v 5 You sing trivial songs to the sound of the harp
and fancy yourselves to be great musicians like David.
Here we are, in the time of Amos, some 200 years after David died, but the memory of him as a singer/musician lived on. I can see the decadent, pop-song writers of Amos’ time singing pathetic imitations of David’s music. Here are the forerunners of our tribute bands, fancying themselves every bit as good as the ‘Original David’ and pounding out semi-religious trivia in the ‘David Style’. It doesn’t say much for the David imitators of Amos’ generation, but it says a huge amount for David’s reputation in the days when there were no recordings or CDs.
In my school days we had to try to write essays in the style of Charles Lamb, and poetry in the style of Samuel Coleridge. They were seen as the ‘Ideal Writers’ to be imitated, much as the tribute bands of today imitate The Rolling Stones, Freddie Mercury or other bands whose memory lives on.
So it was with David – such was his God-given talent that his memory was kept alive, even if in a somewhat cynical fashion.
Today, we know nothing of his actual music, but the words he wrote have lasted 3,000 years and we still use them in our worship today.
Lord, I thank you for today’s musicians and craftsmen who use their skills as offerings in worship. Help me to use all I am and have to glorify you. AMEN.