BRING ME A MINSTREL

BRING ME A MINSTREL

There is a vivid illustration in the Bible of what good music can do for a congregation of saints, or for an individual believer.

I use the term "GOOD MUSIC" intentionally, for it is my opinion that there is far too much "beat of the heathen" in much of the noise that is being passed off as music for worship in these days.

I never studied music, but in my Pastoral years I did learn that music can set the mood for a congregation, either to promote PRAISE, or to promote WORSHIP.

There is a distinct difference between PRAISE and WORSHIP. Both are beneficial and necessary, but neither one to the exclusion of the other.

The use of fast, higher pitched songs will tend to promote a happy atmosphere where folks want to clap their hands, tap their feet, or run around the building. That is very good in its place, but, over the long haul, it produces relatively poor Spiritual stablility in the saints-- especially the younger ones.

Conversely, the slower, lower pitched songs tend to promote more of an atmosphere of WORSHIP, which is more conducive to the bringing forth of the Gifts of Utterance in the congregation. We are nigh starved to death for lack of hearing the Voice of the Spirit in many of our congregations.

Experiment with the 23rd Psalm. Pitch it high, and speed it up. It produces an exuberance of spirit right away. Try it again, low pitched, and quite slow. It calls forth an entirely different mood immediately. What it does for the individual, it will also do for the congregation.

Elisha, and perhaps others of the Prophets knew this about music. When two kings called upon him for advice about a forthcoming battle, he NEEDED something to counteract his utter contempt for one of the kings. He possibly asked the minstrel to sing Psalm 23. ?????

II Kings 3:14 And Elisha said, [As] the LORD of hosts liveth, before whom I stand, surely, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look toward thee, nor see thee. But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him. And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches.

Do you want the Moving of the Spirit in your congregation? Set the mood for it. Do you want excitement and jubilance? Set the mood for it.

You will have to LEARN HOW to WORSHIP, and then TEACH YOUR PEOPLE HOW, for it is almost a lost art in our present day Church culture.