Roger Lewis - The House of Asaph - Family of Faith and Masters of Music - Class 3 - The Psalms of the House of Asaph

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1. 0:00

   This is the Shippensburg Bible School Class 2. Our our second speaker this morning is Brother Roger Lewis from the Christchurch Ecclesia, New Zealand. The theme for Brother Lewis’s class this week is the House of Asaph, Family of Faith, Master of Music. Today’s class is entitled The Spirit of the House of Asaph, Brother Lewis. Thank you, brother Chairman, and good morning, brothers and sisters.

2. 0:35

   You’ll recall that in our study yesterday we left the House of Asaph alone in front of the Ark of God, where for 40 years they both sang before the Ark and pondered its significance. And you’ll remember how they made that crucial leap of understanding so that they learned the lesson. They learned the secret of what it was, what it really did mean to enter into the presence of God in their worship of the Father. Now, it’s in these years, these 40 years that they were by themselves that we believe that Asaph collaborated with David in establishing the whole system of temple worship that was going to follow from the days of Solomon onwards with the completion, with the with the complete building of the temple itself. And in fact, what happened is that Asaph and David got together and they formed the principles by which the temple worship would be organized.

3. 1:38

   And that system of temple worship was based upon what we have come to know as the 24 courses. The whole process, the whole system of temple worship was based upon 24 orders. So here, firstly, in the first of Chronicles chapter 23, we’re told that there were Levites to oversee the work of the House of the Lord and there were 24,000 Levites that were divided into general courses that that work of the House of God might be fulfilled.

4. 2:16

   But we’re told in the next chapter, in the first of Chronicles 24, that the priests who would execute the priestly office in the sanctuary were divided into 24 courses. In the next chapter, in chapter 25, we’re told, however, that also there would be 20-4 courses of singers who would give thanks and praise in the sanctuary. In the next chapter and chapter 26, we’re told that there would be 20-4 courses of gatekeepers who would guard the holiness of the sanctuary.

5. 2:59

   And in the next chapter, in the first of Chronicles, chapter 27, we’re told that there would be captains to serve the king on all matters of business, 12 men, one for each month of the year, and each of those captains would command 24,000 who would serve under them. So that the whole system of worship here that was now organized by David in collaboration with Asaph, and there was a matching together of the court of the priests and the courses of the singers who cooperated together week by week in the temple services.

6. 3:37

   So as the priests burned the incense so that the incense might ascend to the Father, so also at that very same moment of time the singers sang their praises, and the prayers of the priests and the praises of the singers ascended heavenwards together to God as the courses cooperated together in these matters of worship. So now it’s all been organised, you see. And if we come to the Second of Chronicles Chapter 5, we come to that moment of time now where the celebration of the completion of the temple is marked by this marvelous moment of worship and celebration in the nation, that they might commemorate the greatness of what they had done on that day. In the Second of Chronicles Chapter 5, we have in fact the story of the day that the ark of God was taken, not to Zion there, but taken into the temple that Solomon had now built for it.

7. 4:54

   And we’re told in the 11th verse of the Second of Chronicles chapter 5, it came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place for says the record, for all the priests that were present were sanctified and did not then wait by course. You see, I think what we’re being told in the 11th verse is that on the occasion of this great day of celebration, all 24 courses of priests were involved together, not just the course set down for that week. They were all there on that day, says the Second of Chronicles chapter 5 and verse 11.

8. 5:35

   And as with the priests, so with the singers, because the 12th verse tells us also the Levites, which were the singers, all of them, and I think the force of that phrase, all of them. And verse 12 tells us that just as the 24 courses of priests were present, verse 11, so, so on this day all 24 courses of singers were present. This was such a special moment.

9. 6:07

   This was so important an event in the history of the nation that they all came together on that particular day. Of course, you realize what that meant in reality. What it really meant on the 12th verse was that on this occasion the sons of Heman and Jaduthan now joined the House of Asaph.

10. 6:28

    So that together now for the first time in 40 years, all three branches of the singers of the House of Levi came together on this day when the Ark of God was brought into the temple. Do you know that we’re told in the First of Chronicles chapter 23 and verse five that there were actually 4000 singers dedicated for the temple worship?

