Lift Your Voice By Linda Bailey The regular rendition of Happy Birthday was more of an opportunity to display harmonies than it was to bless the birthday person 1 Chronicles 6:1-81 Reference: They ministered with music before the tabernacle, the tent of meeting, until Solomon built the temple of the Lord in Jerusalem. They performed their duties according to the regulations laid down for them. (1 Chronicles 6:32 NIV) Explore: I would consider that I grew up in a musical household, but quite unlike any other I’ve heard of. We rarely had music playing whilst in the house and my parents never listened to music on the radio. My sisters and I listened to some pop music on our Walkmans (love being children of the 80s) but the only record I recall my parents listening to was Handel’s Messiah in the lead up to Christmas. I remember going through a retro stage as a teenager and listening to the Beatles. I was shocked when my father started to sing along as I’d never heard him sing anything remotely pop at all. Although there was little pop music in our home, it was incredibly musical. We all started to learn a musical instrument at the age of 8 and church music was a constant. My sister and father were particularly beautiful singers and would lead us in family sing-a-longs in the car when we travelled. The regular rendition of Happy Birthday was more of an opportunity to display harmonies than it was to bless the birthday person and the congregation at church would notice when our family was away as the volume of singing would halve! My sister would sing so much that we had a rule that there was to be no singing at the dinner table! One of my fondest memories was singing a four part harmony with my Dad and sisters on Christmas Day, the year before he passed away. This was so special as, even though we knew Dad was dying, everyone knew how much he loved praising God with his voice. Needless to say there were very few dry eyes in the church that day! Application: While I am totally deficient when it comes to musical pop culture knowledge, music has played a very important role in my faith life. The singing at church has brought me into a greater connection with God as well as with my family. I certainly do not have the singing ability of my sister or my father, but that does not stop me from using my voice to sing praises to my God. I think everyone plays an important role in singing to God. In 1 Chronicles we hear of a particular group of the Levites being set apart to minister in music. These days we have worship committees and creative arts departments to coordinate the musical worship in church. However, I’m a big believer in everyone participating in corporate worship. It may not be your strongest gift, but everyone has the ability to apply themselves in praise through music. Maybe it’s a chance for you to meditate on the words, maybe you like to clap along to the beat or maybe you, like me, can see the wonder of God through watching others praise Him. For a lot of us it’s a weekly part of our worship, but let us not get complacent through the repetition. Let us take every opportunity to connect with God through the music we listen to and the praise that we sing. Prayer: Lord, people have been singing Your praises for thousands of years. May we use every praise opportunity to get closer to You. Amen. How can you enhance your praise of God today?
Posted on: Wed, 24 Jul 2013 15:30:45 +0000
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