MAKING ’$ T T M a c L f T here is a blessed word in Psalm 119:54: “Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pil grimage.” Sometime ago I watched Pablo Casals, the world’s greatest cellist, teaching a post-graduate class of students. They seemed almost per fect to me; however, this was not Casals’ view. After one had played a number which sounded faultless to my ears, the great artist com mented kindly, “You are playing the notes, but not the music.” This cap- sulizes the problem facing the church and most Christians today. We are able to sing the words but there is not the heart behind the melody. This verse indicates that we are pilgrims and strangers which is readily confirmed through the New Testament. Matthew Henry rightly pointed out, “This world is our pas sage and not our portion.” Here on earth we have no continuing city. Unfortunately, some saints do more sighing than singing. God has put a new song in our hearts. We are really the “melody makers.” God’s statutes are to be our song. It’s not a case of mere memorization in com mon fashion where the words are known in their exact setting, but without any real message or personal meaning. We do not ordinarily asso ciate statutes with songs, but God’s lawbook is a “songbook.” His man dates are melodies. The tragedy of the church today is that we are try ing to have either the music without the notes or the notes without the music. We cannot produce the tune without the words. “Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God.” Majoring on experience and leaving the track of Scripture is like a locomotive in the mud with only the whistle blowing.
by Dr. Vance Havner
In the music world our eardrums are battered by wild and weird dis cords that disregard every decent aspect of harmony. And in the re ligious world we have everything, all the way from a jazz Gospel to a lib eral social reform with no redeeming message from God to man. This new school likes to talk about discarding outdated theological concepts. They not only sing a new tune, but also new words. They tell us the old times are not intelligible and that we need a new jargon. Some urge us to de velop an entirely new vocabulary. If regeneration, sanctification, justifica tion and these other important terms mean nothing today, it’s up to us to make them mean something. The old, old story doesn’t need a new jazz tune, nor does it need more up-to- date words. It must be translated in to our daily living and retold through our daily witness. The Pharisees were experts in the letter of the law, but they didn’t know the spirit of it. There was no walk, no heart, no joy. What made other people happy made them miser able; what made others glad made them sad. We have plenty of music and dancing these days, even in some sanctuaries where jazz bands have been brought in. I don’t mean that kind! There ought to be rejoicing before the Lord. Why don’t we re joice over prodigal sons who come home to God? If that kind of revival broke out, some prominent members would become su lk ing Pharisees. Phariseeism plays the notes but not the music. It is long on theology and short on doxology. The story is cor rect but the song is cold. Evangelical Christianity is occu pied more with notes than music. I’m disturbed by what I hear today. So &
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