Music and the Word of God

Today many churches commemorate the faith and work of Church musician Johann Sebastian Bach (cf. Bach devotee Paul McCain’s blog post here.). As such, it is a great day to extol music. The Treasury of Daily Prayer has  a wonderful quotation today from Martin Luther’s 1538 introduction to Georg Rhau’s symphony and a lovely prayer giving thanks for Bach and the gift of music.

This calls to mind a great quotation from a seminary classmate, spoken years ago, if I recall rightly, at a joint student discussion of worship between student leaders at Concordia Theological Seminary (Ft. Wayne) and Concordia Seminary (St. Louis).

My classmate said something like:

The Word of God is like a diamond, pure and sparkling. The task of Church music is, like the prongs of a ring, to uphold the diamond without obscuring it.

Well said, and as the prayer from the Treasury for today says:

Almighty God…Continue to grant this gift of inspiration to all Your servants who write and make music for Your people, that with joy we on earth may glimpse Your beauty and at length know the inexhaustible richness of Your new creation in Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.