Having a Heart of Worship
Music has been around since the beginning of time. Archaeologists have uncovered flutes made of clay and ivory that date back tens of thousands of years. In the 1950s, clay tablets containing what is thought to be the oldest known piece of music, “Hurrian Hymn No. 6,” an ode to the Canaanite goddess Nikkal, were excavated in Ugarit, Syria. On Christmas Eve in 1906, transmitted from Brant Rock, Massachusetts, Reginald Fessenden played “O Holy Night” on the violin in what is thought to be the first radio broadcast containing music.
In 1952, a music performance show began as a local program in Philadelphia, hosted by Bob Horn. When Horn ran into legal problems in 1956, the show got a new host, a clean-cut twenty-six year old disc jockey by the name of Dick Clark. Within a year, ABC picked up the local show, rebranded it as American Bandstand, and began broadcasting to a national audience. When the television studio moved to a new building, one without a studio large enough to accommodate the show, it was forced to move from Philadelphia to Los Angeles. After taking over for Bob Horn, Dick Clark was the show’s only host, which ended its run in 1987. The show then ran in various forms of syndication for another two years, before finally going off the air on October 7, 1989.
The first song played when American Bandstand debuted to a national audience on August 5, 1957, was Jerry Lee Lewis’ rockabilly version of “Whole Lotta Shakin’ Goin On.” The last performer on the show when it ended in 1987 was Laura Branigan. And in between those bookends, the Beastie Boys were AB’s first censured performer.
Needless to say, music and singing are a big part of our lives. We listen to music as we workout, while house cleaning, in the car, at concerts, wedding receptions, and most any other time and place, appropriate or otherwise. Music is about us, about how it makes you feel. Music often transports us back in time. Every time I hear “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” by The Tokens, I immediately go back to that first kiss with my then girlfriend, now wife. There is a genre or a song that speaks to every one of us. Since the first note was played, music has made us feel good. Sadly, today there are also genres that seem to invoke violence, hatred, discord.
There is one genre of music however that is not about us. This music is about the One it is being sung to. Worship music is intended not to make us happy, but rather, it is the love song of our hearts sung to God. We are transported into the presence of God through worship music. Music birthed from hearts hungry for God. The question isn’t “Did I like this song?” Instead, the proper question is, “Did God like it?”
John Wimber, founder of the Vineyard Movement, who was himself a musician, stressed that worship is not about us but about God. We are not “getting something” from worship, it is us giving to God, because he is worthy of our praise.
The scriptures are filled with references to singing to God. Psalm 95 begins this way, “Oh come, let us sing to the LORD; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation.” And the first verse of Psalm 96, “Oh sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth.”
So, I ask you today, is your “singing” heart of worship focused on you or upon the One worthy to be praised? Changing your focus really does make all the difference!
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