Musical living....

Music is a powerful tool. Used by advertisers, directors, or producers, it can cause our hearts to beat faster or our blood to run cold. It can heighten the tension, or bring resolution in a frightening scene. Therapists use music to heal, and musicians use their craft to tell a story. A note of music can evoke the past as readily as the smell of fresh bread or the scent of your mother's perfume.

Music provides a backdrop throughout the Bible, interwoven in the familiar stories. The Psalms, originally rendered on stringed instruments such as the harp or lyre, are almost entirely devoted to musical praise, and Solomon's Song of Songs is his life story written in musical words. There are verbal pictures of playing and dancing to music throughout the Old and New Testaments, the lyrical notes just beyond our reach. Biblical women of leisure learned to play the instruments of their time to entertain each other, and music would have been a part of their daily life, just as it is a part of ours. The night that Jesus was born, the angels came from heaven to sing to the shepherds, and in Revelation, music ceasing to play becomes a metaphor for the world ending.

Music can enrich our lives, when we use music to praise and worship God. He instilled within us the love of music, and when we play and sing to his glory, he is pleased. But we can use music to send another message, as well, a message of hate, of hurt, of despair. It is important to guard our innermost soul from the damage that the wrong musical message conveys, and to listen to music which purifies, uplifts and supports our faith. When our music is discordant, cacophonous, it is often a signal that peace is not found within our hearts.

In Ephesians 5:18b-19 we read, "Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord." Paul was giving instructions to his followers on living a daily life in Christ, and one of his most important directives was to sing to each other and make music from the heart.

Think about the music in your heart today. Is it a melody fitting for a child of The King? Or is it more fitting for one who is walking the path of darkness? In the midst of his darkest hour, King David cried out to God through music, and was uplifted. Sing a song of joy today, and find the peace which only music can bring to the soul.