11. 6:55

    First of Chronicles chapter 23, verse 5 tells us that were 4000 singers. I think they were all there this day, brothers and sisters, every one of them. Can you imagine what this choir would have looked like on the occasion of this celebration? Now you know Asaph may or may not have been there. You notice what verse 12 says.

12. 7:21

    It doesn’t say that Asaph was there. It says all of them of Asaph. Because you see this is now 40 years on from the first of Chronicles chapter 16. Now, depending on how old Asaph was when David selected him, he might now be dead, he might be very old. So whether he was there or not on this particular occasion, we’re not sure. But what we do know is that the House of Asafa there, and in fact you’ll notice that they mentioned first verse 12, says also the Levites, which were singers, all of them of Asaph, of Heman, of Judithan.

13. 8:03

    So who comes first? Why the House of Asaph? You see, the fact that they sang before the Ark for 40 years on their own gives them now the primacy among the singers. The others join with the House of Asaph, but it’s the House of Asaph that are going to lead the praise. So here we have the assembled choir, all robed in white linen, standing with their backs to the altar facing the entry of the temple. 4000 singers and 120 trumpeters, all with their eyes riveted on one particular spot. And the spot they were looking at, brothers and sisters, was the gap between the two pillars, Jakin and Boaz. They had their backs to the altar, but their eyes fixed on the doorway into the temple.

14. 8:51

    And the chief musician was there, ready to lift his hand so that the entire choir might break out into praise and celebration. And what they were waiting for was the moment when they saw the priests who had borne the ark into the Most Holy Place come back out of that door, and the moment they saw the priests coming back out of the door to signify that the ark was now in the holy place.

15. 9:17

    Then the choir would begin their song of praise. And so verse 13 tells us it came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as one to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking Yahweh. Oh, now by the way, you should take a note of those two words. Do you realize that those two words come from the first of Chronicles 16 to praise and to thank. You see back in the first of Chronicles 16 and verse 5, it says that David appointed certain of the Levites to minister before the ark of Yahweh to thank and to praise the Lord God of Israel.

16. 10:02

    And those two words become keywords for this particular family. They would constantly be involved in matters of thanks and praise. And by the way, I think those two words are different and they betoken different ideas. Thankfulness and praise are not the same thing. So here’s these same 2 keywords again. They are in the in the second of Chronicles chapter 5 and verse 13.

17. 10:29

    And you see what it says verse 13. And when they lifted up their voice with trumpets and symbols and instruments of music, they praised Yahweh, saying, for He is good, for his mercy endureth forever. Now where do those words come from? And the margin is absolutely correct. The margin says they come from. Why?

18. 11:00

    The first of Chronicles chapter 16 and verse 34. You see these words come from the family Psalm of the House of Asaph, which they’ve already been singing for the last 40 years. This is their Psalm that they sang on this day when the ark of God came into the temple. They thanked God for He is good, for his mercy endureth forever.

19. 11:26

    The House of Asaph knew those words, brothers and sisters, back to front and inside out. They’d been singing them for a generation of time already. And you know, every little word in the Bible’s important. Just have a look at this verse 13. Well, a couple of things. Do you notice that part ways through verse 11 that we’ve got brackets in the text? You notice that it says came to pass when the priests would come out of the holy place and then it starts a set of brackets and those brackets don’t finish until the end of verse 12. So firstly, just note those brackets. And now have a look at a keyword in verse 13. It’s about halfway down the verse. It says they made one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord, and when they lifted up their voice when they did this, and then later on in the verse, it says that then the house was filled with a cloud.

20. 12:27

    Now come back and have a look at verse 11 there and I’m going to read what really did happen on that day by jumping over the brackets. So here it is, the second of Chronicles chapter 5 and verse 11. It came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place, verse 13. It came even to pass as the trumpeters and singers were as one to make one sound to be heard and praising and thanking Yahweh.

