DAILY DEVOTIONAL – September 21, 2020

“Salvation’s Symphony”

Prayer: Gracious God and Father, You have left a testimony of Your love and salvation for us everywhere.  Give us the eyes of faith to see You, the ears of faith to hear You, and a heart of faith to follow You Son, our Lord, Jesus Christ.  It is in His name that we pray.  Amen.

Scripture: Psalm 101:1

I will sing of steadfast love and justice; to you, O Lord, I will make music.

Devotion – “Salvations’ Symphony”

Back in 2003 a number of news agencies reported on an incredible finding from NASA.  They found that the universe actually emits tonal sounds; it emits music.  Specifically, NASA scientists found that the pressure waves from black holes actually produce a concert Bb pitch.

This really shouldn’t surprise us though.  Psalm 19:1 says, “The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.”  When Jesus rode in on the back of a donkey on Palm Sunday, finally receiving public praise openly, and allowing Himself to be proclaimed and hailed as the Promised One of God that comes in the name of the Lord, the Pharisees demanded that Jesus silence the praises of the people shouting “Hosana!”  In reply, Jesus said in Luke 19, “I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out.”

All throughout the Scriptures, we are called to sing to the Lord; to “Praise him with tambourine and dance; praise him with strings and pipe!” as Psalm 50:4 says.  The fact that God’s creation itself plays music to the praise of His name should leave us unsurprised that music has a way of communicating unspeakably deep truths.  Martin Luther said of music, “Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise. The gift of language combined with the gift of song was given to man that he should proclaim the Word of God through Music.”

Most musicians and musical artists, I think, desire to play an instrument in order to participate in that unique ability music has to tell a story.  We listen to music and find within it a part of who we are, and so we desire to participate in music, to communicate the deepest parts of ourselves and not only be able to participate in the universal story and language of music that someone else has written, but also participate in and write our own story through music.

You know, professional musicians (of any genre) don’t become so proficient and inspiring on their instruments simply by listening to music.  You cannot become a good musician simply by listening to someone else play the instrument you want to play…you actually have to play the cello, practice the cello… you have to participate in the music and on your instrument.  You have to practice music in order to participate in music, and the practicing of music is a participation in music.

I think much the same can be said about our practice of and participation in the Christian faith.  There is certainly nothing wrong with listening to someone else tell us about the Word of God, and tell us about Jesus, like when we listen to a sermon or read a devotional.  However, this is not a substitute for our own practice and participation in the Word of God.  We can no more grow in our faith simply by listening to others read and practice the Word of God, than we can grow as musicians by only listening to someone else play their instrument beautifully.  We have to practice ourselves, and that practice is a participation in music.  Likewise, our discipleship in the Word of God, our practicing of the faith God has given us in Christ, is a participation in the story of salvation God has written for each of us.

When teaching about the Lord’s Supper, the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 10:16, “The cup of blessing that we bless, is it not a participation in the blood of Christ? The bread that we break, is it not a participation in the body of Christ?”  Paul also says in Philippians 2:1, “So if there is any encouragement in Christ, any comfort from love, any participation in the Spirit, any affection and sympathy, complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.”  In other words, Paul is saying that our unity in doctrine and our confession of faith together in the Word of God is a participation in the very work of God in and through His Holy Spirit.  The apostle Peter says in 2 Peter 1:4 that, “[God] has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”

When we open our Bibles every day, when we make discipleship in the Word of God a discipline in our lives, we participate in the beautiful music that praises God for the salvation He has already performed for us.  When we practice in our faith by living in the Word of God each day, we participate in the perfect performance that Jesus has already given for us, and our lives become a part of the beautiful symphonic story that God has already written for us in the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus Christ.

The story of God’s promise of a Savior throughout the generations of the Old Testament, and the story of the New Testament that reveals Jesus Christ to be that Savior revealed in human flesh, resolves the dissonance and suspense of the unresolved promises given by God in the Old Testament.  When we read God’s story of salvation, we join the chorus of saints in singing our own story of salvation as we wait in eager anticipation of our Lord and Christ, Jesus, who will be coming very soon to perform His finale by bringing us home to be with Him forever.   Scripture says that the second and final coming of Christ will come with some incredible music.  1 Thessalonians 4 says, “For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.”

No musician, no matter how good they are, ever plays every note and every rhythm perfectly.  No one really expects them to.  No Christian, no matter how much they read their Bible, will become less of a sinner or more of a saint.  We can never practice enough to be “good enough” for God.  And God has never and will never expect us to be “good enough” for Him.  Instead, God has given us His Word that is itself the “power of salvation for all who believe,” as Paul says in Romans 1:16.

So, may we participate in the symphony of our own salvation by practicing our faith given to us in and through the Word of God each and every day.  Amen.