INSTRUMENTS MADE FOR THE SERVICE OF GOD
[p. 306] INSTRUMENTS MADE FOR THE SERVICE OF GOD
1 Chronicles 23: 5; Acts 3: 8; Acts 16: 25; Mark 14: 26
JT What is in mind is to call attention to musical instruments. The verse in Chronicles and similar verses elsewhere make allusion to these, “Four thousand praised Jehovah with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith”. One counts on the Lord to help us to recognise how these are seen antitypically in the New Testament, and particularly in the verses read. Christ, being the antitype of David, has made instruments for the service of God. In detail we have the lame man (Acts 3), walking and leaping and praising God, the immediate result of divine power. A man lame from birth, and dependent on a bed for his support, is now praising God, a change having come about, an act of divine power through Peter, he being only an instrument. So through Christ, Paul and Silas similarly are seen engaged in this service; in the most trying circumstances they are instruments of service to praise God. Then in Mark we read they sang a hymn; this is allied with the Lord’s supper, growing out of it. The disciples did it to bring out this point that they were made by the true David instruments of music. It is a question of what each one is, whether they are this or not. The divine thought is that each one should be an instrument of music, each one a product, so to say, of David himself. The actual number of Levites is spoken of here. It says, verse 2, “And he gathered together all the princes of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. And the Levites were numbered from thirty years old and upward; and their number, by their polls, man by man, was thirty-eight thousand”. It is a levitical matter in [p. 307] the fullest sense, as it is a question of their being thirty years old and upward. Their number is mentioned and it says “man by man”.
Rem The number of doorkeepers is equal to the number of players.
JT It is very obvious that door-keeping has to be maintained if there are to be singers; the occupation would have four sides, as mentioned here, all referring to one person. Then the age is given, an allusion to manhood. Twenty-four thousand presided over the work of the house; then there are six thousand officers and judges, which would allude to what is judicial; then four-thousand door-keepers who would keep out evil. The prime thought is the praising. These four features ought to apply to each of us. There is the actual work as to the house, then the officers and judges would allude to government apparent in every christian ruling himself and taking charge of himself then there is the keeping out of evil, and the praise.
Rem Carelessness in door-keeping would hinder the praise.
JT The praise is apt to be mixed with human sentiment and corrupted, as in popular hymn-singing. It is a refined thought God is aiming at. Other services come in, but the main thought, the end in mind in all service and levitical work, is that God shall be praised. The enquiry arises first of all as to the instruments; it is a question of being made, not yet used. We come later to the skilled musician; the thought runs through the books of the Old Testament which have to do with the service of God. Habakkuk gives a most refined touch, “He will make me to walk upon my high places. To the chief Musician. On my stringed instruments”. He is entirely above all the circumstances of calamity or pressure (see chapter 3: 17). It is one of the finest touches allied with what we have in the actual use [p. 308] of instruments; it is Christ in assembly, taking on what we have got. Habakkuk signifies a believer (the only one who speaks directly of faith in the Old Testament) who has been through discipline. He says to God, as to the Chaldeans, “Thou ... hast appointed him for correction” (chapter 1: 12). His production is doleful, but he comes to a point superior to his circumstances and says, “Jehovah, the Lord, is my strength”, and then the chief Musician comes into view. That is how we come into the thing in practice, but the point is the making of the instruments. David was the sweet psalmist of Israel; a great part of his ministry consisted in composing psalms and setting them to music. It is only in that connection he is called a man of God, showing how important the matter is (2 Chronicles 8: 14, and Nehemiah 12: 24). All this corresponds with the last scripture read in Mark, where they sang a hymn, a spiritual thought fitting in after the Lord’s supper was instituted.
Ques Would the making of the instruments be through discipline?
JT Discipline has a great deal to do with it. The man in Acts 3 was acted on by divine power, so he became immediately a vessel of praise. One would like to hear him give out a hymn and start the tune.
Rem This involves the personal handling of each of us.
JT Yes, “I will make thee”. ‘Make’ is the key word. The Lord makes us accurately; in truth each one comes under His hand for a variety of service, but the most refined service is the praise of God. Numbers and Exodus give a very high-class people potentially. Twenty-three thousand Levites are mentioned in Numbers 26: 62, and here thirty-eight thousand are actually taken on for service, numbered from thirty years old and upward, signifying [p. 309] the Levite at his best. The Levite is a question of God’s sovereign selection, the very best, taken instead of the firstborn. The thought of the firstborn comes down from Exodus: “Israel is my son, even my firstborn”. It is a question of dignity and quality. Each Levite is a firstborn; they are the assembly of the firstborn, and that enters into our praises. When the disciples came back to the Lord and said the demons were subject to them, He said, Do not glory in this. God’s sovereign selection comes into view in giving us this dignity in the divine family. The number twenty-four runs through this section, involving that we are under Christ, but in love, so that He can use us at His pleasure. In verse 1, David makes Solomon king. He sits on the throne with his father. We can see how the service of God is linked up with sonship; hence the importance of the idea of the firstborn. The Levites in that sense are all firstborn.