21. 12:56

    And when they lifted up their voice with trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music and praised Yahweh, saying for He is good, for his mercy endureth forever, that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the House of Yahweh. Do you know what that verse is telling us, brothers and sisters? It’s telling us that the action of the priests in physically bringing the ark into the Most Holy was not as significant as the action of the singers in mentally drawing near to God. It wasn’t the priests bringing the ark into the sanctuary that drew down the divine glory of God’s presence. It was the singers who sang their understanding of what the ark stood for with united hearts. It was the singers who believed that they had entered into the very presence of God.

22. 14:08

    And when the singers sang, brothers and sisters, we’re told in this verse that God sealed His approval of their spirit by the flashing majesty of the Shekinah glory. And God was indeed enthroned upon the praises of His people that day. What a marvelous moment in time that must have been. We’re told, verse 14, that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud.

23. 14:35

    For the glory of Yahweh had filled the House of God who led the worship on this day. Brothers and sisters, it was the singers. It was the House of Asif, who knew, who knew more than anyone else in Israel, what this ark really represented. And on that day, in their songs of praise, they led the nation into the very presence of God and bowed before His Majesty as the glory of the Lord filled the temple On this occasion. Now, because of a lack of time, I’m not going to go through the next, the next few kings, but we’re going to come straight from the time of, of, of Solomon here to the time of Jehoshaphat. Now in the Second of Chronicles and chapter 20, in the Second of Chronicles, chapter 20, we come now to the time of Jehoshaphat. Now what we’ve done is this.

24. 15:33

    We’ve come from Solomon through the reign of Rehoboam, through the reign of Abijah, through the reign of ASA, and now we’ve come to Jehoshaphat, who’s the next king. But if we want to know the setting of the time, the details are as follows, that the Second of Chronicles chapter 20 is approximately BC 860, which is 100 years after the Second of Chronicles chapter 5. So we’ve now moved on 100 years in time from the moment of the dedication of the temple.

25. 16:13

    Well, what happens in the Second of Chronicles chapter 20? We’re told in the first verse, it came to pass after this also that the children of Noah and the children of Ammon and with them other beside the Ammonites came against Jehoshaphat to battle. So here they are in the midst of Jehoshaphat’s reign, he faced a crisis.

26. 16:36

    The nation of Judah was attacked by a large confederacy, and they lay in great danger. And as a result of that, we’re told in the 3rd, 1st, that Jehoshaphat feared and set himself to seek Yahweh and proclaimed a fast throughout all Judah. And he stands up in the fifth verse before the congregation in order that he might offer a prayer on behalf of the nation. And do you know that when this king stood up and opened his mouth that he might pray to God, out of the mouth of this king came the very spirit brothers and sisters of the House of Asaph.

27. 17:12

    Now let’s just see what Jehoshaphat prayed. We’re told in the sixth verse. He said this, O Yahweh, Elohim of our fathers, art not thou God in heaven, and rulest not thou over all the kingdoms of the heathen? And in thine hand? Is there not power and might, so that none is able to withstand thee?

28. 17:41

    Art not thou our God, who didst drive out the inhabitants of this land before thy people Israel, and gave us it to the seed of Abraham thy friend forever, And they dwelt therein, and have built thee a sanctuary therein for thy name. Saying, If when evil cometh upon us as the sword, judgment, or pestilence, or famine, we stand before this house, and in thy presence, for thy name is in this house, and cry unto thee in our affliction, then thou wilt hear and help.

29. 18:16

    You See here is a man, brothers and sisters, who understands the supremacy of God. When you see that spirit in the prayer of Jehoshaphat, everything he says is concerning the majesty and the supremacy of God. In fact, of course, in the ninth verse he refers to the great prayer of Solomon himself at the time of the dedication of the temple. He claims to be standing there in the very presence of God as he pleads for the divine help.

30. 18:45

    And you see, he does the right thing, does Jehoshaphat, because look what he says in the 11th verse. Behold, I say, how they reward us to come to cast us out of thy possession, which thou hast given us to inherit it. To inherit, O our God, wilt thou not judge them? For we have no might against this great company that cometh against us. Neither know we what to do, but our eyes are upon thee. And so you see what Jehoshaphat does here is he pleads the help of God for the honor of God’s own integrity. He says, look, we do not know what to do. This is thy possession, this is thy people, this is thy name. Wilt thou not help?

