A mischievous thought

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Scripture


Asaph the chief, and second to him Zechariah, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-edom and Jeiel, with musical instruments, harps, lyres; also Asaph played loud-sounding cymbals,
(1 Chronicles 16:5 NASB)

 

Observation


The ark of the covenant is being returned to the Israelites. David is dancing for joy and the people are praising and worshiping God. The entire event is for God and giving thanks to him. There is a procession of people who are preparing the way for the ark and included in the mix are instrumentalists who are praising God with their musical talent. The musicians are listed with Asaph being the worship leader. He chooses his instrument to lead the entire worship team and he leads the way with the cymbals. Interestingly it doesn't just mention that he uses any old cymbals but he selects the "loud-sounding" cymbals. This is the worship leaders method of praising God.

 

Application


So, yes, I'm feeling a little mischievous today and when I read this scripture where it specified that Asaph was playing the "loud-sounding" cymbals, I just had to chuckle. I think of all the worship wars which are fought over the type of music we have in church services. I am also quite often amused at the drummer with the cymbals who sits in a plexiglass cage. I can only imagine that we might, at times, think that the only type of cymbal to be played in church is about 2 inches in diameter and tapped with a little stick. But here -- the emphasis was on praising God -- not on what the worshipers liked! Now, I do certainly understand that this was almost like a marching band and they were playing outside and they could play their hearts out and it wasn't going to be too loud. But I think the point is that they realized that this music was being played for God. I don't think the selection of instruments had anything to do with the likes or the dislikes of the crowd. The crowd didn't matter in this sense -- because the only audience they had in mind was God!

What would happen to us on Sunday mornings if we really planned our worship to be all about God? If we were able to put aside all of our personal wants and desires and realize that everything we do that day is to be for him? I think it would change the way that we come to the worship experience. There would be days that we would be selecting the "loud-sounding" cymbals because we would realize that this would bring joy to God the Father. It's about him -- not about me.

 

Prayer


Lord, may you always be the focus of our worship and may we not be distracted by desiring worship to be what we want. Amen.

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