God's People and Their Worship in Song
Text 1 Chronicles 25 Time 28 04 21 Place Childs Hill Baptist Church (Zoom)
We are currently in this section of 1 Chronicles that runs from Chapter 23 to Chapter 26. This is the point in the book where David's life is coming to an end and he is making preparations for the succession of his son, Solomon. I have said to you before that Chronicles was probably complied by Ezra or at least by someone else with a priestly background and the interest in the temple comes out in these books in a way that it does not in the partly parallel Books of Kings, especially in this section.
The main thing in these chapters is the way David gives certain tasks to the Levites that are in part things they had done in the past but that are a development. Chapter 23 verses 25 and 26 explain how David had said, "Since the LORD, the God of Israel, has granted rest to his people and has come to dwell in Jerusalem forever, the Levites no longer need to carry the tabernacle or any of the articles used in its service." Because they no longer had the duty of carrying the tabernacle and its articles (in fact they had not moved the tabernacle much since entering the Promised Land under Joshua) there was room to develop other skills and duties. And so in Chapter 23 the priestly tasks of worship, judgement, gatekeeping, sacrifice and blessing are set out and the role of the Levites in helping them in this. Last week we looked at Chapter 24 and how the work was actually divided between the priests and Levites with their 24 divisions.
One thing we have not underlined so far, I confess, is that these chapters are all about the Temple, which is now gone. In the New Testament Jesus refers to himself as one greater than the Temple. TRhe focus that was once on the Temple should now be on him.
Chapter 25, the chapter we want to look at night, focusses on the musicians and Chapter 26 on the gatekeepers, treasurers and other officials.
As we did last week, we will first make clear what is said in this chapter and then secondly consider what lessons we may learn from it.
1. What is said in this chapter?
As ever there are lots of names to conjure with. Chapter 25 begins David, together with the commanders of the army, set apart some of the sons of Asaph, Heman and Jeduthun for the ministry of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals. So all the musicians in the Temple were sons of Asaph, Heman or Jeduthun. We then have the list of the men who performed this service grouped under these three names.
Under Asaph's name, four names are listed Zakkur, Joseph, Nethaniah and Asarelah. These sons of Asaph were under his supervison, while he was in turn under the king's supervision.
Jeduthun is put next with his six sons - Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah and Mattithiah. They were again under the supervision of their father Jeduthun, who it says prophesied, using the harp in thanking and praising the LORD. These specialised in using the harp then while the others focussed on lyres and cymbals.
Third comes Heman and his 14 sons Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shubael and Jerimoth; Hananiah, Hanani, Eliathah, Giddalti and Romamti-Ezer; Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir and Mahazioth. They were all sons of Heman the king's seer. It says They were given him through the promises of God to exalt him. A footnote says that besides fourteen sons he had three daughters.
Verse 6 sums up All these men were under the supervision of their father for the music of the temple of the LORD, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king.
These three names - Asaph, Jeduthun, Heman - appear in the Book of Psalms. Psalms 50 and 73-83 are headed of Asaph, though they are probably not by the same man. Psalm 77 is For the director of music. For Jeduthun. Of Asaph. A psalm. The Davidic Psalms 39, 62 are also for Jeduthun. Psalm 88 is A song. A psalm of the Sons of Korah. For the director of music. According to mahalath leannoth. A maskil of Heman the Ezrahite. 2 Kings 4:31 says Solomon was wiser than anyone else, including Ethan the Ezrahite - wiser than Heman, Kalkol and Darda, the sons of Mahol.
The total number of musicians Along with their relatives - all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD - was 288. That seems a little low in that in 23:5 there is reference to four thousand who are to praise the LORD with the musical instruments I have provided for that purpose. Presumably these extra 3,722 were employed around the country, praising God where they were. In verse 8 it says that Young and old alike, teacher as well as student, they cast lots for their duties. The number 288 doesn't look very significant but, of course, it is double 144 and that is twelve twelves. To match the 24 divisions among the other priests and Levites then there was a series of 24 teams of twelve who served in the Temple alongside the others. These divisions are listed, division by division, in verses 9-31. All 24 names here have already been listed in the earlier verses - four sons of Asaph plus six sons of Jeduthun plus Heman's 14.
It begins then (9) The first lot, which was for Asaph, fell to Joseph, his sons and relatives, 12;
the second to Gedaliah, him and his relatives and sons, 12; and so on then through Zakkur, his sons and relatives ... Izri, his sons and relatives ... Nethaniah ... Bukkiah ... Jesarelah ... Jeshaiah, Mattaniah, etc, etc all the way down to the twenty-third to Mahazioth, his sons and relatives,12; the twenty-fourth to Romamti-Ezer, his sons and relatives, 12.
2. What lessons we may learn from it?
This brings us to the whole subject of music in worship. This has often been a contentious subject among Christians. Now obviously there are many changes between the Old and New Testaments but undoubtedly there are lessons to be learned here that apply to this very day.
1. Music is a normal part of the worship of God and should have its place
Some may be tempted to cut music out altogether, especially as it is so contentious. However, it was clearly an important part of Old Testament Temple worship, at least from David's time, and the New Testament says
Ephesians 5:18-20 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Colossians 3:16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
We know too that Jesus and his disciples sang at the Last Supper, as did Paul and Silas when they were in the jail in Philippi, and in 1 Corinthians 14:26 Paul speaks of them coming together and each having a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. James urges songs of praises too. Paul says he will sing with his spirit and also sing with his understanding (1 Corinthians 14:25).