31. 19:29

    Oh, God? Or it was a marvelous prayer, because, you see, he placed the whole thing in the lap of the Father and sought that the Father might act, not for the deliverance of the people specifically, but for the honor and vindication of God’s own name. You see, he was a man who understood the spirit of the supremacy of God, who came before the presence of God in his prayers. So we ought not to be surprised then, given the spirit of Jehoshaphat’s prayer, that the record of this chapter goes on to tell us in the 14th verse.

32. 20:03

    Then upon Jehoshel the son of Zechariah the son of Benaiah the son of Jehiel the son of Mataniah a Levite. Of the sons of Asaph came the spirit of the Lord in the midst of the congregation. And you see, we believe that Jehaziel, the man of this verse, the man of the sons of Asaph, was moved by the spirit of the prayer of Jehoshaphat, which captured the very spirit of the House of Asaph.

33. 20:37

    And the Spirit of God moved mightily upon a man of Asaph, And he stood up and encouraged the nation with the assurance of divine victory. In fact, what he says is this. He says at the end in verse 17, Ye shall not need to fight in this battle. Set yourselves, stand ye still and see the salvation of of Yahweh with you, O Judah and Jerusalem. Fear not nor be dismayed.

34. 21:03

    Tomorrow go out against them, for Yahweh will be with you. And so here now is the assurance of the Divine Presence from a man of Asaph on behalf of all the nation. And Jehotophat bowed his head with his face to the ground, and all Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem fell Panim in the presence of God, worshipping him.

35. 21:32

    So here now was a marvellous answer to the prayer of Jehoshaphat in this particular time of crisis. Well, we’re told that this is what happened. Verse 20. They rose early in the morning and went forth into the wilderness of Toccoa. And as they went forth, Jehoshaphat stood and said, Here we, O Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, believe in Yahweh your God, and socially be established, believe as prophets and socially prosper. And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto the Lord.

36. 22:07

    Now in the Authorized Version, we sort of get the idea from verse 21 that he he appointed the singers after he had consulted with the people. But I think that if we if we look at another couple of translations, that is not so. I think the decision of verse 21 was Jehoshaphat’s alone, Rotherham says. And when he had given counsel unto the people, he appointed such as should sing unto Yahweh or the Jerusalem Bible, which says, then having held a conference with the people, he set the can, the cantors of Yahweh in sacred vestments at the head of the army.

37. 22:47

    So you see, I think Jehoshaphat firstly comforted the people and then he made the decision that he would send singers in front of the army. Now this was a remarkable thing for the king to do. When you think of it, fancy sending a choir at the front of an army? What an amazing thing to do. The most unusual form of of of warfare. And you see what it says in verse 21. What it said is this.

38. 23:20

    When he consulted with the people, he appointed singers unto Yahweh that should praise the beauty of holiness as they went out before the army. And this is what they sang. They said they sang. Praise Yahweh for His mercy endureth forever. Oh, now where do those words come from? Brothers and sisters? Why? Surprise, surprise, they come from the first of Chronicles chapter 16 and verse 34.

39. 23:52

    So guess who might have been the singers on that occasion who went forth at the head of the army, but the House of Asaph, who told them to sing those words on that day? Brothers and sisters, these were the the words of the family Psalm of the House of Asaph. And they went forth.

40. 24:09

    They marched forth with absolute conviction that the presence of God was with them. It was as if they bore the ark in their midst as they went forth on this occasion. And I’ll tell you how appropriate it was if you just hold your hands there and come back to the first of Chronicles 16. Just see how marvelously appropriate it was that they should sing their family song on this occasion as they went at the front of the army.

41. 24:38

    We’re told this first of Chronicles 16 and reading from verse 34, which is what they were singing. Oh, give thanks unto Yahweh, for He is good for his mercy endureth forever, and say, ye save us, oh God of our salvation, and gather us together and deliver us from the heathen. Know that we may give thanks to Thy holy name. Oh, what a Psalm they should sing as they went forth in front of the army on this occasion.

