ALPHA MAAMA (A.M.)

 כנור Music Man

TANGATA TA HA‘APE

1 SAMUEL 16:23

AND WHENEVER THE HARMFUL SPIRIT FROM GOD WAS UPON SAUL, DAVID TOOK THE LYRE AND PLAYED IT WITH HIS HAND. SO SAUL WAS REFRESHED AND WAS WELL, AND THE HARMFUL SPIRIT DEPARTED FROM HIM.

1 SAMIUELA 16:23

Pea ka ‘iloange na‘e ‘ia Saula ‘a e laumālie faka‘Elohimi, pea to‘o ‘e Tēvita ‘a e ha‘ape ‘o tā; pea nonga hifo ‘a Saula, ‘o ne lelei, pea malele ‘a e laumālie kovi meiate ia.

Music has graced the homes and sanctuaries of humanity from the dawn of history. The first musical instrument mentioned is the kinnor, a stringed instrument variously translated as "zither," "lyre," or "harp" (Gen. 4:21). It was played during celebrations (Gen. 31:27), prophesying (1 Sam. 10:5), and temple worship (1 Chron. 15:16). David's skill with the kinnor earned him a place alongside Saul as his "music man." Behold the power of music. Sounds soothing to troubled hearts were like fingernails on the chalkboard to this "harmful spirit." The devil loathes concord and beauty, for he is the father of discord and lies. Still today, who has not had their spirits unexpectedly lifted, a frown upended into a smile, by music and song?

Were it not for this Israelite music man, this expert on the kinnor, how impoverished we would be, since his psalms would never have been composed. As it is, his melodious words have been, for over three thousand years, a balm to wounded hearts, light to darkened lives, and poetic testimony to the Lord's anointed, in whose presence the saints and angels sing.

"I will go to the altar of God, to God my exceeding joy, and I will praise you with the lyre, O God, my God" (Ps. 43:4).