Okoye - The refreshing hand of music

THE REFRESHING HAND OF MUSIC

By

Xyvah Okoye

*****

Published by Xyvah Okoye

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2014 Xyvah Okoye

Cover design by Jeriah Photography

Unless otherwise stated, all scripture quotations aretaken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Excerpts from Kohlenberger, J.R.,Swanson, J.A. (2001). The Strongest Strong's ExhaustiveConcordance Of the Bible. Michigan: Zondervan.

Excerpt in Chapter 1 from Nelsonspocket reference Bible dictionary. (1999). Nashville: ThomanNelsons Inc.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Dedication

To

Edna Tsenuokpor
Thank you for everything

13. Power inHis Presence

One thing you will most certainlycome to discover as you continue to walk with God is that Hispresence is the most important thing for your life. There comes atime when you begin to comprehend how important the presence of theLord is and you would literally give up everything in order to keepit. The cares of the world and the praises of men will begin tofade and the applause of crowds will mean nothing to you becauseyou only live for the applause of Christs nail-scarred hands.

Its easy to get caught in the trap of working sohard for God that you cross the line and begin to esteem His workabove Himself and this is a very dangerous place to be in.

With this book, I urge you to remember that thepresence of The Lord is more important than any work you can do forHim.

Although the first few chapters of this book havebeen written with regards to music, they apply to any work you mayhave been called by The Lord to do for Him.

If even Moses, who God told face to face to followthe angel in Genesis 32, refused to lead the children of Israelwithout His presence then that should be an indicator of howimportant the presence of The Lord is.

I urge you to seek The Lord with all your heart.Follow after Him with everything that is within you. Do whatever ittakes to obtain and maintain the presence of The Lord upon yourlife for, without Him, your works will still boil down to nothingin the end. He is our exceeding great reward, He is the great I AM,He is everything you will ever need and so much more.

"And it came topass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David tookan harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and waswell, and the evil spirit departed from him."

-1 Samuel 16:23

THE HAND OF DAVID.

"...David took an harp, and played with hishand..."

-1 Samuel 16:23

The harp is a stringed instrument. The NelsonsBible Dictionary (1999) defines the harp as a 10-string instrumentthat was found at Ur (The land where Abraham originally came from),in an Egyptian tomb of 1000 b.c., with an earlier wooden version,and a golden lyre. It is said that the Harp, the lute and thecithern are similar and that David's harp in fact, seemed to bemore of a lyre than an actual harp.

The above verse says that Davidtook AN harp and not HIS harp, which means that as much as it wasthe harp he played, it was not the harp that mattered. It was not aparticular harp that mattered. We must get it out of our minds thatit is playing a particular musical instrument like a keyboard or aguitar that matters and we must stop thinking that it is aparticular brand or model or make of instrument that mattersbecause we can clearly see that David's harp was probably not evena harp and there was no particular one that he played. Im notsaying that these things are not important or that they dont makea difference, what I am saying is that there was more to Davidsplaying than the instrument he used. His playing was not determinedby his instrument. The effect of his playing was determined by morethan what he played. So what was it that determined the way heplayed?

The Bible tells us that Davidplayed with his hand. He did not just take the harp and play it; heplayed it with his hand. The Bible will not state something asobvious as that if there was no significance in it being stated, ifGod wasn't trying to reiterate something, if He isn't trying tomake a point: God doesn't waste words.

The word "Hand" is translated from the Hebrewword "yd" which also means;

1). To hand, by the extension of your arm orfinger

2). Figure of control

3). Power

4). Strength

5). Direction

6). Care

The word "yd" is also translated in some versesas:

Coast, consecrate, dominion, ministry, waiton, work, service and power"

From this, we understand thatDavid played the harp with care and control; he played it withdirection, with strength and with power. David didn't just play, heplayed with his hand.

THE HAND OF DAVID: SIGNIFICANCE

1). The hand of David signifiesCONSECRATION.

And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from Godwas upon Saul, that David took a harp, and played with his hand: soSaul was refreshed, and was well, AND THE EVIL SPIRIT DEPARTED FROMHIM.

-1 Samuel 16:23

The word consecrate means toordain for the service of God. When David played the harp with hishand, it meant that he wasn't just playing for the fun of it, hewas consecrating to the priestly office whoever he was playing to.God instructed Moses to consecrate Aaron to be a priest. This actof consecration was what David performed when he played with hishand and that is why when he played, the bible records that theevil spirit departed from Saul.

2). The hand of David signifiesMINISTRY.

And David came to Saul, AND STOOD BEFORE HIM: andhe loved him greatly; and HE BECAME HIS ARMOURBEARER. And Saul sentto Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, STAND BEFORE ME; for hehath found favour in my sight.

-1 Samuel 16:21-22

The English dictionary defines"ministry" as a spiritual work or service of any Christian or groupof Christians. It is not a game or a hobby, it is a work. WhenDavid played with his hand, he wasn't playing it for recreationalpurposes, he was playing it as a work, as his job, as his ministry.This was his job, he played with his hand when he stood to do thejob God had employed him to do. The word "work" is defined by theNew Oxford American Dictionary as activity involving mental andphysical effort done in order to achieve a purpose orresult.

He played with purpose, he played withdirection, he had an aim when he played.

3). The hand of David signifiesPOWER.

And the Lord said to Satan,Behold, all that he has is in YOUR HAND. Only against himdo not stretch out your hand. So satanwent out from the presence of the Lord.

-Job 1:12 (ESV)

The word "power" is defined in theNew Oxford American dictionary as the capacity or ability todirect or influence the behavior of others or the course ofevents. It is a right or authority that is given or delegated to aperson or authority. David played with an authority that wasgiven/delegated to him by someone else in order to affect or director influence Saul's behavior. Playing with his hand, he was playingunder a delegated authority in order to direct, influence; changethe course of events and the behavior of Saul and not just toentertain him.

Power has two facets to it;ability and authority. The fact that you are able to do somethingdoesn't mean that you have the authority to do it and the fact thatyou have the authority to do something does not mean you actuallycan or are able to do it. Power is a combination of both abilityand authority. David had the ability to play before kings and whenSaul appointed him, and then he received the authority to actuallydo so. Dont just stop at developing your ability to do something,go further to receive the authority to do it. And theres no betterperson to authorize you than God himself. When God gives you theauthority to do something, he will cause you to have favour in theeyes of a man who can authorize you.