42. 25:17

    Do you know what happened in the Second of Chronicles chapter 20? Brothers and sisters, come and have a look. It’s absolutely remarkable. This is what actually happened in the Second of Chronicles chapter 20. We’re told this. We’re told that they marched forth with the singers at the front, and the verse 24 says, And when Judah came toward the watchtower in the wilderness, they looked under the multitude, and behold, they were dead bodies. So you see what happened is that the whole army marched forth with the choir.

43. 25:47

    At the start. The choir began to sing, and the House of Asaph marched along, and they sang their songs, and they sang all the way till they came to the battleground. And when they came to the battleground, the choir stopped, they looked out, and everyone was already dead. What sort of music is this that vanquishes an army?

44. 26:07

    And you see, you notice again the force of the word in verse 22, it says, and when they began to sing that at that time Yahweh set the ambushments. So you see, when their spirit was right, God moved on their behalf. Or you’ve never seen a choir like this one, brothers and sisters, singing this particular song on this day.

45. 26:32

    And you know that at that particular time we believe that one of the Psalms of the House of Asaph was written. Now just hold your hand in the second of Chronicles 20 and come and have a look at again at Psalm 83. Because you see, this Psalm of the House of Asaph, we believe, was written at this very moment of time.

46. 26:51

    And I wanted to show you how marvellously the prayer of the House of Asaph was answered on this occasion in Psalm 83, which we’ve already briefly looked at a Psalm that was written to commemorate that time when the children of Lot gathered together a confederate confederacy against Israel. Look at the Prayer of the of the House of Asaph, Psalm 83 and reading verse 15. So persecute them with thy Tempest, and make them afraid with thy storm.

47. 27:28

    Fill their faces with shame, so that they may seek thy name. O Yahweh, let them be confounded and troubled forever. Yeah, let them be put to shame and perish, so that men may know that Thou whose name alone is Yahweh at the the Most High over all the earth. You see the spirit of the of the sons of Asaph, brothers and sisters, they pray not for the deliverance of the nation merely, but that in the deliverance of the nation all those about might know that Yahweh He is God and that He is the Most High over all the earth. Remember the spirit of our prayers that if we truly understand God manifestation, we will pray not the things for ourselves, but that whatever might happen to us should be for the furtherance of the divine purpose. This family knew that principle.

48. 28:28

    That’s how they prayed. Now hold your hand in Psalm 83 and come back to the Second of Chronicles 20 and just see how marvellously that prayer was answered on this occasion, because we’re told this in the 27th verse of the Second of Chronicles 20. Then they returned every man of Judah and Jerusalem and Jehoshaphat in the forefront of them to go again to Jerusalem with joy, for Yahweh had made them to rejoice over their enemies.

49. 29:00

    They came to Jerusalem with sultries and harps and trumpets unto the House of God. Oh, I think the singers were singing again. You see, here’s the musical instruments and and he were the singers. They sang on the way home, just as they sang on the way out. And verse 29 says, and the fear of God was on all the kingdoms of those countries when they heard that Yahweh fought against the enemies of Israel. And the prayer of the House of Asaph had been, Let them be confounded, that men may know that thou, whose name art Yahweh, are the most High over all the earth. And when the sons of Asaph voice in the prayer of Psalm 83 that day, brothers and sisters, I think that Psalm was brought forth on that very day.

50. 29:46

    God mightily answered them, and they won a signal victory over their enemies by the power of the singers. Marvelous, marvelous lesson that it was. Now you’ll remember, brothers and sisters, that at the start of these sessions we made the point that there were five key things that the House of Asaph looked at in terms of their music of praise. And you’ll remember that we’ve already looked at this one, the matter of the fact that their hymns focused on the supremacy of God.

51. 30:21

    And we’ve also looked at this one here, which is the fact that their hymns focused also on the pre eminence of principle, that their music was not based on emotion so much as intellect, which then became a motive. Well, let’s look. We’re going to look this morning by way of summary at this one here, which is the principle of solemnity of worship, that the music of the House of Asaph showed a reverence for the divine majesty and therefore for the solemnity that ought to be present in our songs of worship. You know, if you come back to the Second of Chronicles Chapter 7, which takes us back to that day when they when they sang that song at the time that the ark of God was brought into the House of God.

