2 Kings 3:14 And Elisha said, "As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you. But now bring me a musician." NKJV
Bring Me A Musician
At the beginning of the 21st Century the key personnel components to a numerically growing church is a good communicator in the pulpit and a good musician on the stage. If it’s a choice between just one of these components, then choose the good musician every time, because good music brings in the punters and when the punters open their pockets, well, you can then buy yourself a good pulpit monkey, anytime you please. Ah, bring me a musician!
What I am about to talk about tonight has unfortunately nothing to do with the post-modern church, or that mutton dressed as lamb, the mega-modern church. No, this is not surface stuff I am talking about tonight, but a deep and intrinsic connection, between the soul and the prophetic spirit. Yes, bring me a musician.
I was performing some poetry last night and had the opportunity once again to perform a piece with the accompaniment of a professional musician. It was a public exercise in synchronization. Could the heart and ears of the speaker and the heart and ears of the player, synchronize the voice and words, with the fret-gripping, finger-plucking sounds of the musician? Always to the audience’s surprise, this works well and something different and beautiful is produced and it is always something that is in step, that is in rhythm, and friends, let me tell you that anything that is in step and in rhythm, will release a beauteous truth. Yes, bring me a musician.Now Elisha is no pussy but it is obvious that the arrival of these three kings and especially the wicked King of Israel, had put him in an angry mood, had got his hackles up, had put him first on the defense and then on the verbal attack! One man against thousands, telling the King of Israel where to get off! I imagine his heart was pumping in fiery indignation against those who had rebelled against the Lord. It was only the presence of King Jehoshaphat that day that saved the situation and with mounting disdain for the kin and King of Israel, Elisha’s says "As the Lord of hosts lives, before whom I stand, surely were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not look at you, nor see you. But now bring me a musician." In all his raging rhetoric, why on earth did Elisha demand this?Well, I believe that Elisha needed calming down and he knew it! When the musician played, Elisha was then eased into a ready frame of mind, yes that’s it, Elisha’s soul, was so calmed by the music , that his spirit could rise up above the boisterous emotional waves and speak in prophetical and practical terms. Of course this was most important, this was most necessary for it was his spirit that was the conduit for God’s voice. Now don’t think that the seat of his emotions were not an emotional blockage that needed removing, no, but rather by the music, the rhythm of his emotional soul was syncopated to release the testimony, yes, his soul was brought into a revelation rhythm of disclosure. His emotions were not eliminated, but rather they were brought into receptive play. Ah yes, bring me a musician.
It was Luther who taught that ‘darkness abhors sweet sounds’ and certainly the antipathy of this is seen in our days, in that darkness, always attaches itself to shall we say, some not so very sweet sounds! Certainly, the soul needs a mood to make heaven speak. I say again, certainly the soul needs a mood to make heaven speak and that mood is a rhythm and it is a rhythm which is in rhyme with heaven. Ah yes, bring me a musician.
Now you will notice that the text makes no mention of either the style of music or the instrument it was played on. Was it calming music? Was it stirring music? Was it pleasant in tone, or provocative in tune? We don’t know. All that we can say is that this music was a release to his spirit in a very trying situation. Ah yes, in all our trying situations, bring me a musician.
I do not want you to think that your emotional soul is a hindrance to communication, no indeed it is an integral part of communication. However, when the soul is out of rhythm with the spirit, listening for the message from God is like looking for a drowning man in a raging sea. That sea needs calming. The rhythm of the waves needs reining in. Ah, bring me a musician.
Know that what you listen to, will indeed influence your soul and in turn then will either bind or release your spirit and remember, it is your spirit that inhabits the spiritual realm and it is your spirit that has communicative content. I wonder, if you are not hearing from God, that you are in fact out of His rhythm and nothing, I mean nothing will rhyme in your life. If this is the case, then you need a musician friend. Ah but what kind?Music is music, and good music like good food will satisfy the soul. Yes, you don’t need a Christian chef to make good food and you don’t need a Christian musician to make good music and remember, the music I am calling good, is the music that will bring your soul into a rhythm that will then release the rhyme. Be assured that your soul knows the difference between binding rhythm and releasing rhythm and I tell you, your soul is longing for release, your soul is longing for rest, your soul is longing to hear the message from God which is carried in your spirit! So, let your prayer tonight be very simply this, “Lord, bring me a musician.”
Listen: - Then it happened, when the musician played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him. And he said, "Thus says the Lord: 'Make this valley full of ditches.' For thus says the Lord: 'You shall not see wind, nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you, your cattle, and your animals may drink.' And this is a simple matter in the sight of the Lord; He will also deliver the Moabites into your hand. Also you shall attack every fortified city and every choice city, and shall cut down every good tree, and stop up every spring of water, and ruin every good piece of land with stones." Now it happened in the morning, when the grain offering was offered, that suddenly water came by way of Edom, and the land was filled with water. 2 Kings 3:14-20 NKJV
Pray: - Lord, bring me music that will release Your message in me. Amen!
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