Unlocking the Heavens: Release the Supernatural Power of Your Worship (14 page)

In the previous psalm, Psalm 16, we find the notation, “A Miktam of David.” This is another way of saying “A proclamation of David.” The words of the song proclaim and declare the goodness and faithfulness of a dependable and loving God:

The Lord is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot. The boundary lines have fallen for me in pleasant places; I have a goodly heritage. …Therefore my heart is glad, and my soul rejoices; my body also rests secure. …You show me the path of life. In your presence there is fullness of joy; in your right hand are pleasures forevermore
(Psalm 16:5-6,9,11 NRSV).

Most of the psalms are songs of praise. Nobody knows the original tunes anymore, but many of them have been set to new music over the centuries. Paul urged the people of God to sing “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” continually (see Ephesians 5:18-19 and Colossians 3:16). Besides David’s psalms, he wanted the people to compose new songs—and to enter a dimension of praise that he called
spiritual songs
.

Spiritual songs resonate at a frequency that the human spirit and the Holy Spirit can hear. Without the Spirit, they cannot be sung. They are new, even when they are based on the songs of previous generations, and they are powerful even when they are whispered. In the days to come, when we are part of the new Heaven and new earth, all of the music will be new spiritual songs. (I can hardly wait.)

STRIKE UP THE INSTRUMENTS

David was a skilled musician, and he seems to have been able to play several of the instruments of his day. Accordingly, his psalms often carry notations regarding their preferred instrumentation. For example, at the head of Psalm 4 we find something like this (depending on which version you are reading): “To the choirmaster: with stringed instruments; a psalm of David,” or “To the chief musician on Neginoth; a psalm of David.” (
Neginoth
means “stringed instruments”; the same note is found also on Psalm 76.) In other words, when David wrote this song, he knew it would work best when accompanied by stringed instruments. In fact, I think you could go so far as to say that the anointing on the psalm would not be effective without the stringed instruments.

This leads to other possible conclusions. David played something called a twenty-two-string harp. Interestingly, the Hebrew alphabet has twenty-two letters. The idea of playing a harp or other stringed instrument involves plucking, striking, or twanging the strings individually. When David played the twenty-two-string harp, he could have been spelling out words in Hebrew, or creating alphabetical lyrics by means of his music. If you consider that far-fetched, just think about times when you have been in a worship setting and a particular song started to reach your spirit in a fresh way; God spoke to you through the words or the arrangement of the music. In those situations, He was superimposing His voice and His words upon the musical notes, and in your spirit you understood what He was saying.

The musical instructions for Psalm 6 ask for “stringed instruments according to the Sheminith.” The Sheminith is an eight-stringed harp or lyre. Psalm 12 carries the same instructions. Verse 9 of Psalm 144 calls for a harp of ten strings. Each one of those instruments speaks in a different voice and that voice penetrates to a different dimension. Sometimes, if you combine the instruments, you break into a new dimension. As I explained in Chapter 1 at the beginning of this book, a new sound breaks an old cycle. Worship is powerful!

Here’s another one. Psalm 8 begins with these words: “To the choirmaster; according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David.” What does
The Gittith
mean? It appears in two other psalm titles, and it seems to have something to do with Gath, which is where the Philistine giant Goliath came from. Quite possibly, this psalm was meant to be played on an instrument that had been looted from the conquered Philistines of Gath. According to one of the
targumim
, the oral explanations of the Talmud that the rabbis would provide for the Jews, this was the name of a harp that David had brought back from Gath after his great success in warfare. Needless to say, we no longer can play Psalm 8 in quite the same way as it was written!

Psalm 5 carries this notation: “To the choirmaster: for the flutes; a psalm of David” (“To the chief musician on Nehiloth; a psalm of David”).
Nehiloth
means “flutes.” To worship using that psalm, the musicians laid aside their harps and took up their wind instruments. Another psalm that does not involve harps is Psalm 39, which directs “to Jeduthun” who was one of David’s chief musicians, a man who played the trumpet and the cymbals.

