The Culture of Hope Founded on Faith
Music is a very important factor in human culture. Every cohesive culture has its shared songs, with the understanding of the purpose of each – mourning celebration, patriotism, worship, instruction, etc. It is said that music is the universal language. It has form, rhythm, and meter that can be interpreted by the hearer, even if there is no mutual linguistic understanding. It used to be that Catholics could go into any Catholic Church around the world and enjoy comprehension because the mass was sung and said universally in Latin. Now that is not the case.
Likewise, since such widespread translation of Scripture into local languages, Evangelical Christians would not be able to understand services in other countries without help. A few years ago I visited a church near Chinatown in San Francisco. The first service was in English so there was no problem, but the later service was in Mandarin. I couldn’t understand a word that was said, but I recognized the tunes sung during worship time. How fun to quietly sing along in English the familiar songs of praise, and to be able to celebrate Jesus with my brothers and sisters from another culture and in a language foreign to me.
The Bible repeatedly mentions song and music in a variety of contexts. For instance, Exodus 15 records the song of victory written by Moses after God’s miraculous deliverance of the people of Israel from the Egyptian army at the Red Sea. It begins with “…I will sing unto the LORD, for He hath triumphed gloriously. The horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and song and he is become my salvation. He is my God, and I will prepare Him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt Him” (Ex. 15:1a-2). This is a familiar theme because the first two verses contain the text for several praise songs we sometimes sing in worship sets at church.
This was not the only time in Scripture that song was used as historical instruction. At the end of his life, Moses was directed to write down God’s instructions in a song that would be used to pass on the information to future generations (Deut. 31:19-22).
We often think of the Book of Psalms primarily as prayers and poems of David, but many of those songs often sung by the Israelites are instructional, written to keep the narrative of their history alive. Psalm 104, for instance, begins with “Bless the LORD, O my soul. O LORD my God, thou art very great; thou art clothed with honour and majesty” (Ps. 104:1). It goes on to present God’s great work of creation, the flood, and post-flood renewal of the earth. Chapter 105 continues the narrative covering the covenant with Abraham, the sojourn in Egypt, and the move to the Promised Land ending with “That they might observe his statutes, and keep his laws. Praise ye the LORD” (Ps. 105:45).
The theme of praise and gratitude for God’s continued involvement with Israel is the focus of Psalm 106. It begins with, “Praise ye the LORD. O give thanks unto the LORD; for he is good: for his mercy endureth forever” (Ps. 106:1) This Psalm goes into the details of God’s leading and care in juxtaposition to the faithless behavior of Israel. The consequent judgement on Israel brings about repentance and ends with “Save us, O LORD our God, and gather us from among the heathen, to give thanks unto thy holy name, and to triumph in thy praise. Blessed be the LORD God of Israel from everlasting to everlasting: and let all the people say, Amen. Praise ye the LORD” (Ps. 106:47-48).
It is important to recognize that each of these Psalms is bookmarked, beginning and end, with worship and praise for what God has done in the life of Israel as a nation. While the emphasis of these passages is on the history of the Jews, we Christians need to make this application to our own lives: Remember specific instances of what God has done in your life – His answers to prayer, what you learned in His times of silence, His mercy and forgiveness at other times. With the Psalm writers of old we need to rejoice, bless, and worship God, for He has done great things!
