Draw Near – 365 Guides to Greater Intimacy with GodSample

FOUR-THOUSAND-PIECE ORCHESTRA While Jubal was the world's first musician (Genesis 4:21), David was no doubt the most prolific. He had an orchestra of four thousand men who played musical instruments he invented (1 Chronicles 23:5). The most important legacy David left us is in the book of Psalms. This, indeed, is the hymnbook of humanity. It has been translated into more than nine hundred languages and dialects. Moses is the earliest writer of any psalm, but David wrote the greater part of those found in the book of Psalms. At least seventy-three of these are attributed to him. Twelve were written by Asaph, eleven by the sons of Korah, two by Solomon, one by Ethan, and fifty are anonymous. These psalms reach from the days in the wilderness to the days of Haggai and Zechariah. The book of Psalms is divided into five sections, each of which ends with a doxology of praise varying in length but similar in character. Although Psalm 23 is the most famous of David's hymns, perhaps the most revealing is Psalm 27. There, David bares his heart; and we see what distinguished him from the ungodly man. Today, we are seeing a new interest in singing psalms. This is an exciting trend. People everywhere are putting music to the ancient words. Many have found it helpful to use the psalms in worship periods to assist them in praying or praising the Lord. A particularly beautiful feature of the psalms is their Messianic prophecy. No Bible book other than Isaiah has so many references to the coming Savior. Jesus quoted from Psalms when dying on the cross. All the world loves this unusual book.