" It came even to pass, as the trumpeters and singers were as -one, to make -one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of musick, and praised the LORD, saying, For he is good; for his mercy endureth for ever: that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the house of the LORD;"  - 2 Chronicles 5:13

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What ---is--- music?  

A knotty question... because we are trying to define both the concept of music, which is deeply linked to an --individuals perception and/or performance of it. 

What is music to somebody can be completely alien to another listener...  lets see if breaking it down helps...

The fundamental elements are clear and common enough.

We hear with our ears, we see with our eyes, we feel with our skin, smell with our nose, and taste with our tongue. 

So music could be thought of as being 'pleasing' to the ear-senses ....  just like ... paintings & art (deals with the eye senses , the way we see, see color), designer perfumes (nose-senses), delicious recipes (nose-senses) , massages....!... 

So, we are a level above merely sensing, we are sensing what is "pleasing". 

Aesthetics... structure, form, pattern....  this is the first UNITY dimension... music is united and bound up with the concept of man, who himself was created in the image of the Almighty.

All artists must master the fundamentals of their craft... painters must learn about perspective, color, and light, form and shadow...musicians must learn about tension-resolution, sound and frequencies, bars and beats, chefs mix ingredients that appeal to taste, smell, sight, and touch(texture)... 

Cains kids went materialistic... they learned to raise livestock(remember Cain was originally a FARMER), built cities, mastered metallurgy, and developed musical instruments. 

Of the line of Seth, only one thing is noted.... "And to Seth, to him also there was born a son; and he called his name Enos: then began men to call upon the name of the LORD. " :- Gen 4:26

Seths kids learned to call on, and trust in, the LORD! Spiritual engineering!! 

Who was smarter .. ? ... regardless, we are thankful to ALL of Adams children... and the record of human spiritual evolution recorded for us from the Iron and Bronze ages of man. We've come a long way from cave paintings and beating on rocks with sticks ... both materially, and to a lesser extent, spiritually !

We have certainly evolved the craft of making music. 

The hit factories in New York and Nashville know the formulas that work... chord progressions, hooks, choruses, turnarounds.... the words that will "make a hit"... and music has become synonymous with fame and money. Or has it... ?? 

Musicians, along with artists and pastors, are amongst the most poorly paid of professions with just a few making it to the winners circle of celebrity and fortune.  Even the ones that "made it" had to struggle to overcome many challenges, including fame and fortune! 

They were not doing it for the money. 

Music, like our conscience ... is BUILT-IN to every soul, but just as every snowflake is different, there are some that are drawn to this magical universe more so than others, where just listening is not enough --- they are driven to learn exactly HOW to express one's own personality via this form of expression. 

And here is the second dimension of Unity. 

To play or play "along" with a song, requires the player to be one with the tempo, rhythm and musical choices (scale, key) dictated by the composer. 

The written score takes on life when breathed into a flute or trumpet, picked on strings or pounded on keyboards and drums, but the player has to be careful to play the music exactly as indicated, or it will sound wrong or worse... horrible!!! 

It is not even enough for a robot to play the music perfectly as written. 

It requires a human to play-in, expressions - like changes in timbre, tone, volume, attack, hold, vibrato, tremolo... and vary the base rhythm by playing "ahead" or "behind" it, to create/re-create.. the "swing/groove".

And when a player captures all these elements perfectly, our mind, his mind, and the mind of the original composers are all united by the same ideas. We applaud!!!

Lastly, it is not enough to play solo. 

Certainly one can become a solo virtuoso... but every music producer, recording label and band manager will tell you.. a band is more than the sum of its parts!

The music of "yesteryears" (pre 1990?) ... still resonate with new and old listeners, while new hits are forgotten almost as soon as they make it to the top of the charts. Why is that? Answer... because sometimes... what a group can do, transcends what an individual can achieve by themselves.

And that is the third dimension of unity.

When a band plays a song, not only are they doing what is required of a solo performer, they are also cooperating with EACH OTHER to lift up the song by playing their individual parts, and those parts must be mixed in optimal relationships with each other at the appropriate times in the song to create the desired effect!

And this is the unity in view in our text this week, that is blessed with LORD's presence for HE is ONE. 

All the musicians and singers were AS ONE, making ONE SOUND to be heard in praising and thanking the LORD. 

How could He ---not--- bless it with His presence??

Music is as ingrained in the human soul as is our conscience, and reaches deep into the very fabric of our sensory-mental being -- coming as it does from the same source that created us. 

Viewing it as being something seperate from us, would be like denying that our bodies are almost 70% water....

Music, like science, shows us many things about ourselves and our reality if we would but "listen"!    Unfortunately, like everything else, we are far too busy enjoying the bounties we have been given to spare a moment for the Giver...

"Woe unto them that rise up early in the morning, that they may follow strong drink; that continue until night, till wine inflame them! And the -harp, and the -viol, the -tabret, and -pipe, and -wine, are in their feasts: -----------but they regard not the work of the LORD, ----neither --------consider the operation of his hands. " - Isaiah 5:11,12

Music unites us... and shows us the way to willingly submit to each another in love, so that,  we may glorify the One who has called us from darkness into His glorious light!!

Hallelujah!!