Blessed, For The Singers Series

Title: Blessed, For The Singers

Introduction: I would like to read to you from 2 Chronicles 25: 1, 6-7, “David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals…” “…All these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the LORD, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king. Along with their relatives—all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD…” I also want to read from Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:20) Let us pray!

It should be noted that the entire church service is to be considered as a time were Christians can worship the Lord in spirit and truth. Sunday school is a wonderful opportunity to study the Word of God with other people. The announcements are a wonderful opportunity to share with others all of what God has coming up in the church. The proclaiming of God’s Word should be prepared properly and received with expectation that God will have correction, guidance, and comfort for us. Jesus said that God’s house should be called a house of prayer. (Matthew 21:13) It is also a time in which all should gather together and sing praises to the Lord.

Psalms 147:1 says; “How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise Him.” The heart of the Psalmist reflects what should be in the heart of all Christians as they participate in the song service. The heart attitude that is pleasing to the Lord is one that says it is all about the Lord, and not about us.

Proposition: I would propose to you that God wants you to worship Him in spirit and truth. He longs to deliver His people from the religious bondage that comes from legalism, traditionalism, denominationalism and faddism. Our Lord longs for His church to look into God’s Word so He can bring forth worship in the song service that has freedom and actions that together are a response from a joyful undivided heart. Therefore, we should consider ourselves - blessed, for those who have the gift of music for the house of the Lord.

A Hebrew word, "blessed" (אַשְׁרֵי- ǎš•rê) means fortunate, (Holladay, W. L., & Köhler, L. (2000). A concise Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon of the Old Testament. Leiden: Brill.) happy, (Gesenius' Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament) a heightened state of happiness and joy, implying very favorable circumstance and enjoyment. (Dt 33:29; 1Ki 10:8; 2Ch 9:7; Job 5:17; Ps 1:1; 2:12; 32:1, 2; 33:12; 34:9[EB 8]; 40:5[EB 4]; 41:2[EB 1]; 65:5[EB 4]; 84:5[EB 4],6[EB 5],13[EB 12]; 89:16[EB 15]; 94:12; 106:3; 112:1; 119:1, 2; 127:5; 128:1, 2; 137:8, 9; 144:15; 146:5; Pr 3:13; 8:32, 34; 14:21; 16:20; 20:7; 28:14; Ecc 10:17; Isa 30:18; 32:20; 56:2; Da 12:12+) (Swanson, J. (1997). Dictionary of Biblical Languages with Semantic Domains : Hebrew (Old Testament). Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc.)

When a local Body of Christ opens the door for a song service, they are giving opportunity for Christians and non-Christians to enjoy music that was written for the purpose of blessing the Lord and meant to be sung as a proclamation of His love for us. God has a gift to the church: music ministers who are anointed to bless us and lead us to heart-felt worship to the Lord.

Interrogative Sentence: Just what is the church able to enjoy today during the church service?

Transitional Sentence: The heart that gets the most from the song service is the person who understands God's word about the purpose of music. King Hezekiah knew the value of a song service.

The Bible says this about King Hezekiah, he “…trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him.” (2 Kings 18:5) His first official act was to cleanse the Lord’s temple of its pollutants. (The Expositors Bible Commentary) After the purification process, the Bible says, “He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king’s seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets.” (2 Chronicles 29:25) Hezekiah was putting together a gathering of the city officials; they were having a public worship service in the temple and Hezekiah was following the directions given by God through King David in order to have a service that was pleasing to the Lord.