52. 31:10

    Just look at the spirit of of what the nation felt like on that day in the Second of Chronicles Chapter 7. We’re told this in verses one to three. Now when Solomon had made an end of praying, the fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifice and the glory of Yahweh filled the house.

53. 31:33

    And the priests could not enter into the House of Yahweh, because the glory of Yahweh had filled Yahweh’s house. And when all the children of Israel saw now the fire came down, and the glory of Yahweh upon the house, they bowed themselves with their faces to the ground upon the pavement, and worshipped and praised Yahweh, saying, Why?

54. 32:00

    For He is good, for His mercy endure forever. Now do you think that on that day, brothers and sisters, when they sang their songs and they saw that glory filling the house, that they would have been anything other than highly reverential in their songs? In the Second of Chronicles chapter 29, we’re told these words in the 30th verse in the days of Hezekiah. Second of Chronicles 29, verse 30. Moreover, Hezekiah the king and the Princess commanded the Levites to sing praise unto Yahweh with the words of David and of Asaph the seer, and they sang praises with gladness, and they bowed their heads and worshipped. You know that when it says in the second of Chronicles 29 and verse 30 that they bowed their heads, I think that’s a reference to the singers, that they sang their songs and bowed their heads.

55. 33:12

    You see, they were so overcome with the thought of ascribing praise to the Deity that they they bowed their heads in the very moment of offering praise to the Father. They were in awe of the majesty of the God that they worshipped. You know, brothers and sisters, particular music was different to sacred music in biblical times.

56. 33:38

    The sacred instruments that David used and that he organized for this system of temple worship were different to other instruments. They were separated out, they became special and unique, and they were only found in the system of temple worship. There were only four instruments that were used in the temple order of song, and the four instruments used were the symbol, the sultry, the harp, and the trumpet. They’re the only four instruments that were associated with the whole system of temple song and temple praise, Almost as if David made these to be special and different instruments that were now associated with sacred music as opposed to other forms of music.

57. 34:29

    Of course, the Bible tells us of a number of other musical instruments, doesn’t it? The Bible mentions the dulcimer and the timbrel and the sack putts and the drum and the tablets and the cornets and the pipe and the organ and the vile. There’s a few other musical instruments, but none of those were used in the temple system of things.

58. 34:51

    There has been a suggestion made, and I think it’s quite a good one, is that perhaps these were withheld because of their associations with Pagan music, because these were the instruments used by the surrounding nations in their heathen worship, that they were not to be used or associated with the music of the worship of God.

59. 35:12

    So they never found in the temple system of things. But the instruments that were used were holy and spiritual, and so they were obviously appropriate to convey the range of emotions that are needed in our songs of praise to the Father. And our singing brothers and sisters does have a whole range of things that we might wish to convey. Majesty, mercy, grandeur, goodness, dignity, pathos, contentment, peace, sadness, love, sternness, joy, happiness, reverence, compassion, sorrow, Thanksgiving. The tremendous range of emotions isn’t there that is to be captured in our own songs of worship and praise, just as it was in Israel of the past.

60. 36:19

    But the key to this, brothers and sisters, is that that the music that we use and the songs of praise that we have, although they convey all of those emotions and lift them up to the father. Here’s the key lesson for today’s session and today’s study. The story is this. The lesson is this, that we can be solemn and yet joyful, that one can exalt with praise but still be reverent. And you see, I think that the House of Asaph always had a sense of dignity and reverence as they went about their songs of praise.

61. 36:59

    They bowed their heads and prostrated themselves before Almighty God. There was nothing familiar in what they did. Now, this is a benchmark for us to test ourselves against in terms of the music that we might have. Here’s another example of of a piece of music that it’s actually a piece of Christian music again. And it’s on the subject of the atonement. And you can almost tell without me telling you anything about the music, what the music might be like. Just read the words.

