10 “What!” exclaimed the king of Israel. “Has the Lord called us three kings together only to deliver us into the hands of Moab?” 11 But Jehoshaphat asked, “Is there no prophet of the Lord here, through whom we may inquire of the Lord?” An officer of the king of Israel answered, “Elisha son of Shaphat is here. He used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.” Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the Lord is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. 13 Elisha said to the king of Israel, “Why do you want to involve me? Go to the prophets of your father and the prophets of your mother.” “No,” the king of Israel answered, “because it was the Lord who called us three kings together to deliver us into the hands of Moab.” 14 Elisha said, “As surely as the Lord Almighty lives, whom I serve, if I did not have respect for the presence of Jehoshaphat king of Judah, I would not pay any attention to you. 15 But now bring me a harpist.” While the harpist was playing, the hand of the Lord came on Elisha.”
We seldom, if ever, have a worship service that does not involve music. It is an essential part of a Christian’s life. Unless it is a teaching service, Sunday School class or prayer meeting, music is part of church life.
Moishe Rosen, founder of Jews for Jesus, said that in heaven there will be little, if any preaching. We won't need admonitions, instructions, or reproof because we'll all know the Lord and how to please Him, but there will be lots of music, singing and praising.
Music is something that God gave to man. It is a means of communication that goes beyond just words. God enjoys our praise and our talents as they are given for Him and His glory.
In our passage today we see Elisha's need for having music influence him and inspire him to be used for God. The context of this Scripture is a story of the Kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom coming together as an alliance against Moab. Joram of Israel is an evil King. He was the son of Ahab and Jezebel who hated Elijah.
The King of Moab was paying extortion money to Ahab, but after Ahab died he stopped payments. Joram still wanted the money and made a pact with his neighboring kings to attack Moab. However, water dried up and the troops couldn't fight. Jehoshaphat asked the other two kings to bring a prophet of the Lord so they might get spiritual wisdom as to how to proceed with this military campaign.
Two evil Kings and one good King were teamed together. One of the officers of Joram reminded them that Elisha wasn't too far away. He could be called. So they seek God's will regarding this battle. Elisha was indignant that Joram, this wicked king, would come to him for godly advice when he was a hypocritical Baal worshipper, but, seeing Jehoshaphat, he would wait and see if God would give him any message. So, he waited upon the Lord.
Interestingly, Elisha calls a harpist to come and play music for him. Music apparently calmed his emotions to seek the Lord by preparing himself by listening to harp music. It spoke to his soul, putting him in a quiet and prayerful mood to hear from the Lord.
What type of music puts you in a mood for worship? Quiet? Praiseful? Mellow?
What is it that pleases the Lord? Is there music you enjoy riding in a car, or doing dishes, or while you are trying to go to sleep? Are they different? What has changed in your music preferences as you grow older?
Application: There are a variety of styles of music. Can all of them be used of God? This is a hot topic in most churches since people know what they like and don’t like. Since it is part of worship, many take strong positions that differ from one another.
Prayer: Father, thank you for the gift of music, how it feeds my soul. Let me raise my voice in songs of praise to You for all these gifts. Thank you for the calming that it is able to bring to me.
