SOOTHING MUSIC FOR THE SAVAGE

 

Music became a part of my life when I was 12 years old.  I'll always be grateful to my parent's for making sure I was able to take piano lessons.  When I got stressed or upset I could always turn to the piano and after five or ten minutes of "attacking" the keys, my emotions would calm down and the music would became more melodious and less aggressive!  I've heard the saying "music calms the savage beast" and wondered just where it came from.  Turns out the actual phrase in modern English is:  "Music has Charms to soothe a savage Breast" and was coined by the Playwright/Poet William Congreve, in The mourning bride, 1697.  HERE'S the link at Answers.com. 

 

WE OFTEN ASSOCIATE MUSIC WITH IMPORTANT EVENTS IN OUR LIVES 

Imagine a wedding without music, a parade without a marching band, a graduation commencement without Pomp and Circumstance, a sporting event without the National Anthem,  and the U.S. President making a public appearance without "Hail to the Chief".  

 

BIBLICAL EXAMPLES

We have wonderful examples of songs of praise and rejoicing by various people of the Bible.  These inspired words express in scripture a true understanding of the praise and worship to the Lord.

Exodus 15:20,21  Miriam praised the Lord by leading the other women in songs of rejoicing and dancing for the triumphant crossing of the Red Sea in the Exodus from Egyptian slavery. 

Judges 5:1-31  Deborah and Barak sang a song of praise to the Lord for the victory in battle in the land of Canaan.

 I Samuel 2:1-11  Hannah rejoiced and praised the Lord for the birth of Samuel. 

Luke 1:46-55  Mary's soul magnified the Lord that she was chosen to give birth to the Messiah.

Music can often change the emotional state of an individual.  In  I Samuel 16:14-23  David's harp-playing led him to the palace in an effort to soothe the evil (distressed) spirit of King Saul.  However, in I Samuel 18:5-11  King Saul's jealous rage exploded when the women sang a song that "Saul hath slain his thousands, and David his ten thousands" in "the slaughter of the Philistines".

Other songs in scripture include the Song of Moses and Joshua (Deuteronomy 32:1-47), the Song of Moses (Exodus 15:1-21), and the Song of David (2 Samuel 22 and Psalm 18).  There are many other prayers recorded in scripture that could also be considered songs.

THE BOOK OF PSALMS

 

The Book of Psalms is by far the largest collection of songs in God's Word and is often referred to as the Bible's Hymn Book.  Reading the Psalms will always bring joy, comfort, encouragement and blessing to God's people.  The following is a quote from the introduction to the book of Psalms in my King James Study Bible: 



"If one word could be chosen to describe the book of Psalms, certainly "praises" would qualify, for there is no psalm that does not contain an element of praise."

King David wrote the majority of the psalms in the Bible.  Other authors include Moses, Asaph, Solomon, Heman, and Ethan.  Sixty-one psalms are anonymous and twelve are assigned to "The Sons of Korah".  
   
 

CHURCH MUSIC SHOULD ALWAYS

ENHANCE THE PREACHING OF THE WORD

The most important part of a church worship service is the preaching of the Word.  It is the preaching of God's Word that convicts the soul.  Music speaks to the emotional uplifting of the Word.  The modern world has brought many types of music and musical instruments into church worship services.  I'm always sadden to hear that a person has stopped attending their church services simply because they don't like the music.  The songs of the Bible should be our guide for the music in our church's worship service.  It should always be according to scripture and glorify the Lord. 

My prayer is that you will be encouraged to fill your life with music that brings honor and glory to the matchless name of Jesus.                                 

Blessings, Pamelyn

 

FINDING YOUR SPOT

Fall river, Brannockstown, Kildare, Ireland
A beautiful spot!

 

O LORD, thou hast searched me, and known me
Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, thou understandest my thought afar off.
Thou compassest my path and my lying down, and art acquainted with all my ways.
For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.
Thou hast beset me behind and before, and laid thine hand upon me.
Psalm 139:1-5

 

 

There is an old joke in our family about "finding your spot".    It involves an exasperated dad preparing for a four hour road trip on a hot summer day with his three young sons.  The boys needed some strong encouragement to "find their spot" in the backseat of the car.  As in most stressful situations, it was not funny at the time but we often chuckle about it now that those sons are grown and their dad has mellowed with age.  The dad in the story is one of my brothers and he was attempting to bring some order to the chaos.  God has an order to everything and I'm sure it grieves Him when we rebel in wanting to be in a place of our making without regard to Him and His will.  God has a place, or spot, for all of His children.  We must realize that our "spot" is not necessarily a physical location, however, it is a spiritual one.  God divinely sets a place for each one of His children and He expects us to stay in that place until He tells us to move.  No two spiritual spots are the same but they all point in the same direction - toward our Lord and Savior.   

Reading Psalm 139:1-5 assures me that God has perfect knowledge of me.  He knows where I've been, where I am now, and where I'll be in the future.  I can trust  that in whatever spot the Lord places me it will be for my good and His will.  The Psalmist David declared in verse 6 that those thoughts simply "too wonderful for me." 

We can only be pleasing to the Lord if we do

His will in His way;

which begs the question:

HOW DO WE FIND OUR "SPOT" IN THE LORD'S WILL?

 

I can think of three steps that will help point us in the right direction:

 

The first step must be to PRAY.  
 It seems so simple, but to ignore praying to God about
finding His will in our lives is like driving a car
without a steering wheel - there's no telling where you might end up. 
Navigating our lives on our own only gets us nowhere fast!

 

Once we've prayed, the next step is to FIND OUT WHAT GOD'S WORD SAYS.
  An idea in our mind may not agree with what the Bible instructs. 
 God's Word is inspired and designed for His children to read and study. 
 I like the look of a worn Bible because it tells me that the owner frequently consults its pages.  If we want to know where
our "spot" in the Lord's will is we must pay
 attention to His instructions.

 

Having prayed and studied His Word, the final step is to OBEY. 
 This requires action by faith on our part, and this is where so many Christians get stuck (myself especially).  We know what God has impressed on our hearts to do and we know we cannot please Him without doing His will but we lack the courage to follow through.  Our Sunday School lesson for this week is about David and Goliath.  God led David to the place where he met Goliath but we often miss the fact that David actually RAN toward the giant!  David was in such a hurry to meet the challenge he had to load his slingshot on the way! (I Samuel 17:48-50).  The secret to David's ability is the fact that he acknowledged that the battle was not his but the Lord's.  God blessed David with the courage, confidence and weapons he needed to defeat the giant and He will do the same for me when I simply obey.

 



The Lord's hand is upon us when we agree with Him about where and how we are to serve.  He calls us first to salvation and then to serve Him in a local, scriptural church.  We bring honor and glory to the Lord when our service is through one of His churches.  The Lord has blessed us with abilities and talents that are uniquely designed for us to be used in the "spot" He has called us to.  May the Lord bless you as you seek to do His will in your "spot".

Blessings, Pamelyn