Music Scriptures 2008

Search Strings: Bible Verses About Music; Choir Devotions; Musician's Devotions; Scriptural Purposes of Music; Music in the Bible

©2008 Whitney V. Myers.
This material may be reproduced for not-for-sale applications. Please include the copyright attribution.

23Mar08
"Sing to the Lord, you saints of his; praise his holy name. For his anger lasts only a moment, but his favor lasts a lifetime; weeping may remain for a night, but rejoicing comes in the morning. " -- Psalm 30:4-5

31Mar08
"You turned my wailing into dancing; you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
that my heart may sing to you and not be silent. O Lord my God, I will give you thanks forever. "
-- Psalm 30:11-12

6Apr08
"You are my hiding place; you will protect me from trouble and surround me with songs of deliverance." -- Psalm 32:7

13Apr08
"Sing joyfully to the Lord, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him." -- Psalm 33:1 (NIV)

20Apr08
"Praise the Lord with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre. Sing to him a new song; play skillfully and shout for joy." -- Psalm 33:2-3 (NIV)

27Apr08
"I waited patiently for the Lord; he turned to me and heard my cry.
He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire;
and gave me a firm place to stand.
He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear and put their trust in the Lord."
-- Psalm 40:1-3 (NIV)

4May08
"The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime; and His song will be with me in the night, a prayer to the God of my life." -- Psalm 42:8 (NAS)

"But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns of praise to God, and the prisoners were listening to them." -- Acts 16:25 (NAS)

26May08
"On that day the announcement to Jerusalem will be, 'Cheer up, don't be afraid. For the Lord your God has arrived to live among you. He is a mighty Savior. He will give you victory. He will rejoice over you in great gladness; he will love you and not accuse you.' Is that a joyous choir I hear? No, it is the Lord himself exulting over you in happy song." -- Zephaniah 3:16-17 (TLB)

An image to remember from this passage is the Lord himself exulting and singing over us.

20Jun08
"But as for me, I shall sing of your strength, in the morning I will sing of your love; for you are my fortress; my refuge in times of trouble." -- Psalm 59:16 (NIV)

Consider the role of music -- how does music assure yourself and others of God's protection and care?

8Jul08
"Behold, God is my salvation, I will trust and not be afraid; For the Lord God is my strength and song, And He has become my salvation." -- Isaiah 12:2 (NAS)

12Jul08
"Sing to the Lord, for he has done glorious things;
let this be known to all the world.
Shout aloud and sing for joy, people of Zion,
for great is the Holy One of Israel among you." -- Isaiah 12:5-6 (NIV)

26Jul08
"An evil man is snared by his own sin,
but a righteous one can sing and be glad ." -- Proverbs 29:6 (NIV)

Consider: What is the connection between living righteously and singing joyfully?
When we consider what Christ has done for us, how does that help us to sing or play music joyfully?

17Aug08
"My lips will shout for joy when I sing praise to you - I, whom you have redeemed." -- Psalm 71:23 (NIV)

Consider our human voice - God's gift to us. Not only can we speak, but we can also express our thoughts and feelings in pitch, rhythm, melody, and harmony, that is, we can sing! Let us re-dedicate the use of our voice - whether we speak or we sing - to God's glory.

31Aug08
"Your procession has come into view, O God, the procession of my God and King into the sanctuary. In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the maidens playing tambourines." -- Psalm 68:24-25 (NIV)

"I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful." -- Jeremiah 31:4 (NIV)

Instruments of Praise: Consider the role that musical instruments play in the celebration and joy of worship.  Visualize and hear the joyous procession approaching and entering the sanctuary, how the voices of singers and the sounds of instruments join in unity and praise of God.  Music enlivens the worship experience.  What a joy it is to be a musician and to use our God-given talents to the glory of God!

7Sep08

"I will praise God's name in song and glorify him with thanksgiving." -- Psalm 69:30 (NIV)

This verse is especially interesting in conjunction with the verse that precedes it:

"I am in pain and distress; may your salvation, O God, protect me." -- Psalm 69:29 (NIV)
Here, "protect me" is literally, "raise me to a high, secure place."

Think of how "praise-full" music lifts our hearts when we are in distress or discouraged. Think also of our mission as Christian musicians -- to bring encouragement to others and to draw others to Christ through the music that we sing and play for God. Through the music and praise we offer to God, we help others focus their attention on God, and through praising God, they and we are uplifted.

11Oct08

"I will sing of the lovingkindness of the Lord forever; to all generations I will make known Thy faithfulness with my mouth." -- Psalm 89:1 (NASB)

"I will give thanks to Thee, O Lord, among the peoples; and I will sing praises to Thee among the nations." -- Psalm 108:3 (NASB)

"Praise the Lord in song, for He has done excellent things; let this be known throughout the earth." -- Isaiah 12:5 (NASB)

At the time this is being written, we are in the midst of a worldwide financial crisis. In the United States, we are also nearing our quadrennial presidential election. Despite our concern about these temporal events, our mission as Christian musicians is unchanged. We are to sing praise to and give thanks to God, and to proclaim His praises to the next generation and to all those who do not know Him.

