I love Scripture.
I look forward to pondering its truths.
Excitement readily flows in my veins when, led by the Spirit, I dwell in a particular passage in hopes of digesting divine nuggets of wisdom. So, I am overjoyed to have this opportunity to dig into Psalm 139 throughout this Lenten season. It is with great anticipation I am parking myself in this passage until Easter Sunday, God willing, to receive the wisdom the Father has in store for His children.
As He instructs, I pray for the grace to follow in Isaiah's footsteps in living and declaring,
"The Lord GOD has given me
the tongue of those who are taught,
the tongue of those who are taught,
that I may know how to sustain with a word
him who is weary.
him who is weary.
Morning by morning he awakens;
he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.
The Lord God has opened my ear,
and I was not rebellious;
I turned not backward."
Isaiah 50:4-5, ESV
Thus far, my meditating upon Psalm 139 has revealed a need for me to consider its heading.
It reads, "To the choirmaster. A Psalm of David."
Today, I would like to ponder the first fragment -- "To the choirmaster."
Lord, please give us the tongue of those who are taught as we ponder this first fragment of the psalm heading. Instruct our minds that we may know a word that will sustain weary souls in need of Your rest. Awaken our ears to hear as those who are taught by You. And as You do so, help us to neither rebel nor turn backward; instead, draw us close to You as You direct our paths in Your Word. In Jesus' name, we pray. Amen.
"To the choirmaster."
How might the Lord lead us to unpack the above phrase?
The word "to" is used as an identifier of the recipient or intended recipient of something, or it may be used to express function, purpose, or intended goal. It brings to mind the notion that everything that follows in the psalm can be used as the intended recipient sees fit.
"The" is a determiner -- a word that denotes a specific entity or one that dismisses any opportunity to misidentify said entity.
"Choirmaster" stands for the conductor, maestro, or minister of music in charge of leading the people of God in singing the Lord's praises.
So, are we to understand that this intimate prayer was not a hidden or closeted matter? Does it mean that this psalm was intended to be used by the specific conductor or maestro or minister of music of David's time to lead the Israelites in the worship of God? Does it further imply that Christ-followers do not get to conceal their innermost thoughts, but that they are invited to offer them to the Lord for His glory and for the benefit of the saints in Christ Jesus?
Indeed, the Spirit of God is opening my mind to grasp that "To the choirmaster" is consistent with the lenten thought of our having zero ownership of who we are, where we are, what we are, what we have, what we hope to be, what we produce and/or create.
"We lift our voices, we lift our hands,
We lift our lives up to You;
We are an offering.
Lord, use our voices; Lord, use our hands;
Lord, use our lives, they are Yours;
We are an offering.
All that we have, all that we are, all that we hope to be,
We give to You."
Dwight Liles (1984)
"To the choirmaster" sketches a portrait of the Cross for us, in terms of relationships. The vertical beam represents our relationship with the God-head and the horizontal beam depicts our relationships with other individuals.
Firstly, it implies that everything deriving from each one of us belongs to God who is the ultimate choirmaster or lifemaster. The good and the bad emanating from us are but pitches, rhythmic patterns, chords, and lyrics in the hands of the Master Artist who orchestrates it all for His glory. Therefore, we cannot presume to hide anything from Him (He knows all of it anyway). God is my vertical support, the pillar of my foundation.
Secondly, the thoughts and words and deeds that come out of us are also available to other "choirmasters" in our lives -- individuals placed in authority over us or in intimate relationships with us. God provides such people in our lives as a reminder of the horizontal support we receive when the rusty nails of our lives -- the ugly sores of our scores of sins, or the innermost thoughts of our inmost places -- pierce our hands through and through.
First and foremost, in our living -- fruitfulness or productivity -- we are graciously invited to be mindful of our position vis-à-vis our ultimate Choirmaster or Lifemaster:
We are God's blessed servants.
We are privileged vessels at God's disposal.
Next, God is awakening our ears to hear that we are providing fodder for the mind, heart, and spirit of our neighbor. In our living, we are merely preparing a musical score for the throng of "musicians" in God's orchestra of life. In word and deed, we are simply sketching life applications to be used by the Holy Spirit, our family, our friends, our foes, our pastors, our employers, our co-workers, our students, etc. It is God's prerogative to use any one of our deeds -- whether good or bad -- for His ultimate glory, for the edification of other believers, and for witnessing to non-believers in Christ.
If you, my friend, are heavy-laden by a burdensome notion about yourself, there is rest at the foot of the Cross. If you feel weary, O traveler, by sin and shame, do not keep it to yourself. There is joy to be had at Calvary. Come and dare to write your own intimate prayer to the Choirmaster, the Maestro, the Conductor of your life. The Holy Spirit is poised to receive your penitential psalm and is ready to use your intimate prayers as He directs the saints in the worship of our Lord Jesus.
May you and I live unto "the Choirmaster"!
Grant, O precious Father, that we will be utterly open, broken, and spilled out. Guide us to rely on the grace and finished work of Christ on the Cross as we live lives that are unquestionably "to the Choirmaster" in every way. Use us completely in Your service, O Lord! In Christ's glorious name, we pray. Amen!
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