THEY THAT WORSHIP HIM - 7. LEVITES

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'So he [David] left Asaph and his brothers there before the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister before the ark regularly...to give thanks to the Lord ...to sound aloud with trumpets and cymbals and the musical instruments of God' (I Chr. 16:37,41-42 NKJV).
             While we would be right to say that Miriam led the first praise and worship of God directly after the Red Sea crossing, we would equally not be wrong to say that King David instituted formal temple worship according to the scripture above. David  chose, separated and organized musicians for God's worship in the temple (1Chr.25:1-6). Out of the 150 songs, poems and prayers in the Book of Psalms, 75 were written by King David. Moses, Solomon and Ethan wrote one each; and the remaining 72 were written by other known and unknown writers. These others were mostly Levites, notable among whom were Asaph, Jeduthum, Korah, Heman and their sons. Levites were workers in the house of God in Israel (Num.8:22) and among them were those gifted in musicianship. Asaph was an outstanding Levite musician and psalmist. He wrote psalm 50, and psalms 73 to 83 (eleven psalms) making some name him 'Father of modern day church musicians'. Asaph wrote, "The Mighty One, God the Lord , Has spoken and called the earth from the rising of the sun to its going down. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth" (Ps.50:1-2). The psalmists wrote and communicated God's words and His praise to a needy world; today many still use the psalms as their sole prayer book.
Bible scholars say Isaiah and Jeremiah were Levites. Isaiah wrote the songs of praise in Is.12, 25 and 26. One of his works, now a popular chorus says, 'O Lord , You are my God. I will exalt You, I will praise Your name, For You have done wonderful things; Your counsels of old are faithfulness and truth' (Is. 25:1). And Jeremiah gave us verses that we still sing as choruses till today: 'The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end. They are new every morning...Great is Thy faithfulness, O Lord!' ( Lam.3: 22,23).  Many men are specially gifted and have separated themselves for God's worship. God said, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; before you were born I sanctified you. I ordained (anointed) you as prophet (minister) to the nations" (Jer.1:5). But many still linger! Concerning gifts from the Father, the bible says that to everyone who has, more will be given, and he will have abundance; but the converse equally applies! 'Stephen The Levite' (well known as STL) is a present day American gospel music minister. He is known for his peculiar style of composing, producing and recording his own poetic gospel lyrics, like lamenting Jeremiah! Is he the last of the 'Levites'? Are you a Levite but still in the cooler? It's time to come out of your shell. John 4:23 says, 'But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such to worship Him'.

olusegunisaac2018@gmail.com  


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