God, The Universe and Music

 God, The Universe and Music

January 12

    

Job 38:4,7

4 “Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?

Tell Me, if you have understanding,

…

7 When the morning stars sang together

And all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Psalms 98:4-9

4 Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth;

Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises.

5 Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre,

With the lyre and the sound of melody.

6 With trumpets and the sound of the horn

Shout joyfully before the King, the LORD.

7 Let the sea roar and all it contains,

The world and those who dwell in it.

8 Let the rivers clap their hands,

Let the mountains sing together for joy.

9 Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth;

He will judge the world with righteousness

And the peoples with equity.

According to Job, there was singing and shouting at the creation of the world. Presumably, the morning stars and sons of God were angels who sang together and shouted for joy as the Lord spoke the worlds into existence; the “Let there be…”s of Genesis 1. If that is the case, then music is older than the earth and there is something about music that brings joy to the heart of God.

In Psalm 98 it seems that all the earth sings for joy. The trees clap their hands and the mountains sing together. This joyful music lasts until judgement day and beyond (Ps 98:9). Perhaps music will even outlast the earth, going from the beginning of creation into all eternity. So what is so special about music?

It is said that Pythagoras was the first to recognize the mathematical foundation of the universe. He postulated music from the spheres (Latin: musica mundana) and invented the musical scales based on mathematical intervals. If music is mathematical and mathematics represents order, then music represents the divine order of a created world. Music is fundamental to the heart of God. He created the universe to have order, that can be described by mathematics and physics, and the joy of this order is expressed in music.

That’s enough for one day, but think about order and mathematics and let a song of joy rise from your heart.