Rem There is a variety of musical instruments.
JT Yes, the harp, lute and cymbal, and so on (chapter 15: 16). Then verse 19, “The singers, Heman, Asaph, and Ethan, to sound aloud with cymbals of brass”, Verse 22: “Chenaniah, chief of the Levites for the music, gave instruction in music, for he was skilful”. So we have indication of variety, but it gradually comes down to the harp only, the musical instrument used in heaven, which is our matter. It is the most exalted instrument used in music.
Rem The crowd of names in Acts suggests variety.
JT Yes, each had its distinction. Name means distinction. It is a question of what each of us is, what we are made. We must go back to divine wisdom, the selection made of the saints, the disposition being according to divine wisdom, “Whom he has called, these also he has justified; but whom he has justified, these also he has glorified”. Glorification [p. 310] would include personal distinction, but He does it. It is a question of divine workmanship.
In Acts 3 it is noteworthy how the man immediately became an instrument. Peter was only an instrument to make this man what he was, to change him from a poor, lame beggar to an instrument of praise. Paul and Silas in prison praised God with singing when they might have been depressed or resentful. The praise could not be repressed by circumstances.
Ques What is the idea of strings?
JT The idea is each string represents some note. The point is they are to be used; the player can sing and play at the same time with such a high-class instrument. With a wind instrument he cannot, he can only produce music. So in Revelation 14, we have a mighty volume of voices as of harp-singers harping with their harps. It is a tremendous volume of sound, and yet distinguishable; they can use the harp and sing, and yet the song in heaven can only be learnt by one family on earth.
Ques Is the one leper who returned to give thanks an illustration of an individual being made?
JT Yes, he returned to give praise. Luke furnishes more instruction as to this than any other New Testament writer. He was a priestly writer, his treatise beginning with Zacharias and Elizabeth; as the voice of the Lord’s mother fell on Elizabeth’s ear she praised God. Mary herself praises, and Zacharias does, and the shepherds, and so right through to the end, when they were continually in the temple praising and blessing God, the great end in mind being that man should glorify God. Compare the last verse of the Psalms, “Let everything that hath breath praise the Lord”, that is the great end in mind. So everyone is to challenge himself: Has David anything to do with me? or am I dumb in the assembly? David’s chief qualification as a youth was he could play well and help relieve Saul,
[p. 311] but here four thousand praise Jehovah, that is the thing to get hold of. We are in the Lord’s hand with this in mind. Some like to teach, and some to preach, and these are right desires, but who has in his heart to praise God? That is an eternal employ when others have ceased.
Ques How does the Spirit come into this matter?
JT It is a question of the economy, the Spirit of God enters into the divine economy. The Son and the Spirit have become subservient to the Father so that God shall be praised. The Son is an object of praise, but the great thought is the Father; and the Son and the Spirit are positionally subordinate to secure this. The Lord exercises different functions at the Supper: lordship, priesthood, headship, ministerial service of the sanctuary, the conducting of worship. The Spirit is the power, and functions differently. He is the Spirit of the Lord, involving authority, and also the Spirit of adoption, so there is great variety in the economy. The great end is instruments under the Lord’s hand and the production of praise to God.
Rem This would be applicable to us week by week.
JT Week by week is the way time is regulated for assembly service. The Jewish time is a year, a spiritual year, the passover occurring at the beginning, and the feast of tabernacles at the end, the latter being a most happy season on the fifteenth of the seventh month, a season in which they were to be wholly joyful. Now we have a week, the service is weekly, as in John 20 the Lord came in as His saints were in a certain place, and eight days after also, a suggestion of the period governing divine service. Leviticus 23 would indicate a new meat-offering brought in. The dispensation began with Christ as the meat-offering, and the Spirit having come in at Pentecost, saints are viewed as a new meat-offering accepted by God. It is a question of what we are by [p. 312] the work of God in us, and would include all we are speaking of, what each one is as come under the hand of Christ for divine service. So each Lord’s day we have freshness and variation in spiritual understanding and power.
Rem We should rise above what is personal.
JT The man in Acts 3 is immediately engaged with God. He is now in better circumstances, but he is not obsessed with the great relief come to him, he is leaping and praising God. He is obviously a product of Christ through Peter; he is a made instrument. And what after this? A great vessel or instrument of praise in the assembly.
The two men in Acts 16 were under great pressure of circumstances and yet in prayer they praised God with singing, showing they too were made instruments of praise. Then in a collective sense the group in Mark 14 sang a hymn, as if the Spirit of God brings this before us as a result of His workmanship, the idea of praise being in relation to the Lord’s supper. The singing began in relation to that, a warrant for all we do at the present time, proceeding to praise after the Supper.
