The Devil hates music, because he cannot stand gaiety...Satan can smirk, but he cannot laugh, he can sneer but cannot sing.
Martin Luther, in The Stories Behind Great Hymns
Sing for joy in
the Lord, O you righteous ones; praise is becoming to the upright. Give
thanks to the Lord with the lyre; sing praises to Him with a harp of
ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of
joy. Psalm 33:1-3
Suffering
can produce a deeper experience of worship, because it deepens the
character of the one who worships. Suffering is often the training
ground for godly character. It has a way of exposing what's shallow and
superficial in our lives. Suffering begins to burn away superficiality
the moment the match of difficulty is lit and set among the embers of
the events of our lives.
"At
the martyrdom of Faustines and Jovita, brothers and citizens of
Brescia, their torments were so many, and their patience so great, that
Calocerius, a pagan, beholding them, was struck with admiration, and
exclaimed in a kind of ecstasy, Great is the God of the Christians! For
which he was apprehended, and suffered a similar fate." Fox's Book Of Martyrs
""Let my supplication come before Thee; Deliver me according to Thy word" (Ps. 119:170).
The first song of worship recorded in the Bible is found in Exodus 15. The nation of Israel
had lived in bondage to the Egyptians for four hundred years. They'd
been treated brutally. Then, after four hundred years of slavery, God
worked miracles to deliver them from their captivity. Their worship of
God must have been splendid at that time, because they had come to know
Him as their Deliverer.
