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Day 29
Sing at Your Enemies!
By Al Menconi
Have
you ever realized how important godly
music is to God? The Bible is filled
with examples of how believers in the
living God sung His praises. The Bible
says that the Old Testament was given
to us as an example. Let’s do a
quick overview and see how early believers
treated singing and godly music.
God had the children of Israel use
singing and musical instruments in a
variety of ways – from a song of
victory after crossing the Red Sea into
freedom to Ezra reinstating choir worship
after the Babylonian captivity. David—God’s
chosen to be in the line of Christ—was
God’s most prolific songwriter.
The longest book in Scripture, Psalms,
is simply a book of songs. It is safe
to say that songs and singers were a
vital part of worship throughout Scripture.
The Bible also teaches us that praising
God should be done audibly–speaking,
shouting, or singing. We don’t
have to be silent when we praise the
Lord! There is power in His praise. The
Bible is filled with examples of how
His people sang His praises.
One of the most interesting examples
of the power of singing praises out loud
is found in 2 Chronicles 20:20-23. The
nation of Judah was under siege by the
armies of Ammon and Moab . Jehoshaphat,
the king, had singers lead his armies
into battle. Can you believe how ridiculous
that must have seemed to everyone there?
What would people today think if the
President addressed the media and asked
Christian churches to have their choirs
sing toward our enemies in the Mideast
?
But Jehoshaphat obeyed God. The Bible
tells us that at the exact moment they
began to sing, their enemies began to
kill each other off until all of Judah ’s
enemies were dead. It didn’t happen
because the people of Judah were such
terrible singers! The enemy slaughtered
each other because Jehoshaphat and his
people were faithful to God! They led
the battle with a song. Is that hot or
what?
A similar example of the power of singing
is when Paul and Silas were in the Philippian
jail. They had been beaten, put in the
innermost dungeon, and their legs were
bound with chains. Instead of complaining
that they weren’t being treated
fairly, they spent the night singing
hymns to the Lord! Can you imagine such
foolishness?
You probably know the rest of the story.
There was an earthquake, the doors flew
open and their chains fell off! More
importantly they led their jailer to
Christ (Acts 16:22 -34).
Did all this happen just because they
were singing? No one knows for sure,
but you can be certain nothing would
have happened if they sat there complaining.
There truly is power in godly singing!
What can we learn from these examples?
In Ephesians 6, Paul encourages us to
put on the whole armor of God. The sword
is the Word of God in our spiritual armor.
With that in mind, consider that the
Greek for Word in this passage (Eph.
6:17 ) is rhema, which is translated
as the spoken Word of God. The implication
is that in the spiritual warfare of life
we should do more than merely read God’s
Word, we should verbalize it. A good
way to verbalize it is to sing. This
could be the answer as to why God’s
enemies fled and/or killed each other
when His people sang His praises.
How about you? Got any enemies you’d
like to get rid of?
> Reflections: Have
you ever been introduced to this idea
of singing at your enemies before? Do
you sing at your enemies? Why not? Do
you have the “enemy” of worry?
Why not sing songs of faith? Do you have
the “enemy” of fear? Why
not sing songs of hope? Do you have the “enemy” of
stress? Then why not sing songs of peace?
Is it magic? No, it’s simply what
the people of God have done since the
beginning of time. Since godly music
is so important to God, and Jehoshaphat,
and David, and Paul, and His people throughout
the ages, why isn’t it more important
to those of us in the church today?
Response: Why not
share a favorite song with your family?
Find a song that explains why you love
Jesus and what He means to you. Ask your
family or some close friends if you could
have five minutes of their time to share
why you love Jesus. Take one minute to
explain why you chose this particular
song. Print out copies of the lyrics
ahead of time and have them read the
lyrics while you play the song. When
the song is over, talk with them about
what they got out of the song. I call
this sharing your Testimony Song.
Verse of the Day: 1 Corinthians 14:7-8
"Even in the case of lifeless
things that make sounds, such as the
flute or harp, how will anyone know
what tune is being played unless there
is a distinction in the notes? Again,
if the trumpet does not sound a clear
call, who will get ready for battle?"
> In this passage, Paul is referring
to people who were speaking in tongues
without understanding, but the principles
are the same for music. Christian music
should be thought of as the battle call
in the “spiritual war” of
life.
If some tension is good in certain
types of Christian music, how much is
too much? According to this verse, there
is too much tension when it overshadows
the message. If the music is so loud
and tense that you can’t hear the
message, what good is it? If the trumpet
(guitar) does not sound a clear call,
who will get ready for battle?
Be careful of using this verse to criticize
Christian music you don’t like
or can’t understand, however. Just
because you can’t understand it,
doesn’t mean I can’t understand
it. If you read the lyrics of most Christian
rock songs, you will be able to hear
them clearly. Try it; you might learn
to enjoy more kinds of Christian music
than you thought.
Another concern this verse brings to
mind. Many young people have indicated
they would listen to Christian music
if it sounded like their favorite group
or style. In other words, “Fit
my taste then I might do God a favor
and listen to His music.” Maybe
it’s your style of music that needs
to be changed. Are you willing to go
deaf if God asked you to?
I challenge you to listen to music
that encourages you to focus on life
from a biblical perspective for thirty
days; no matter what the style. If you
put your desire to focus on God before
your desire to have your “ears
itched” you will be more likely
to see these thirty days as a time God
uses to strengthen your spiritual walk.
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