Rem Romans 15 connects praise with the nations.
JT Yes, that chapter significantly written to Roman christians brings in the nations as praising God, as the apostle says, “Because of the grace given to me by God, for me to be minister of Christ Jesus to the nations” (verse 15). So we can see how the nations are brought into His praise. We are here today offered up as a sacrificial service for praise. What we have said is plain as showing God is bent on having us engaged in His service, and if so we must be under the hand of Christ. So the apostle says, “There are gods many, and lords many, yet to us there is one God, the Father ... and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we by him”. He has created us, made us to bring us in to God. God the great [p. 313] Operator; the great object in mind being that He should be praised.
Rem 2 Chronicles 20: 19 speaks of the Levites praising at a time of conflict.
JT The passage shows that the praises of God enter into conflict. In every proceeding in the assembly we have conflict, but we must not ignore the rights of God. It is a great victory if the praise of God does go on. In verse 22 when they began the song of triumph, Jehovah set liers-in-wait against the enemy. It is an important side to what we are speaking of. Paul and Silas showed they were not overcome by their circumstances. The salvation of the man was the outcome, they turned the gaol into a sanctuary. In Matthew and Mark going to the mount of Olives is the action of the disciples; it is the mutual side, the saints themselves acting; it points to the result in ourselves of the Lord’s supper, a mutual movement preceding the leading of Christ. Matthew and Mark show the power in the saints as the Supper is instituted to move out themselves. The mutual side resulting from the Lord’s supper partaken of enables us to move in song. Matthew and Mark omit the memorial. They give the eating, so they are constitutionally equal to move themselves; they are built up on the collective side. Dan leaped from Bashan.
Ques What would be the effect of the singing of the hymn?
JT It results in a happy state; drinking of the cup promotes happiness. We go from glory to glory in the service of God, and I believe the singing of the hymn is a mutual thought involving power of soul. We move to a spiritual realm; we do not move physically, it is a spiritual state. It indicates the happiness which enters into our relations with God. It affords conditions for the Lord to take on what He has in mind. Eating in Matthew and Mark is to [p. 314] build up the spiritual constitution. Weakness exists largely because eating is absent.
The enquiry is raised in the Song of Songs 3: 6, “Who is this, she that cometh up from the wilderness like pillars of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all powders of the merchant?” Not here leaning on her beloved. She is moving in her own power; it is the thought of the Spirit for us. Then Solomon is made room for — “Behold his couch, Solomon’s own”. Then in chapter 8: 5 it says, “Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I awoke thee under the apple-tree: there thy mother brought thee forth”. It is not the Spirit now, but leaning on Christ, “I awoke thee”; she is brought up. It is the assembly under the influence of Christ and the new covenant. It enters into our liberty. The question is asked in both cases, “Who is this?” Have we part in this — coming up in our own strength, making way for Solomon, then leaning upon Him? Then this question is asked, can we answer? It is saints in relation to the Lord’s supper, then leaning on Christ. There is nothing of the service of God touched on in this book; it is a question of Christ and the saints, but Solomon ordered the service of the temple, so he has it in mind.
Rem The sacrifices would be habitual.
JT Yes, like pillars of smoke. The wind has not scattered it. It is something spiritually substantial, it can be seen as a pillar, it is an evidence of the love of the saints in their sacrifices. The thing develops in assembly service. We move mutually or there are not conditions for Christ to take on. The first reference to the wilderness means love is there, there is a testimony to it. It brings out a constitution set up in the Spirit, the bride moving in her own power. She is brought before us in this distinguished way, but the mutual side is there, and a way made for [p. 315] Solomon. Then she leans on Christ, that is the making side, brought up under the apple-tree. The mutual thing is of prime importance, the drinking of the cup would promote great felicity of feeling, so that the Lord would take us on for His holy purposes. (See 2 Chronicles 5: 13, 14.) It is a sublime thought, not simply unity in one song, but you get the actual wording. In Mark it only says they sang a hymn, but look at the wording here: “For he is good; for his loving-kindness endureth for ever”. See what it means, it is a great refrain, showing it is really divine service, supreme divine service. What happens after the Lord’s Supper would lead to this. We do not know what they sang then, it may have been Psalm 113; we are not told. Here we have the actual wording.
Rem As to John 20.
JT There it is the abstract side, there is no discrepancy at all, so the Lord speaks of the Father. It is a question of sending them out, He speaks of service immediately.
Rem The glory filled the house.
JT Yes, the service was entirely acceptable to God. The woods and metals in Solomon’s temple would allude to the saints as made, as wholly spiritual. That is my thought, God occupying these people as after Christ. God loves to hear our voices in praise, but as having come under the hand of Christ.