Play It For Me
Isaiah 29:13-14 GW
(13) The Lord says, “These people worship me with their mouths and honor me with their lips. But their hearts are far from me, and their worship of me is based on rules made by humans.
(14) That is why I am going to do something completely amazing for these people once again. The wisdom of their wise people will disappear. The intelligence of their intelligent people will be hidden.”
Have you ever listened to one of those classical radio stations when a certain composition is the subject of conversation just before it is played? The level of knowledge and obvious understanding of the music is most impressive. Foreign accents and colorful words describing musical expression and the intended emotional influence can impart this sense that you, too, are gaining an understanding of the music you are about to hear. You can even begin to imagine the music itself as instrumentation and harmonic structures are described. Somehow, though, the longer the discussion goes on it comes to a point of either being entertained and occupied with thoughts about the music or getting on with playing it and letting it speak for itself. Once this finally does happen, it’s interesting how what had just been a bunch of words that may or may not have been understood becomes an experience that goes past the limitations of descriptions and imaginations to the very expression of the composer’s heart. Although it might be helpful to know something of how it was put together, true understanding will remain somewhere quite far away until the master’s hand is applied to the instrument for a revelation that no words can describe.
Learning to play from an instructor can be very similar, as all the rules, hand positions, volume changes, etc. become so much more clear when he/she finally just plays it. In fact, obtaining too much mental information can be more limiting than liberating, as what is finally heard is held in this mental box of intellectual analysis, rather than the simple heart expression it was meant to be.
When God plays it will often set all the discussions and pontifications on their tails. His expressions are so amazing and they’ll never be experienced exclusively in the realm of what can be told. When His hand touches the instrument, all words, rules, definitions and explanations are totally lost in the reality of His true beauty and majesty. In one moment of His performance, He reveals so much more than years of book bound study. After all the colorful accents and thoughts, it is so good when they give way to His true glory unveiled in His performance. Play, Father, play- so that we may experience the magnificence of your heart’s expression and be drawn from far away places to worship right by Your side with hearts overwhelmed by Your indescribable beauty .
Psalms 27:4 KJV
(4) One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple.