62. 37:36

    Oh, happy day. Oh, happy day. Yeah. When Jesus was when Jesus was, when Jesus was wash my sins away. Oh, happy day La La La La, La La La La. He taught me how to walk to fight and pray. He taught me how to live. Yes he did. Oh yeah, every day. And somehow you just know, brothers and sisters, before you’ve even heard that piece,

63. 38:06

    that there is something not very dignified about it for the God and we worship. When you come to the music of the truth, brothers and sisters, you’ll find that there are two things about them. Firstly is that the music of the truth seems to have a strong connection with Scripture, just in case you hadn’t noticed. And one of the most marvellous things about our hymn book and the hymns that we sing is that when we sing, we ought to think, oh, that’s the first of Timothy.

64. 38:37

    All this is Psalm 89. All this is Psalm 96. And all of these Scriptural thoughts come flooding into our mind because the very best of our hymns capture all sorts of spiritual ideas from the Word of God. And when to that, when to those spiritual thoughts we add the appropriate music that is dignified and solemn?

65. 38:56

    I feel my heart exalted with praise and I feel joyful, but never at the expense of reverence for God. And somehow we’ve, we’ve got to find a balance here, don’t we, in terms of, of that which we should aspire to in our songs of praise and songs of worship. So here are some tests then concerning the matter of the solemnity of worship.

66. 39:22

    Here’s two or three questions that we might ask that will help us to test music that we might think about using. Here’s the first question. Is the focus of the piece on the music or the words? That’s the first question. If the focus is on the music, then the trend is bad is the second question. Are the thoughts consistent with our understanding of the truth? Does it preserve our heritage of the faith? If it doesn’t, then we should beware. The third question is, does the music really help to lift the words to their proper heights,

67. 40:20

    or does the music begin to undermine the truth of the words? Is the music modelled on modern secular sound or modern secular rhythms? If it is, then we should probably avoid it because David put difference between sacred and secular music and said they’re not the same. We don’t want the same sounds, don’t want the same rhythms, don’t want the same associations. You see, one of the problems, brothers and sisters, is that I can’t tell you exactly where the line or the limit is because, you know, even the same piece can be sung in different ways depending on the attitude of the singer. Perhaps if I give you an example, if you’ll spare me. So I apologize for this rendition and I’m not going to use the words.

68. 41:28

    I’m simply going to use the sounds. But I, I, I hope that most of you will be familiar with this piece. You see, you can sing a piece in two different ways, you know, Or we could sing.

69. 42:01

    And all of a sudden it’s a different piece. So you see, even the same piece can sound different depending on, well, what’s our attitude here? What’s our spirit? But you see, the principle is this, that we want to avoid that which is frivolous or foolish. We want to avoid that which is familiar or casual.

70. 42:28

    We want to avoid that which is flippant or showy. You know, in modern Christian music, brothers and sisters, God is the bloke next door and Christ is our boyfriend. That’s what it sounds like. That’s not the God whom we worship, brothers and sisters, and it’s not the God whom the House of Asaph worshipped. So here’s the golden Rule as best as I can give it, without being able to give you anything more definitive. I think the Golden rule is simply this. As the beat increases, reverence declines. Somewhere on a line of continuum, those two things will crossover and all of a sudden a piece won’t be right. You must judge for yourself.

71. 43:31

    But I think that when the House of Asaph sang their song on that day when the temple was open to receive the ark of God’s presence and the glory of God filled the house, that they would have not, they wouldn’t have dreamed of doing anything other than singing with the greatest of solemnity before Almighty God on that day. So, so here it is.

72. 43:51

    Let’s just take our closing summary. After the first disastrous attempt to convey the ark to Jerusalem, all Israel knew the power of Him that dwelleth between the Caribbean. By the flashing forth of the divine majesty and judgment, Yahweh signified that mere feeling and enthusiasm in music were not enough. Divine principles must be upheld and the majesty of of His Holiness honored. Even the splendor of the Divine glory in approval was such an awe inspiring sight that the entire congregation were prostrated to the ground in humility. Likewise, the singers themselves sang praises with the greatest reverence, worshipping with bowed heads. The House of Asaph stood in awe of the Divine Presence. That which was familiar or casual, flippant or catchy, was to be assumed.

73. 44:57

    Their music, however joyful, was never at the expense of the reverence, solemnity, and dignity appropriate in praising God. In the words of Psalm 99, brothers and sisters and verse one, that this is the God who reigneth, who dwelleth between the Caribbean. Let all the earth fear before him.