All of this makes me think of the way that bluegrass or jazz musicians take turns playing solos. First one of the stringed instruments like the fiddle or the string bass will take center stage, then maybe a horn, and sometimes even the drums. I think God likes it when we take turns because He has an anointing for each one of us to release a new sound. He wants us to be able to step forward at the right time and play the right song and focus on a particular chord progression, a riff, or a single note. We can stay on our solo as long as the presence of God is on it, and when we feel His presence lift we can step back and let the next musician take over. We aren’t used to doing that as much as we used to be. These days most worship musicians all play at the same time; they “jam.”

When I really started getting into this, I also noticed the instructions on Psalm 22, which read as follows: “To the chief musician upon Aijeleth Shahar, a psalm of David,” or “To the choirmaster; according to The Hind of the Dawn; a psalm of David.” What is “The Hind of the Dawn”? It is not an instrument. It is a tune, a known melody. So David must have done what a lot of the more recent hymn writers have done; he must have taken a melody that was popular in the culture in Israel at the time and co-opted it for use as religious music. Each psalm or song had a specified purpose. A little later in the collection of psalms, we find a notation (on Psalm 38): “for the memorial offering,” or “to bring to remembrance.” That psalm is a penitent’s plea for mercy, “God, remember me in my miserable condition.”

One more: at the beginning of Psalm 46 we see the words, “According to Alamoth,” which means “young woman”—in other words, a soprano. For that song, the male musicians were being instructed to use high falsetto voices!

CELEBRATING THE RETURN OF THE ARK

When King David, after a long wait and a major setback, managed to engineer the return of the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem where it would be installed in his new tabernacle, his celebratory caravan was accompanied by a large number of singers and instrumentalists. Picture this scene:

David also commanded the chiefs of the Levites to appoint their kindred as the singers to play on musical instruments, on harps and lyres and cymbals, to raise loud sounds of joy. …The singers Heman, Asaph, and Ethan were to sound bronze cymbals; Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah, and Benaiah were to play harps according to Alamoth; but Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-edom, Jeiel, and Azaziah were to lead with lyres according to the Sheminith. Chenaniah, leader of the Levites in music, was to direct the music, for he understood it. Berechiah and Elkanah were to be gatekeepers for the ark. Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah, and Eliezer, the priests, were to blow the trumpets before the ark of God…
(1 Chronicles 15:16,19-24 NRSV).

This was not just a holiday parade. The combined sound of the orchestration was designed to break down invisible spiritual barriers and carry the people into heavenly realms. To this day, the Jews repeat some of these songs, because they still believe in the efficacy of “getting it right” in prayer and singing.

LIVING IN THE CLOSING DAYS OF GRACE

We are living in the closing days of grace, and one universal need permeates the Body of Christ—the need for discernment. This is why many voices in the Church are speaking up to remind us about the wisdom of the “sons of Issachar.” Who were they?

First Chronicles 12:32 (RSV) explains that the sons of Issachar were “men who had understanding of the times, to know what Israel ought to do.” Discernment, Issachar’s greatest asset, seems to be the Church’s greatest deficiency in the present day. Without discernment, the Body of Christ wanders, in grave danger of being overtaken by deceiving spirits and demonic doctrines (see 1 Timothy 4:1) and in danger of missing its moment of visitation (see Luke 19:44).

From reading Numbers 2:5 and Numbers 10:14-15, we know that the tribe of Issachar camped around the tabernacle under the standard of Judah (which means “praise”), thus instituting a correlation between worshipful praise and discernment. Just as the children of Issachar must have developed their discernment out of their relationship with praise, it seems to me that a proper revelation of praise and worship today equips the Church with discernment for the last days.

Scriptural descriptions of the vestments of the ancient high priests depict the breastplate as being adorned with twelve stones, each stone representing one of the twelve tribes of Israel. Each stone was a different color, and each stone had the name of a tribe inscribed upon it. Issachar’s stone was a sapphire. The sapphire is mentioned twelve times in the Bible. The best-known variety of sapphire has blue tints, but sapphires exist in all the colors of the rainbow. The sapphire is second only to the diamond in hardness. For this reason, the stone is often used as an abrasive or polishing agent. Many Bible scholars believe that the sapphire represents the Lord’s divine nature and His holy character as seen in Exodus 24:10, Ezekiel 1:26, 10:1, and Revelation 21:19. (In both Exodus and Ezekiel, the descriptions of sapphire under the Lord’s feet signify that the very foundation of all that the Lord does is built upon His divine nature and holy character.)

