Word-Filled Wednesday ~#127~ Praise Him!

"Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;

let us shout aloud to the Rock of our

salvation.

Let us come before Him with

thanksgiving

and extol Him with music and song."

~Psalm 96:1-2

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,

burst into jubilant song with music;

make music to the LORD with the harp,

with the harp and the sound of 

singing,

with trumpets and the blast of the

ram's horn -

shout for joy before the LORD, THE 

KING."

~Psalm 98:4-6

"Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.

Worship the LORD with gladness;

come before Him with joyful songs.

Know that the LORD is God.

It is He Who made us, and we are His;

we are His people, the sheep of His 

pasture.

Enter His gates with thanksgiving

and His courts with praise;

give thanks to Him and praise His

Name.

For the LORD is good and His love 

endures forever;

His faithfulness continues through

all generations."

~Psalm 100

I LOVE to praise the Lord through music. It is an enormous part of my life. THE LORD used Contemporary Christian (rock) music to bring me to Himself when I accepted Him as my Savior and Lord on May 20th, 1982. 

NOW . . . I am NOT trying to stir debate about the type of music that the Lord "likes," so PLEASE DO NOT go there. What I am going to convey here in this post, is that ~ 

 My hammered dulcimer

1) I serve THE GOD of all. And He is THE HUGE-BEYOND-MEASURE GOD, which means that He CAN AND WILL use anything and everything He so desires to bring me and you to a saving knowledge of Himself. (Even a talking donkey ~Numbers 22:27-28)

2) In MY case, HE created me to have music in my heart, to respond to music and HE used the music that I enjoy and that speaks to me to woo me to Himself . . . it worked then and continues to do so to this day. 

3) Neither He nor I expect you to be drawn to the same music that I am, but hopefully, you are drawn to and blessed by the truth of the lyrics, if not the mode of instrumentation.

THE Man and I during a recording session

with Curtis Alley

4) God has blessed me with THE Man, a husband who sings like an angel (he even surprised me and sang to me as I walked down the isle to him at our wedding) and has blessed us by allowing us to have led worship on several praise teams, to be in Christian bands, we have been blessed to have sung at 100+ weddings, to be able to not only sing but to play instruments (I play flute, Irish penny whistle, hammered dulcimer and keyboards) and we have been blessed to have lent our voices and instruments to the backgrounds of several recordings. (I don't say that to boast, I just want you to get an inkling of the roots and scope of music in our lives.) 

Music is very important to our relationship with the Lord. Music to a gift that speaks deeply to our soul. Why is it that you can still remember singy-songy nursery rhymes from your childhood? Why is it you can remember (if you're my age) all those old Beatles songs? Why do songs bring us to tears of joy because they bring back memories of certain times of our lives, vacations, someone we loved? Why does the Star Spangled Banner, sung before sporting events bring a lump to your throat every time we sing the last line? 

Music MEANS something, that's why.

If music weren't to important, why would it be mentioned so many times ~ along with certain instruments ~ in God's Word, the Bible? 

~We can't even get past the 4th chapter of Genesis before we see that "Jubal, [was] the first of all who play the harp and flute." (Gen. 4:21)

~Joshua had the praise team of his day lead the army and all the people around the Wall of Jericho. Once those trumpets started to blast, on the 7th day, God used their obedience and the sound of their blasts to bring down the wall. (Joshua 6:20-21)

~King David rejoiced to such an extent at the homecoming of the Ark of the Covenant that he DANCED and celebrated in the streets with his people ~ do you really think music wasn't a part of that celebration, whether sung and/or played? And when rebuked by his wife, David said, "I WILL celebrate before the LORD." (see 2 Samuel 6:12-23) 

~King David also was such a renowned harpist that he played for King Saul. His worship music and skill on his instrument was often the only thing that could bring Saul out of his chronic depression. 

~Do you think King David's music was something of minor importance to the Lord? Why, not at all! Almost the entire Book of Psalms are written by David. Psalms are SONGS ~ God considers worship music so important that a WHOLE BOOK of His Word consists of SONGS! 

~Before Jesus embarked upon His great sacrifice on the cross for our salvation, He and the disciples worshiped in song. "When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." (Matthew 26:30)

~The dead will rise and Jesus will RETURN at the sound of a trumpet! (1 Cor. 15:52; 1 Thess. 4:16)

~Heaven will be FILLED with never-ending praise and worship ~MUSIC~ to God! "Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying: 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD God Almighty, Who was, and is, and is to come.'" (Rev. 4:8) "Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if It had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by four living creatures and the elders . . . Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new songs: 'You are worthy . . .' Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousands times ten thousands. They encircled the throne and living creatures and the elders. IN A LOUD VOICE THEY SANG: 'Worthy is the Lamb, Who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!' Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, all that is in them, SINGING: 'To Him Who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!'" (Rev. 5:6, 8-13)

THERE WILL BE SINGING AND INSTRUMENTS PLAYING IN HEAVEN! Hallelujah! 

The Bible doesn't say what style of music will be played, but I'll bet it will be NOTHING like we know here. I knew a man who had died and come back (who has since gone back to the Lord) and of all the things he told us about the incredible-ness of Heaven, the one thing I remember is that he said the music there was more stunning, more unspeakably beautiful than anything he could humanly explain. It never ended and it was unlike what we have here because it was unbound by time. Amazing.

So, no matter what your conviction or taste of Christian music is, no matter how it has evolved over the years since creation, whether your church's music consists of an organ, a piano, a majestic choir, a humble guitarist or a full orchestra; whether you prefer your worship to be straight out of the hymnal or rockin' for the Lord ~ what we have now IS NOT what Jesus sang or how He worshiped and it IS NOT what will be on the hit parade in Heaven. BUT . . . we are BLESSED BY THE LORD to be able to praise Him with ALL of our heart, ALL of our mind, ALL of our soul and ALL of our strength in the way that HE has ordained for our time.

So, whether in your home, in your car or at your church . . . I hope you find the time to crank up your favorite Rich Mullins, David Crowder, Matt Maher, Casting Crowns, Third Day, Hillsong, Gaithers, Russ Taff, Brooklyn Tabernacle Choir . . . whoever fits your taste of worship . . . and . . . 

WORSHIP your God and King!  

Blessings from Ohio . . . Kim<><