Week beginning 27 09 20
Psalm 100
Jubilate everybody
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nukqkr29DP8
Psalm 150.
I will enter his gates with thanksgiving in my heart
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YLPUKzAhmYk
Prayers: Inspiration 1
O.T. Reading: 2 Chronicles 5
Praise to the living God
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s5Gmo1JzbCU
N.T. Reading: Romans 15: 1-13
The Lord’s my shepherd
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eIQQayhpak
The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:
‘He is good; his love endures for ever.’
There is a lot of evidence in the bible for the use of music in worship. Probably the largest single piece is what we call the book of psalms. An interesting question for a quiz would be “How many psalms are there in the book of psalms?” Most people would answer “150” but in fact only 57 are identified as psalms! Among the rest are; 1 “Psalm of praise”, 31 “Songs”, 12 “Maskils”, 4 “Prayers”, 6 “Mikhtams”, 1 “Shiggaion”, and 15 “Songs of ascent”. The exact meaning of these terms are not all clear. Often, they come with recommendations about the music, and we can assume from this that they were intended to be sung. There are psalms suitable for; rejoicing, mourning, and laments; some are intended for public worship and others for private devotions.
It is easy to lose sight of the fact that ther psalms were written as poetry, to be sung. Of all the tasks that face the translator, poetry is probably the most difficult. There is rhyme, thythm, and meaning, not to mention cultural and language structure to get right. It has been said that “poetry gets seasick on the sea of translation”. Unfortunately I do not know, and cannot find, who said this. If you can help, please get in touch.
A good example of this is provided by a simple limerick:
There was a young fellow called Hall
Who fell in a spring in the fall
'twould have been a sad thing
had he died in the spring,
But he didn't, he died in the fall
The double meanings of “spring” (source of water and season) and “fall” (season and waterfall) are unlikely to be available in one word is another langaue, and the subtlety of the original would be totally lost.
Some psalms acrostics: e.g. 119 and 145. but there are others. Eacline or verse begins with a successive letter of the Hebrew alphabet, from aleph to tau. Such a device is often used as an aid to memory. Incidentally this is often taken as proof that these were written after writing was invented, because the writer would have to have known about the alphabet in order to do this. They are not part of an oral tradition which was written down later. Translating the force of such poetry into English is effectively impossible, even supposing that an appropriate word could be found to start the line, there are only 22 letters in the Hebrew alphabet, where we have 26. Other languages have different numbers, Welsh has 29, Spanish has 27, Scottish gaelic 18,ands Hawaiian, 13.
Some scholars have translated psalms into paraphrases in English poetry, so that the ideas are preserved as poems which we can sing or chant, “The Lord’s my Shepherd” is one of the best known. Churches of some traditions will only sing psalm paraphrases in worship.
Peotry has often been used as an aid to memory, the rhyme and rhythm are a help in remembering the content. If you have ever watched the film “The Dirty Dozen”, you may remember that the participants in the mission had their instructions in verse.
Clearly, the writers of the psalms, and the rest of the bible, were not strangers to the use of instruments. Trumpets, Lyres, Harps, cymbals of various types, drums, "Stringed instruments" are all mentioned. This is quite a band, and it likely what was available at the time. The temple must have been a very noisy place at times!
There has always been much discussion about the appropriate instruments and type of music to use in worship. For much of the 20th century, the organ was the “must have” instrument. Many churches which did not have an organ had an organ fund to enable the purchase of one. (many churches which did have an organ also had an organ fund to repair the one they had!).
Other churches have a band of brass instruments. Those of you who went to the Black Country Museum Chapel in dudly some years ago, may remember that there was a gallery at the rear of the chapel where the orchestra would have sat.
Guitars came into wide use in the 1960s, although they have existed for a long time. In some places this was controversial, in some places it still is! With discussion centred round whether it was “seemly” in a place of worship. In my experience, such debates usually generate more heat than light!
More recently, there has been the use of electronic organs, other electronic instruments, and computers, all with their supporters and detractors. Cymbals, drums and tambourines have also been used.
Just as the leaders of worship in the temple used what was available to them, so can we. People can be encouraged to bring the skills, enthusiasms and resources they have to enhance worship. At the moment, when we are worshipping remotely, perhaps we need to add computer literacy to the skills required of a worship leader? Not to mention the congregation??
Which of course brings us to the question of what is it right to sing?
For generations all that was sung was psalms, usually chanted, an art form still is use in some churches. As mentioned earlier, paraphrases of the psalms were used, more widely in some traditions than others. Unfortunately, the tunes to which the psalms were originally sung are not available, although I uderstand that there have been attempts to reconstruct the music of the era. However, presumeably we would have to be fluent in Hebrew for that to work.
For many years we sang hymns. Sacred poems set to tunes from a variety of sources. In the 1970s the Methodist Church published “Hymns and Songs” (athough I never really understood the difference between a hymn and a religious song). Some churches would not use music that was not a “hymn”. Some churches used choruses, especially in their work with children. This brought further controversy, was it right to clap, or tap your feet, to the music?
The music used is also a matter for contention. Some tunes were written as hymn tunes, although without a specific hymn in mind. “Aberystwyth”, written by Joseph Parry, and now usually sung to “Jesus, lover of my soul” in one such. Other hymns are commonly sung to classical tunes, such as “Mozart” sung to “Behold the servant of the Lord”. Some hymn writers wrote hymns to be sung to popular dance tunes of their day, and attracted criticism for doing so. The question “Why should the devil have all the best tunes?” has been variously attributed to George Whitfield, John Wesley, Charles Wesley and General Booth of the Salvation Army.
Now we face questions such as whether it is right and seemly to sing Christian words to modern pop tunes, T.V. Theme tunes, or Film scores. Before you answer this, think about singing “What a Friend we have in Jesus” to “Now the Carnival is Over” by the Seekers; “Glory be to God on High” to the theme from “Eastenders” or “God is our Strength and Refuge” to the “Dambusters” theme.
Paul says, in his letter to the Romans:
Romans 15
5 May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had, 6 so that with one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.
If God is glorified, then it is seemly. If it builds the people up it is seemly.
Use the skills and talents and resources available to praise God. Think about what God has given you that you can use in his service.
Praise Him Praise Him
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BB27OjUFZjs
Prayer:
Lord of All,
Thank You for the unique talents
with which each of us is born,
and for Your support
as we employ them over the years
with Your grace and good guidance.
Help us share with others
these gifts which we enjoy:
gifts of art, of music and science,
of carpentry and farming and nursing,
of engineering and housekeeping,
of law, of philanthropy and teaching,
caring for children and tending
to the old and the ill.
Lead us to use wisely the varied abilities
which each of us receives and develops
in his or her own way,
individual as our finger-prints,
reflecting the singular personality
and unique individualities
You have given us.
Help us support and respect all those who work to make our lives safe and comfortable.
Grant us strength and wisdom to share
our talents in ways that honor and enlighten
all whom we encounter, and all whom we knowingly or unknowingly influence.
Help us, Lord, to walk our special paths
kindly and courageously in a manner
that enriches all whom we meet
on our life's journey.
May our way be bright, safe and joyous!
In living each day, guided by You,
may we create a noble life,
be of help to many others
and leave behind lasting achievements
and an inspiring legacy.
All this I pray to You,
Amen
All people that on earth do dwell
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