1 Chronicles 25:2,3,6 – “Of the sons of Asaph: Zaccur, Joseph, Nethaniah, and Asharelah; the sons of Asaph were under the direction of Asaph, who prophesied according to the order of the king. (3) Of Jeduthun, the sons of Jeduthun: Gedaliah, Zeri, Jeshaiah, Shimei, Hashabiah, and Mattithiah, six, under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with a harp to give thanks and to praise the Lord…(6) All these were under the direction of their father for the music in the house of the Lord, with cymbals, stringed instruments, and harps, for the service of the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman were under the authority of the king.”
I love reading these passages in the One Year Bible. They give us valuable insight into the administration of King David. In today’s reading we have information regarding David’s worship team. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were David’s worship leaders and their families were enlisted in the worship lineup. There are two significant characteristics of the worship team that I want to highlight:
1. Verse 1 tells us that they were set apart for the ministry of prophesying, “accompanied by harps, lyres and cymbals.” Musical accompaniment on instruments was secondary to the ministry of prophesying. What if today’s worship teams had that criteria? Yeah, you can sing, but can you prophesy? I believe worship services would be more powerful if we had singers and musicians who prophesied and who also were skilled at their craft. Ministry first, musicianship second.
2. Three times in our text we have the phrase “under the direction” and then verse 6 ends by telling us that the worship leaders were “under the authority of the king.” We need worship teams and worship leaders who are under authority and it might, it just might do away with the entertainment mode found in churches today.
These two elements in church music today would change the atmosphere and transform people’s lives. May God give us leaders in all ministries within the church who understand what it means to be under authority.