music? What distinguishes music from other combinations of sounds? Why does every human culture have music with instruments and singing? Why does every religion use music? How is it that musical sounds, apart from the content of lyrics, can move us, change us, heal us? There is something divine about music.
Zephaniah 3:17 The LORD your God is with you,
he is mighty to save.
He will take great delight in you,
he will quiet you with his love,
he will rejoice over you with singing."
What do you think? What are your answers to these questions? Do you have other like questions?
In a brief foray onto the internet, I found this article about music and the divine. http://www.whosoever.org/v9i5/stars.shtml
posted by lornewel at
6:53 p.m.
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