Last month I attended a chapel service at a Christian college we were visiting. The worship was outstanding. Seeing 1,200 students raising their voices to God was so inspiring. Then, the message was about singing and worship. It was so moving, I decided to write my article on worship, learning from King David and his emphasis on worship as described in the book of 1 Chronicles.
Let us first notice David’s priority of worship. A king has a lot of things to worry about. He has to reign rightly, he has to defend his homeland, he has to train up his armies. Does a king make singing a priority? He does if he is David. When David becomes king, he begins to fill out his cabinet and establish his priorities. One of his first moves is to move the Ark to Jerusalem (1 Chron 15:1-15). But, closely related to that is David’s priority to appoint musicians and singers. It tells us in v 16 that David spoke to the Levites to instruct them to appoint musicians and singers. This tells us that it was a priority for David to have people whose sole job was worship! They searched for them and assigned them this immense privilege.
And this was no small matter. Chapter 25 is solely devoted to listing all the singers and musicians that David set apart for worship. They are named and forever inscribed in the Word of God. It tells us in v 7 that the total number of singers was 288! Imagine having that many people whose entire job is leading worship in Israel! And that does not include all the musicians. David saw worship as a priority. Do we?
Let us next notice David’s variety of worship. His worship was not stale and unoriginal. 1 Chronicles 15 lists all the different musical instruments Israel had for worship. There were harps, lyres, cymbals, and trumpets. This list of instruments is also found in chapter 25. This was a whole band! And there are more instruments listed in Scripture that were used for worship such as tambourines, bells, and flutes.
The variety is also seen in the fact that they didn’t do the same kinds of songs. 1 Chron 15:16 says they raised sounds of joy. Chapter 25 says they sang songs of thanksgiving and praise (v 3). In 16:42 it says they sang ‘songs of God.’ Their worship was all about God, directed to God, and in response to what God had done. And, with around 300 singers and many musical instruments, you can be sure the worship they gave to God was varied and unique. God has blessed us with such a variety of musical sound, we would be foolish to not use it all to praise His great name!
Lastly, let us notice the intensity of David’s worship. The worship of God was not something quiet or restrained. 15:16 says they used ‘loud cymbals.’ In 15:28 it says they brought up the ark with ‘shouting.’ That is also the infamous passage where David was leaping and celebrating as he worshiped God (v 29). In 16:4 it says their worship was a ‘celebration.’ To go to one of David’s worship services was certainly not a hum-drum experience. The people shouted and passionately gave their worship to God. Do we?
We don’t think of the Old Testament as a book about singing and worship, but we should! There are so many passages about songs and singing. And, right in the center of your Bible you can find a book with 150 chapters that is all about singing, the book of Psalms! And as we evaluate King David, we see his priority of worship, his variety of worship, and his intensity of worship. Tell me, what is your view of worship like? Do you love singing? Do you long to sing? Is the worship of God as important to you as it was to King David?