2. When we sing, the words should be the main thing
It is interesting that in 1 Chronicles 25 there is no idea of mere music - in fact we do not know exactly what tunes were used in those far off days. Not even in the Temple was there incidental or instrumental music. It does happen in churches but is not part of true worship. Rather the music should be dominated by the lyrics. I say that in the light of the way verse 1 speaks not of music or singing but of prophesying, accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals. There are very interesting references in the stories of Saul before he was king and of Elisha. In 1 Samuel 10:5 Saul is told After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying. In 2 Kings 3 (15, 16) we read of Elisha saying at one point But now bring me a harpist." While the harpist was playing, the hand of the LORD came on Elisha and he said, This is what the LORD says ... and he goes on to prophesy. Many psalms are examples of prophecies intended to be sung.
In light of this some are very conservative and want to sing only what has been inspired of God. I think, however, that when we are told in the New Testament to teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, Paul is including uninspired words though, of course, they must be in accord with Scripture and helpful for God's people as sermons are. The order, however, is to find good words and then work on fitting them to good tunes.
3. Singing to God is a ministry or service
What is spoken of here is spoken of in terms of ministry or service. The work they do (6) is for the ministry at the house of God. This again should be our approach to singing. It is not there primarily for us to enjoy but in order to serve God and to serve his people. It is right to call our meetings services. Matthew Henry says the words intimate "it is our duty to make a business of it, and stir up all that is within us to it; and that, in our present state of corruption and infirmity, it will not be done as it should be done without labour and struggle. We must take pains with our hearts to bring them, and keep them, to this work, and to engage all that is within us.
4. There ought to be an order and authority in our singing
Down through history, churches have tried simply allowing people to sing what they want when they want, to some extent. This tends to lead to chaos, which is not right. In the Temple The sons of Asaph were under the supervision of Asaph, who prophesied under the king's supervision. So these men did not sing simply what they fancied. They were under the direction of Asaph or whoever else was heading the group. He decided what they sang, how they sang, when they sang. He in turn was subject to the King for how he conducted the worship. In a similar way today someone needs to be appointed to lead the singing. Some churches have what they call a worship leader or a singing leader or even a music minister. That makes some sense but in most cases it will be whoever is leading the worship meeting who does this. As long as he remembers that he is ultimately answerable to the great king, the Lord Jesus Christ, for how he goes about things, all should be well.
5. Our singing ought to be varied but straight forward
It appears that the instruments to accompany the singing were limited. Only harps, lyres and cymbals are mentioned, though we have references to trumpets elsewhere. So you couldn't just play any instrument - horns, flutes, zithers, pipes, say. On the other hand, there were instruments to help you. I think that the New Testament encourages us not to use instruments but I realise that can be difficult and so it is probably better to have an accompanying instrument that keeps us all in tune.
6. Our singing ought to be characterised by thanksgiving and praise
It is interesting that in verse 3 it says that Jeduthun prophesied, using the harp in thanking and praising the LORD. Verse 7 refers to music for the LORD. There was an emphasis in the temple music on it being for God and being marked by thanksgiving and praise. That ought to be reflected in our singing too. I always try to begin our meetings with a hymn that is marked by thanksgiving and praise, something like "All people that on earth" or "Immortal honours" or "Immortal, invisible" or "Praise my soul the King of heaven". How thankful we should be, how full of praise. Often that will come out best in the singing.
7. Our singing should be as well thought out and skilled as we can make it
We read in verse 7 that Along with their relatives - all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD - they numbered 288. Note all of them trained and skilled in music for the LORD. These men specialised in singing and playing from a young age. Now one may be tempted to argue from this verse for trained and skilled choirs to lead singing in the churches. However, remembering the change from Old to New Testament that is unlikely. Yes, there was specialisation in the Old Testament worship but just as now every believer is a priest so now everyone should sing. Obviously some do it better than others but all should endeavour to train as well as they can and be as skilful as they can.
Thinking that through, we should sing the best songs to the best tunes. The best hymn writers in the past have been Watts, Wesley, Newton, Cowper and a host of others. Given that we want everyone to sing, the best tunes will not be the most elegant or eye catching but those that are fairly easy to sing without being banal. We should all sing but we should sing as well as we can.
8. We should all sing whether we are good at it or only learning
We might have expected the singers to be ranked according to skill but that is not what happened. In verse 8 it is said clearly Young and old alike, teacher as well as student, cast lots for their duties. There was never a situation where someone would say, for example, "It's division seven next week - they're the best choir. All the best singers are in that division." No, because the singers were chosen by lot, there was no super choir. Yes, some may have been better than others but not by design. So today, some churches may sing better than others but not by design. All should sing.
Most of us pick up how to sing as we go along. When I was converted I knew no hymns, had no delight in singing and was often tempted to mess about with the words or sing in a funny voice. It wasn't too long before I stopped messing about and I soon found that some of the tunes were attractive and the words began to go in. By now I could sing snatches of a hundred hymns perhaps and could easily join in thousands. Do get to know the hymns as best you can and try to sing them well. Christian Hymns helpfully reprints John Wesley's remarks on this which are useful
Learn these Tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.
Sing them as printed. If you've learned to sing them otherwise unlearn it as soon as you can.
Sing All. Join in as frequently as you can. Don't let weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up and you will find a blessing.
Sing lustily and with good courage. Don't sing as though half dead, or half asleep. Lift up your voice. Don't be afraid of your voice or ashamed of it being heard.
Sing modestly. Don't bawl. Don't sing above or distinctly from the rest of the congregation. Don't destroy the harmony but strive to unite your voices so as to make one clear melodious sound.
Sing in Time: whatever time is sung, be sure to keep with it. Don't run before nor stay behind it. Attend closely to the leading voices, and follow them as exactly as you can. Take care not to sing too slow.
Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your Heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and reward when he cometh in the clouds of heaven
Sadly, we are quite restricted in what we can do singing wise at the moment due to covid but let's try and take these things in and act on them as best we can.
