Sunday, March 2, 2014

Music of the Bible

 And David and all the house of Israel played before the Lord on all manner of instruments made of fir wood, even on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels, and on cornets, and on cymbals. 
Samuel 6:5

Whether it is a soft breeze, the gentle lap of water against the shore or the rhythmic tap of fingers on a table top, music seems to be an integral part of our human nature, and I believe it's been with us since before the beginning of time. Why, just listen to the Hebrew language and you'll hear a beautiful lyrical tone that resonates deep within the soul. All right, so maybe it doesn't resonate with everyone. Perhaps the genre that speaks to you is Bluegrass or Big Swing, maybe it's Opera or Rock n' Roll.

Public Domain
Whatever the case, the origins of music go back thousands of years. From the Bible, we have Deborah's song, Miriam's song, Hannah's song. Let's not forget all the psalms written by David, a shepherd after God's own heart (Jer 3:15). The word psalm, mizmowr in the Hebrew, literally means melody.

Perhaps, David was a man after God's own heart because he knew how to praise God with song. After all, King Saul demanded his officials find a man who played well and they brought him David (1 Samuel 16).  We're told that while David played his lyre Saul's mind was eased and the evil spirit consuming him left.

As you can see from the opening scripture, the lyre isn't the only instrument found in the Bible. The timbrel, although often depicted as what we know as a tambourine, was most likely nothing more than wood hoop with a animal skin stretched over the top, kind of like what we consider a drum head, and then you have cymbals and psalters, which I've seen look like a boxed harp.

Out of all the instruments found in the Bible, I think my favorite is the shofar.



Here is a neat link to various instruments listed in the Bible. The link includes the Hebrew, pictures, descriptions and scripture references, just click on the individual pictures.

Which instrument is your favorite?

 Born and raised in Kansas, where she currently lives with her husband and children, Christina loves to read stories with happily ever afters, research,  take photos, knit scarves, dig into her ancestry, fish, visit the ocean, write stories with happily ever afters and talk about her family and Jesus. 

Her debut novel, The Guardian’s Promise, releases from Love Inspired March 2014.

4 comments:

  1. A very interesting post on Music of the Bible. We have a shofar that we got while in Israel. I would like to hear it played in an actual song. I thought it was used only as a call to prayer. My favorite music is Southern Gospel and Country/Western music. sharon wileygreen1(at)yahoo(dot)com

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    1. Sharon, I envy you in more ways than one. Israel and a shofar! One day I'll get there.

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  2. Christina, what fun to see you here! Wishing you all the best with your book!
    Nancy

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