Play Skillfully

“Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.”  (Psalm 33:3)

When I first read this verse, the phrase “play skillfully” really piqued my interest. Skill, after all, can be interpreted many different ways, and because of that, it’s kind of a loaded term. So I did some digging. Nearly every English translation of this verse that I could find uses the same terminology.

Does that mean that only the most skilled should participate in making music to God? Does it mean that we must have some sort of formal training in order to praise? I can’t imagine that was the intent. Of course, as a trained musician, I do understand the value of such training. I’m not trained on the clarinet - at all - so if I picked one up and started to play, I imagine the sounds would be less than worshipful for most people. That doesn’t mean, as long as I did this with a heart geared toward praise, that God would find it anything less than beautiful. “Make a joyful noise,” after all… 

And of course, I think about how incredible it is to be around someone with more skill than I have, and how much more I get out of the experience of hearing them play or sing. What an incredible gift that is! 

But that is still not what the verse said - it said as an imperative statement, YOU play skillfully. Worship is not, or at least, it should not be a passive event. It is not a spectator sport. It requires active involvement. Even when we’re listening, I think we are supposed to be engaging in the act of thinking about and considering what we’re hearing.

I think that’s why the Psalms so frequently command us to “sing a new song.” When we sing something familiar, we are not challenged to be engaged in the same way. (Of course, the higher the quality, the more we can get out of a song on repeated experiences, so I don’t think this is necessarily an indication that we should throw away music after one time through, either.) 

But I keep coming back to the idea that not everyone has musical training and therefore would not necessarily have “skill.” So, I looked up one more translation - the Common English Bible. It translates this verse as “Sing to him a new song! Play your best with joyful shouts!” YES! We always give God our best, even in our music-making…maybe especially in our music-making. That translation doesn’t imply that only the very best musicians may offer music to God. Instead, it says that we ALL should offer music, and we all should do our best as we praise. I have to believe that this is what the psalmist meant.

I invite you to pray with me now.

God, we thank you for the music in our lives. Help us to come into your presence more fully, allowing music to engage us in all the miraculous ways you have provided. Let us not take this for granted, but instead, let it be a vehicle to allow us to give our best to you. Amen.

This devotion was written and read by Dwight Dockery.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

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First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.