Praise!
Make music!
Sing!
From verse 4 to the end of this Psalm we see reasons to praise the Lord.
Here are just a few:
His word is right
His works is trustworthy
He loves righteousness and justice
He made the heavens and stars with just His breath
He spoke and the world came into being
His counsel stands forever
He observes everyone
He watches over those who fear Him
He is our help and shield
The first 3 verses - and of course I'm going to say this, but I would think this even if I wasn't the Worship Pastor - the first three verses say, well, here, I'll just put them here on the blog for you to read rather than try to summarize them.
1 Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones; praise from the upright is beautiful. 2 Praise the Lord with the lyre; make music to Him with a ten-stringed harp. 3 Sing a new song to Him; play skillfully on the strings, with a joyful shout. NASB
Not only are we instructed to rejoice and sing and make music, but the psalmist says to do so "skillfully."
I don't watch American Idol anymore. It was starting to annoy me. But I think we've all watched enough of "idol" to see that music that is not done skillfully isn't something that will help others worship or that will bring glory to God.
At Hilldale we have opportunities for people to grow in their musicianship, to become more skillful in their playing and singing. We do this through our graded choir program and through lessons we offer through our Fine Arts Academy.
Here is a partial schedule:
Children's Choirs - Wednesday nights from 6:00-6:45
Youth Choir (preparing for the Passion Play) - Sunday afternoons beginning Feb. 12 at 4:00 - led by Angie Thomas
Adult choir - Wednesday nights @ 6:30
Adult handbells - meeting in February on Sunday afternoons - contact me if you are interested in playing
Children's handbells - homeschool children meet on Thursdays @ 1:00
Guitar and voice lessons - Andrew Smith
Violin and string lessons - Lyndel Littleton
Coming soon
Kindermusik - for preschool children and their moms - Calli Smith
Piano lessons - these aren't an official part of our Fine Arts Academy, but all of our church pianists teach - Michelle Dickerson, Mary Beth Mathews, Gena Tate and Kim Morton all teach in their homes. Their schedules are often all booked up, but contact them if you are interested.
My plan is to offer other "Fine Arts" things in the near future like art lessons and dance classes.
Play skillfully!
Praise the Lord!
1 comment:
Okay, your "American Idol" comment: "music that is not done skillfully isn't something that will help others worship or that will bring glory to God" has made me want to go completely silent when we sing in church (I'll pull a Milli Vanilli). Anyway, I loved Psalm 33, especially the few verses of 6 and following that recite about God creating and His creation. It's reminiscent of Genesis.
I like the thought that God "fashions the hearts of them all" and "understands all their works." (v. 15). I pray that He will be pleased with the heart He created in me.
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