Prayer: What a joy it is to know you, Lord, and to serve you. Help us to lift up others to praise you and to know you, through the musical talents you have given us. In Jesus' name, Amen.

2Nov08

1 Chronicles 15:11-22 (NIV):

"Then David summoned Zadok and Abiathar the priests, and Uriel, Asaiah, Joel, Shemaiah, Eliel and Amminadab the Levites. He said to them, 'You are the heads of the Levitical families; you and your fellow Levites are to consecrate yourselves and bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel, to the place I have prepared for it. It was because you, the Levites, did not bring it up the first time that the LORD our God broke out in anger against us. We did not inquire of him about how to do it in the prescribed way.' So the priests and Levites consecrated themselves in order to bring up the ark of the LORD, the God of Israel. And the Levites carried the ark of God with the poles on their shoulders, as Moses had commanded in accordance with the word of the LORD.

David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to sing joyful songs, accompanied by musical instruments: lyres, harps and cymbals.

So the Levites appointed Heman son of Joel; from his brothers, Asaph son of Berekiah; and from their brothers the Merarites, Ethan son of Kushaiah; and with them their brothers next in rank: Zechariah, Jaaziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Benaiah, Maaseiah, Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel, the gatekeepers.

The musicians Heman, Asaph and Ethan were to sound the bronze cymbals; Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah were to play the lyres according to alamoth, and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah were to play the harps, directing according to sheminith. Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it."

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Consider: The occasion was the planning for the return of the ark of God to Jerusalem. King David appointed priests from the Levitical families to be in charge of moving the ark according to God's instructions. David also instructed the priests to appoint singers to sing joyful songs, accompanied by musical instruments.

Notice the number and varied array of musical instruments that were appointed to join the singers for worship: cymbals (three musicians assigned, see v. 19), lyres according to alamoth (eight musicians assigned, see v. 20), and harps according to sheminith (six musicians assigned, see v.21).

"Alamoth" refers to the treble vocal range, such as young women's voices. The term, 'alamoth,' also appears in the instructions for singing Psalm 46. Thus, these lyres were tuned in a high range. "Sheminith" is a more obscure term, and can refer to an instrument of eight strings, or possibly an "octave" instrument. 'Sheminith' appears in the instructions for singing Psalms 6 and 12. Harps according to sheminith were tuned in a lower range.

The point is that God, through David and the Levitical priests, appointed musicians and a variety of instruments to accompany singers in worship. Musical accompaniment is to be varied in instrumentation, and it is to be joyful.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, for the opportunity to serve you as singers and musicians. Thank you for the variety of musical instruments that you have inspired mankind to make. Help us to use our voices and these musical instruments joyfully to praise and honor you. Through Jesus Christ, our Lord, we pray. Amen.

30Nov08

Psalm 81:1-3 (NIV):

Sing for joy to God our strength; shout aloud to the God of Jacob! Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre. Sound the ram's horn at the New Moon, and when the moon is full on the day of our Feast."

Psalm 81:1-3 (TLB):

"The Lord makes us strong! Sing praises! Sing to Israel's God! Sing, accompanied by drums; pluck the sweet lyre and harp. Sound the trumpet! Come to the joyous celebrations at full moon, new moon and all the other holidays."

Leviticus 23:39 (NIV):

"So beginning with the fifteenth day of the seventh month, after you have gathered the crops of the land, celebrate the festival to the Lord for seven days..."

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Consider: The Psalm 81:1-3 scripture begins a summons to the Israelite people to celebrate the sacred feast, probably the Feast of Tabernacles. "This great seven-day autumn festival began on the 15th day of the seventh month, and followed shortly after the Day of Atonement, which is observed on the 10th of the month (Leviticus 16:29). The Feast of Tabernacles served as a feast of Thanksgiving for the harvest (Leviticus 23:39-40, Deuteronomy 16:13-15). The first day of this seventh month was commemorated with trumpets (Leviticus 23:24). This day later became known as New Year since the seventh month marked the end of harvest and the beginning of the rainy season, when new crops were planted." (Reference: NIV Study Bible).

Look again and consider the imperative verbs in this passage: "sing for joy ..., shout aloud ..., begin the music ..., strike the tambourine ..., play the harp and lyre ..., sound the ram's horn.

Prayer: Thank you, Lord, that music has been and will continue to be an essential part of our Thanksgiving and holiday festivities. Through the music of this season we pray that others will come to know you and will joyfully celebrate your presence. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.


14Dec08 While Shepherds Watched Their Flocks by Night

Luke 2:8-15 (NIV):

©2008 Whitney V. Myers.
This material may be reproduced for not-for-sale applications. Please include the copyright attribution.