The Director of Music

Throughout the Psalms you see a little subtitle that reads, “to the director of music.” This is the guy who had the privilege of leading the songs way back in the day. David would write something from his heart to God, then he would pass it on to the director of music, and the director would use the lyrics (along with some killer Jewish music) to lead the entire assembly in praise and adoration of the Lord God Almighty.

I wonder if anyone from the assembly ever got mad because the director of music did not pick their favorite Psalm that week.

I wonder if the assembly ever sang about repentance and sang about bowing down before God while they remained standing.

I wonder if the assembly ever grew tired and bored of singing the praise chorus “His love endures forever” when the director chose Psalm 136.

Unfortunately, I’ll bet they did get mad at the director, I’ll bet they did remain standing, and I’ll bet they did grow tired and bored. Maybe not in the beginning, but once they got comfortable, once they got proud –just as God warned them that they would.

In the eighth chapter of Deuteronomy, God says, “When you have eaten and are satisfied, praise the Lord your God for the good land he has given you. Be careful that you do not forget the Lord your God, failing to observe his commands, his laws and his decrees that I am giving you this day. Otherwise, when you eat and are satisfied, when you build fine houses and settle down, and when your herds and flocks grow large and your silver and gold increase and all you have is multiplied, then your heart will become proud and you will forget the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. He led you through the vast and dreadful desert, that thirsty and waterless land, with its venomous snakes and scorpions. He brought you water out of hard rock. He gave you manna to eat in the desert, something your fathers had never known, to humble and to test you so that in the end it might go well with you. You may say to yourself, "My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me." But remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today” (Deuteronomy 8:10-18, NIV).

When the people became proud and sang from their minds rather than from their hearts, God had to crush them. After all of those years of singing songs about God’s faithfulness, how could they think for one minute that He would not be faithful to bring about the calamity that He promised to bring about? For the rest of the passage from the eighth chapter of Deuteronomy goes on to say, “If you ever forget the Lord your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the Lord destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the Lord your God” (Deuteronomy 8:19-20, NIV).

I wonder what it was like to be the director of music in the assembly when the people gave mere lip service to the Lord.

I wonder what it was like for the director of music to go from leading Psalms to leading Lamentations.

I wonder if we will learn from our past.