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The hills are alive with the sound of God’s music!

January 25, 2008 By The Pathway

Guest Columnist

The hills are alive with the sound of God’s music!

“. . . while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy . . . “ Job 38:7

Music is an amazing miracle to me. If you really want to while away a lot of time, talk to me about sound and music. It thrills and excites me. And so much of it brings me closer to the God I adore. It might be a bluegrass group singing On Canaan’s Fair and Happy Land, or maybe Igor Stravinsky’s Symphony of Psalms or Mendelssohn’s Reformation Symphony; perhaps it’s a three-chord, flock-rocker on Sunday morning with a praise band at full-crank, or it may be the pianist supplying just the right piano chord to refresh an old song. Whatever it may be, it ‘jazzes’ me to think about the glory of God when it comes to music.

Sound itself is an incredible gift that we have. It actually transcends two senses. The sense of touch, known as the ‘intimate sense’, morphs into the sense of sound when it moves 20 times per second or more.

In fact, touch and sound are so related that the foremost solo percussionist in the entire world, Evelyn Glennie, is deaf. She performs with orchestras as a soloist – and feels the music vibrations with her feet. In her Disability Essay, Dame Glennie (as she has been dubbed by Queen Elizabeth) says, “The term ‘Hearing Impaired’ doesn’t work because in some respects my hearing is superior to the average non-impaired person. I simply hear in a different way to most people.” Only God could allow us to triumph and even excel past our ‘impairments’?

Sound was so important to the Creator, that before the foundations were set, He installed the first “surround-sound” (Job 38:7). Music manifested itself in God’s beautiful presence in a way that we could hardly imagine. We also get to enjoy snippets of the ‘song that never ends’ – a “Concerto of God’s goodness”.

• Sunrise – birdsongs (one of my very favorites)
• The sound of children playing
• A church bell, far off and distant.

• The cry of a baby (a sound that one will never hear in Hell – so when you hear it in service on Sunday morning – enjoy it!)

• You are surrounded by a low "B" (a little flat) everywhere you go. All appliances and lights in the U.S. operate on 60 hertz, which gives a hum that is musically . . . very predictable.

• Wind blowing in the trees (then the trees of the forest will sing for joy – Ps. 96:12b)

It is said that whale’s songs can travel through water over a thousand miles. Subsonic tones can affect the human body and plant growth, and of course, dogs can hear ultrasonically for miles.

Then we have the ultimate sound: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1.

In fact, the Creator Himself sings over us! Zephaniah 3:17 proclaims . . .

The LORD your God is with you, he is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, he will quiet you with his love, he will rejoice over you with singing.” Wow, that gives me chills.

He also played the first trumpet, well at least it’s implied . . .

Now Mount Sinai was completely in smoke, because the Lord descended upon it in fire. Its smoke ascended like the smoke of a furnace, and the whole mountain quaked greatly. And when the blast of the trumpet sounded long and became louder and louder, Moses spoke, and God answered him by voice. Ex 19:18-19.

“But, the greatest song of all, is the song of the redeemed”. The prayers, cries and songs of praise to our Father God gives Him such pleasure, that I can imagine at His command, His angels fall silent. So enjoy the Lord’s “Zephaniah Song” and then ‘make a joyful shout’ to the Lord today – He longs to hear it.

Praise the Lord, all His works everywhere in His dominion, Psalm 103:22. (John Francis is the Worship Specialist for the Missouri Baptist Convention and produces MoWorship, a monthly worship podcast available at www.mobaptist.org/worship.)

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