Five Minute Friday - Music

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One word. Five minutes to write about it. This is the idea behind Five Minute Friday and this is today's free-writing post.

an ear for music

classical music

gift of music

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How do I write about music in only five minutes? Or even ten or twenty or forty-five minutes? Music has been part of my very existence for as long as I can remember, and there are so many styles and tastes and expressions of music that it is part of all of us. It's described as a universal language, and a way to say things that words can't express. It's not just a human invention, because we hear music from birds and animals, in trees and wind and waves. 

Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent. ~Victor Hugo

It's not specified on which day God created music, but we believe that music is a gift from God and that its primary purpose is to worship God.

Sing to the LORD with grateful praise;

make music to our God on the harp.

~Psalm 147:7~

When King David established what would become Temple worship in Jerusalem, he appointed an entire division of Levites whose job revolved around providing music for worship. I did a quick perusal through the Psalms and found that fifty-eight of them are specified as being "FOR THE DIRECTOR OF MUSIC"; twenty-two are titled "A SONG", and six more have a title such as "A maskil" or "miktam" which are believed to be types of songs. Many of those eighty-six psalms that are clearly intended as music give a name of the tune. Of the remaining psalms, twenty-six mention music or singing in them. That makes 112 out of 150 psalms that are music. Music for praising, for praying, for teaching, and even for lamenting.

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD;

let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come before him with thanksgiving

and extol him with music and song.

~Psalm 95:1-2~

A PSALM. A SONG. FOR THE SABBATH DAY.

It is good to praise the LORD

and make music to your name, O Most High,

proclaiming your love in the morning

and your faithfulness at night,

to the music of the ten-stringed lyre

and the melody of the harp.

~Psalm 92:1-3~

My heart, O God, is steadfast,

my heart is steadfast;

I will sing and make music.

Awake, my soul!

Awake, harp and lyre!

I will awaken the dawn.

~Psalm 57:7-78~

In the Old Testament, we see that music was used as a call to worship and a call to battle. David's harp music had the power to soothe King Saul's spiritual turmoil. Prophets and poets sang songs that taught Israel its history, celebrated its victories, warned of judgement to come, lamented its failures, and called all of us to meditate on God's mercy and judgement.

Beautiful music is the art of the prophets that can calm the agitations of the soul; it is one of the most magnificent and delightful present God has given us. ~Martin Luther

In the New Testament, Paul urged the early Christians to use music in their communication, and to always have music in their hearts. 

. . . keep on being filled with the Spirit - sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs to each other; sing to the Lord and make music in your heart to him; always give thanks for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Yeshua the Messiah. 

~Ephesians 5:18-20 (CJB)~

If music is God's gift to us, if music is intended to bring glory to God, and if we are to use music to express ourselves to each other, and to memorize, learn and teach God's Word, it truly is essential to our lives. And it's not just for those who have musical talents and gifts or the time and dedication to study music and all its facets. It's for all of us, to help us connect to God.

Music is God's gift to man, the only art of Heaven given to earth, the only art of earth we take to Heaven. ~Walter Savage Landor

Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth,

burst into jubilant song with music;

make music to the LORD with the harp,

with the harp and the sound of singing,

with trumpets and the blast of the ram's horn―

shout for joy before the LORD, the King.

Let the sea resound, and everything in it,

the world, and all who live in it.

Let the rivers clap their hands,

let the mountains sing together for joy;

let them sing before the LORD,

for he comes to judge the earht.

He will judge the world in righteousness

and the peoples with equity.

~Psalm 98:4-9~

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This post is linked at Five Minute Friday for the word prompt "Music".

This post will also be linked at the Sweet Tea & Friends Monthly Link-up Party hosted by Simply Coffee & Jesus.

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