Marketplace Monastics

“Would to God that all the Lord’s people were Prophets!”  (Numbers 11:29)

Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army, saying:

“Give thanks to the Lord,
    for his love endures forever.”

As they began to sing and praise, the Lord set ambushes against the men of Ammon and Moab and Mount Seir who were invading Judah, and they were defeated.   When the men of Judah came to the place that overlooks the desert and looked toward the vast army, they saw only dead bodies lying on the ground; no one had escaped.

I might be inclined to say, for the sake of today’s entry, that this was a battle won by singing! That is not quite the case, for it was a battle won by the Lord while those appointed by the king sang of the holiness of their God, but, what a way to fight!

Let me say right away, for those conscientious about their singing, truly, truly, it isn’t tone and pitch that the Lord is looking for, and if your singing voice leaves something to be desired for the Top 40, when you break through it will be all the more powerful! If you can’t quite, then do let someone else do the singing … cd, MP3, Sirius … but sing along. Just for forty days. Afterward, we’ll see! One of the voices I most love to hear is in the throat of a woman who knows she does not sing as well as others, but she sings anyway, always. Oh, the sound of her voice!

Besides, we are singing home, usually alone, to the rafters and to God. Other than He, only angels and demons will hear us. The ones will rejoice, and the others tremble, particularly because Lucifer with his terrific musical ability is fallen from his high place, and WE SING!

There is no mistaking, here and in other places in Scripture, there were in Israel ministering warriors, those who sang and made music before the Lord, whose praise was vibrant, resounding to the skies, sometimes going out before the armies of Israel and sometimes worshiping while the Lord fought for them, majestic in holiness, stalwart, brave, their mouths filled with praise.

Let us set our Lenten fasts as the Lord leads, and as He has already instructed, even commanded, let us fast with JOY and with the voice of PRAISE, singing our intercessions, our prayers, our love, our confidence in this God, this Majesty, Who triumphs in gladness and exaltation, even our own!

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)

From Blake’s Milton

Text for “Jerusalem”, a British anthem

Wikipedia, by permission, public domain