It is the heritage of the saints of God to receive the sure mercies of David (see Isaiah 55:3, Acts 13:34) including protection from enemies (see Isaiah 54:17), the potential to become joint heirs (see Romans 8:17), and the opportunity to become the habitation of God (see Ephesians 2:22). The Spirit of holiness (see Psalm 89:34-36) confirmed this heritage to David. Such a heritage also advances holiness in the hearts of those who believe in God. Isaiah 54:11 shows that the sapphire is part of the basic foundation of a strong house or city that can withstand onslaughts, because it represents the divine nature and holy character of God. Only upon this same foundation of holiness and character can successful Christian life be built.

WHERE ARE MY KEYS?

Both the Davidic kingdom and the Davidic order of worship are emerging in the earth during these final days of grace. Psalm 43:3 (KJV) speaks of multiple tabernacles, “O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles.” Psalm 84:1 again emphasizes multiple tabernacles, “How amiable are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts.” This is one way we can see that the Davidic throne cannot be separated from Davidic worship; they are divinely connected. Even David’s selection to be king of Israel came as a direct result of his worship while he tended his father’s sheep, followed by his victory over Goliath. Not only did David scorn Goliath’s reproach of the God of Israel, he made sure that his entire kingship was characterized by worship.

To this day, David’s kingdom is renowned even though his establishment of the tabernacle for worship is less well known. Still, the book of Revelation describes the reestablishment of the future Davidic kingdom through Jesus’ rule. The throne of David will always be connected to the throne of worship (see Revelation 19). This divine connection opens the mystery of the “key of David” (Revelation 3:7).

God promises to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh in the last days. This outpouring began on the day of Pentecost (see Acts 2), but the day will come when the Holy Spirit will be poured out on all flesh like the former and the latter rain together. The day of Pentecost was just the beginning of the outpouring; the power of God’s presence is going to come upon all flesh someday. It is not by chance that there is such a simultaneous emphasis in modern Christendom on worship and also on the rediscovery of the church’s Jewish roots. The purpose of the tabernacle of David and the reestablishment of the Davidic order of worship is to usher in the outpouring of the Holy Ghost in the last days. The merging of revelatory streams is positioning the Church with the key of David for Kingdom work around the earth.

What must we do to possess the key of David? It is not difficult; we must come to understand the power of praise and worship as it relates to the establishment of the Kingdom of God on this earth. As the Church learns to pattern worship after the tabernacle of David, the people of God will find the key to the harvest of nations.

Acts 15 gives an account of a gathering of apostles and elders at Jerusalem to discuss the matter of Judaizing teachers of the Law of Moses who had sought to bring believing Gentiles under the bondage of the Law. The Gentiles were coming to a saving faith in Jesus Christ, but the Judaizers wanted them to observe and practice the Law of Moses. The decisions of the apostles would affect the future of the New Testament Church and the relationship between Jews and Gentiles concerning faith in Christ. The Judaizers were trying to bring the Gentiles under the order of the tabernacle of Moses; they were insisting that right standing with God could only be obtained by means of the Law with its sacrificial systems and works. They were teaching about circumcision and Aaronic priesthood as part of what defined true followers of God. The fundamental question that was being asked at this council was, “What is the relationship of the Gentiles to the Mosaic covenant and the tabernacle of Moses?”

Peter stood up to testify about how he had seen the Lord pour out His Spirit on the Gentiles exactly as He had previously on the Jews at Pentecost; Paul and Barnabas corroborated his testimony (see Acts 15:7,12). After this, James quoted the prophecy of Amos concerning the restoration of the tabernacle of David, thereby showing that the purpose of this outpouring was, “So that the rest of mankind may seek the Lord, even all the Gentiles who are called by My name” (Acts 15:17). Throughout the worship order of David’s tabernacle, the key of David will unlock the harvest and establish the Kingdom of God among the nations.