Study from God’s Word… 2nd Kings 8: 16-17 [2nd Chron. 21: 5]; 2nd Chron. 21: 2-4; 2nd Kings 3: 6-27; 1st Kings 22: 45, 50a [2nd Chron. 20: 34, 21: 1a]; 1st Kings 22: 50b [2nd Chron. 21: 1b, 20a]; 2nd Kings 8: 18-19 [2nd Chron. 21: 6-7, 11]; 2nd Chron. 21: 12-17; 2nd Kings 8: 20-22 [2nd Chron. 21: 8-10] … Passage for Reflection: 2nd Kings 3: 15… NIV 14 Elisha said, "As surely as the LORD Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you or even notice you. 15 But now bring me a harpist." While the harpist was playing, the hand of the LORD came upon Elisha 16 and he said, "This is what the LORD says: Make this valley full of ditches. 17 For this is what the LORD says: You will see neither wind nor rain, yet this valley will be filled with water, and you, your cattle and your other animals will drink.
My Journal for Today: Note the passage highlighted by Dr. Smith’s devotional today. It is typed in bold above for your reference/study. And my devotional shepherd uses this verse to raise an interesting and very salient point about our use of our time devoted to our worship of the Lord.
Does music play an important point in your (our) worship? It certainly does for me; but music, as we choose to use it can definitely have an effect on our emotions. The context of today’s passage has the Prophet Elisha really upset over the decisions/actions of King Joram in Israel; and so, what does he do? He calls for a harpist to play soothing music in his presence. Does that remind you of another person in the Old Testament who needed soothing music? Yeah; … King Saul called for David to play for him when God’s Spirit had departed from him and his soul was very disquieted [see 1st Samuel 16: 14-23].
Dr. Smith rightly points out that if you play lilting classical music in the presence of a baby, then if you play hard rock music, you’ll see a vastly different behavioral reaction in the child. Which of those two do you think will promote sleep and which will prevent slumber? Duh?!! We know the answer, don’t we?
Have you noticed how important music is in the worship services of most churches; and we hire “worship leaders” for churches because they have God-given talents to shape music which enhances the message the preacher is going to bring in the worship service. Perhaps you, as do I, use certain Christian praise/worship music to enhance your daily devotional quiet times, especially if you need to have your heart quieted or your attitude set into a more receptive tone of mind (and note how I just used the phrase “tone of mind” to describe having an attitude of worship during my “quiet time” [where I also use another term which describes solitude as opposed to noisiness]). Our minds/hearts are definitely affected by , silence, music, or noisiness; and I maintain that we can worship our God more effectively and purposely if we use music judiciously in our disciplined daily devotional times.
Right now, I’m choosing to go to my I-tunes listing of Christian favorites, which I’ve stored on my I-pod, and I’m bringing up a tune to which I’ve made reference on more than one occasion in my devotionals. It is the old hymn, Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus, rendered and sung by Alisha Dishong, who does such a beautiful job singing this old Christian classic. I often go back to this one song, sung so liltingly and beautifully by this singer, with such a soothing arrangement, because this song quiets my heart and brings me into an attitude of worship where I’m doing exactly what the lyrics say in the song >>>
Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face;
And the things of this earth will grow strangely dim
In the light of His glory and grace.
Do you have trouble getting into a proper mood to worship God? Perhaps you have rancid dreams at night and you need to quiet your heart or redirect your mind in order to sleep. Maybe you have trouble getting your baby to sleep at night. Well, if you need some quieting of your heart or you desire to go deeper in your morning devotional, perhaps choosing to use selectively soothing Christian or classical music would be a good strategy to quiet your heart so that you can go more fruitfully before the Throne of Grace.
We know that Saul used David’s harp music to quiet his soul; and in today passage we read that Elisha needed to use the contemporary worship music of his day to soothe his disquieted nature.
So, as I sit here listening to the lovely strains of Alisha Dishong singing about Jesus, maybe it would be good for you to turn on some heart-quieting music, as did Elisha, to calm your continence and bring you closer to your Savior and into a deeper relationship with Him.
My Prayer for Today: Lord, thank You for the music You have given us to help us come to You to worship You in Spirit and in truth. Amen
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