Pastor's Corner

When I read through Nehemiah 12 this morning (specifically v. 12), I couldn’t help but think of the worship wars that so many churches have over which instruments are acceptable for use in worship and which are not. As I read of the instrumentation used by the Levites at the dedication of the wall ceremony (sounds like a youth event, doesn’t it?), i.e. “cymbals, harps, and lyres,” I wondered if anyone in the “congregation” said, “The harp…now that’s God’s instrument; but what have we come to using the lyre and cymbal?!? Those are the instruments of the devil!”

Sounds silly, right? But it’s no sillier than what we hear in our churches today: “The organ and the piano…now those are God’s instruments; but what have we come to using the guitar and the drums?!? Those are the instruments of the devil!” AND, no better is: “The guitar and the drums…now those are God’s instruments of today; we wouldn’t be caught dead using the organ and piano—they’re so yesterday!”

The fact of the matter is that all music is God’s music, and all instruments are God’s instruments. I, for one, refuse to give any of them up to the devil!

“Praise the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary; praise him in his mighty heavens. Praise him for his acts of power; praise him for his surpassing greatness. Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet, praise him with the harp and lyre, praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute, praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals. Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD.” (Psalm 150)

The first three verses of Nehemiah 8 will make any preacher sit up and take notice…

“And all the people gathered as one man into the square before the Water Gate. And they told Ezra the scribe to bring the Book of the Law of Moses that the LORD had commanded Israel. So Ezra the priest brought the Law before the assembly, both men and women and all who could understand what they heard, on the first day of the seventh month. And he read from it facing the square before the Water Gate from early morning until midday, in the presence of the men and the women and those who could understand. And the ears of all the people were attentive to the Book of the Law.”

Did you catch that?!? At the people’s request, Ezra read from Scripture “from early morning until midday…and the ears of all the people were ATTENTIVE.” Simply put: Ezra preached for half of a day, and not only did no one complain about him going over his allotted time frame, but they actually paid attention!

What I remember most distinctly about my experience worshipping with my brothers and sisters in Ukraine was their total lack of concern regarding how long they were assembled on Sunday morning. Their worship service had a “start” time, but it didn’t have an “end” time—it just continued until the Holy Spirit was finished ministering to them. And how refreshing it was!

I’m certainly not arguing for half-day worship services, but I would sure love to see God’s people in this country be less concerned about the pot-roast awaiting them at home and more concerned about the praise due their Lord!

In spite of all of the opposition, both from the outside of their ranks as well as from the inside, the Jews finished their wall-rebuilding project in just fifty-two days—and what a testimony it was of God’s wisdom and power!

“And when all our enemies heard of it, all the nations around us were afraid and fell greatly in their own esteem, for they perceived that this work had been accomplished with the help of our God.” (Neh. 6:16)

God loves to bring glory and honor to Himself in our weakness. Why? Because it’s then that His wisdom and strength is magnified!

“Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this (the thorn in Paul’s flesh), that it should leave me. But he (Jesus) said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.” (2 Cor. 12:8-9)