Click here to read Psalm 33 on BibleGateway.com
Traversing through the entire Bible, one must admit that there are some areas of the road that are tougher than others (looking at you, Leviticus). But every once in a while, we come to a chapter that is like strolling through a green meadow; a meadow that is full of cotton candy vendors and plush lazy boy chairs. Let us partake of this wonderland together today.
“DUDE, TUNE THAT HARP!”
Psalm 33:3 is perhaps the most common favorite verse of musicians everywhere. And since musicians are typically known as children who never grow up (seriously, banging on drums for a living?), it seems only fitting that we acknowledge their favorite verse before they throw a hissy fit. Or steal our cords. Just to keep it simple today, we’ll focus on musicians in a church worship team.
Psalm 33:3 has three commands in its shortness. One, sing a new song. Now don’t get too defensive; hymns are great. There’s a depth to them that is often lacking in modern worship songs. But, every generation approaches God’s throne in their own way, and it seems that God enjoys variety enough that learning a new worship song or two is probably ok. So while modern songs may seem a bit repetitive at times or a bit simplistic, let’s not be too quick to judge the new wine but our old flabby wineskins
Two, play skillfully. True story; there was once a musician in a worship team who argued that the band didn’t need to practice, they just needed to pray and God would give them more skill. While the faith is nice, God tends to honor the effort that we put forth. For all you musicians out there, all those Psalms didn’t just fall out of David’s head; he played that sweet harp for hours out in the field. Don’t forget to do “whatever you do as unto the Lord.” When your fingers start bleeding, then you know you’ve probably practiced enough for one day.
Three, a loud noise. Oh, how some of us love this part. Depending on your preferred translation, it will either say to play and shout for joy, or play with a loud noise. In either case, we’re talking quiet chants here. There are many churches who equate volume with irreverence, and let’s be honest, it’s hard to worship when your ears are ringing. However, at every concert and sporting event, the joyful audience is hardly quiet. They are, in a sense, exalting their team, and high volume is a part of it. It seems appropriate that our celebration of God should not shrink from that exuberance.
CODA
Normally, this is where we’d sumup the day’s reading and suggest an overall point. But it seems a little pointless today, since the attention span of most musicians
SQUIRREL!