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 Get Back,Get BackGet Back To Where YouOnce BelongedBob Couchenour
 
Music and Spiritual Dimensionthe Search for the Lost Chord
 
What is music?“The science or art of ordering tones or sounds in succession, in combination, and intemporal relationships to produce a composition having unity and continuity. Vocal,instrumental, or mechanical sounds having rhythm, melody, or harmony.”There is background music, chamber music, country music, elevator music, and hillbillymusic. Folk music, instrumental music, a copula music, classical, symphonic, choral,rock, ethnic, aboriginal, traditional, contemporary, world, jazz, blues, hip hop, rap, NewAge, Christian and on and on and on, genre after genre, sub-genre of sub-genre. There’ssomething for everybody.The drone of a didgeridoo in the outback of Australia, or Celtic bagpipes of Scottishhighlands, or repetitious fiddling and twang of Appalachian mountain dulcimers or amaster and a Stradivarius or a master and a “strat”, what ever form or tradition or level of complexity, all are modes of musical expression and apparatus to convey in our culturesthe depths and reality of spiritual truth, often too deep and incommunicable by mereverbal rational logical means.Music is the product of mechanics and heart. But which comes first?Why do I “need” music? Why is it that in every culture of man since before the beginningof recorded history, there has been music? Simplistic as it may have been, still, alwaysthere.This is not a “Bible” study per se, plenty of that is already out there that proves the point,but the Bible is filled with passage after passage either implying or explicitly stating theuse of music as a vehicle of heart expression. For a joyful send-off, to express nationalvictories, at the coronation of a king, to express sorrow at someone’s death, toaccompany banqueting, to rejoice at the return of a prodigal, for worship, revealedthrough God’s prophets, given to Israel as God’s ordinance, to celebrate, worship, praiseand thank the Lord, to express joy, to obey the Lord, to accompany offering of sacrifices,to express confession of sin. Concluding the Last Supper “While they were eating, Hetook 
some
bread, and after a blessing He broke
it 
, and gave
it 
to them, and said, “Take
it;
 this is My body.” And when He had taken a cup
and 
given thanks, He gave
it 
to them,and they all drank from it. And He said to them, “This is My blood of the covenant,which is poured out for many. “Truly I say to you, I will never again drink of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God.” After singing a hymn,they went out to the Mount of Olives.”Jesus sang.
 
The New Testament goes on to validate, endorse and ‘command’ “singing with the spiritand the mind”, “singing through the filling of the Spirit”, “singing with a thankful heart”.The Old Testament gives reference to numerous instruments by name and implies theinvention of hundreds to the invention of David. David organized musicians and setstandards of skill and craft. He set leaders in place to train, develop and prepare for theTabernacle worship and eventually Temple worship.Hebrews 2:12, Speaking of Jesus and quoting Psalm 22 says “I
WILL PROCLAIM
Y
OURNAME TO
M
Y BRETHREN
, In the midst of the congregation I will sing Your praise”Why would Jesus “PROCLAIM YOUR NAME TO MY BRETHREN” and “I will singYour praise”. Was it because it was a command or because it was a messianic prophesyfrom Scripture and doing so would be a substantiation of who He was. NO- Not at all.Singing “Your praise” was as natural as breathing. It was not a validation of the person of Christ, it was the overflowing expression of the human heart of Jesus the Christ the Sonof Man. This abundance of musical expression was not to authenticate who He was, itwas the result of who He was and the spiritual life inside venting itself in boundless joy.We, in the Christian community, too often seem to work at things backwards. We readthe Bible and seek to emulate the form, and invent social constructs to fit our perceptionof what constitutes a “Biblical” first century Christianity. We seek to imitate methods andwe take measurements and set benchmarks and apply ourselves to the “command’ to fitinto our subjective outline of doing it “right”.Our approach to applying Biblical principles in the sense of law and command wouldrival the most ardent of Pharisees.“…speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and makingmelody with your heart to the Lord”, Eph 5:19. How do we receive this? Is it a law setdown and commands to bind us and establish a benchmark of Christian normalcy? Or isit permission, an endorsement and encouragement to do that which comes naturally to theone infused and enlivened by the life of the Spirit without condemnation and so effect allin your company.“…singing and making melody with your heart.” As a command, my heart does not haveto be involved at all. A command, and obedience to a command, will not change the stateof my heart. “With your heart” can only suggest doing that which is already there. As youare infused, filled, let it overflow. See Romans 8.Music whether in song expressed with words and vocal harmonies or played oninstruments expressed in notes and chords and skilled craftsman control andunderstanding of their instrument, is more than the mechanics and technique of arrangement and technical abilities. Music is the outpouring of the human heart, intendedby God to give expression to feeling and emotion, in ways often beyond reason and logic.
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