Jubal's Lyre: Music for Remembrance and Joy
In this month’s musical references from the Bible, I find humorous elements alongside the practical, and even the profound. As Salvationist musicians, we may find certain applications to be of value in our current practice and overall assessment of what we are called to do in sacred music.
Sometimes in the Bible music is used to “wake up the saints,” to make us aware of the most important things. In Numbers 10, Moses and the Israelites are ordered by God to make two trumpets of silver, “trumpets of remembrance,” for practical signaling in both warfare and travel in the wilderness: “When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy that is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the Lord your God and rescued from your enemies,” (v 9 ). Of course, our Lord does not need to be reminded to remember us; the reminding is for the Israelites, and by extension, us. We are also told in Numbers 29 that there is to be a Feast of Trumpets: “On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets,” (v 1).
Our own brass bands do not call God to remembrance. We cannot conjure His presence. If God needed music, He would not ask us. But we can be of significant value and service in calling believers to worship, to sharing the gospel through music, and being general agents of evangelism in our world. Our music, however, does not conjure God’s presence.
We have already highlighted Moses’ use of song as a teaching aid in the July issue. Song can frequently be fun as well, bringing joy, even mirth, to everyday events. One passage that has always amused me comes from Numbers 21:17- 18, where the profound and the humorous seem combined. The place where this happened was called “Beer” — of course, pronounced differently, but as it had to do with joy and drinking with song, I always get a charge out of it. “Then Israel sang this song: ‘Spring up, O well! Sing about it, about the well that the princes dug, that the nobles of the people sank — the nobles with the scepters and staffs.” Yes, sing about every aspect of life, and especially when God provides for us. We can be joyful as we sing of gifts — everyday gifts — our Lord supplies. Song exults and uplifts us in that endeavor. Brian Wren’s hymn states it so well: “Life is great! So, sing about it.”
Ultimately, we continue to do what Moses commanded: sing to the Lord of His goodness and His gifts. In one of the oldest existing songs in the Bible, Deborah’s song of victory, we read that she embraced Moses’ command to sing and teach through song. Verse 3 of Judges 5 declaims: “Hear this, you kings! Listen, you rulers! I will make music to the Lord, the God of Israel.” Deborah continues in verses 10-12, right in line with Moses’ ideal, sharing that some of the Israelites were following his lead: “You who ride on white donkeys, sitting on your saddle blankets, and you who walk along the road, consider the voice of the singers at the watering places. They recite the righteous acts of the Lord…Wake up, wake up, Deborah! Wake up, wake up and break out into song!” May we do the same!