“All nature…praises God. If I were silent, I should be the exception in the universe.” —C.H. Spurgeon
I wasn’t raised where prayers were accompanied, but we have one here. The 4th Psalm was to be played with strings (Heb, neginoth). Psalm 5, a prayer, was to be accompanied by flutes (Heb, nehiloth). Although flutes are woodwinds (because originally made of wood), they are unique in that they don’t depend on a reed. Called aerophones, they produce sound simply from a vibrating column of air moving across strategically placed holes. Flutes are one of the earliest musical instruments. “Jubal…was the father of all those who play the harp and flute” (Gen 4:21). It’s good to know that you don’t need much to praise Him. In fact, that’s how the book of Psalms concludes! “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord” (Ps 150:6). Allow me to tell a story. I heard of a little fellowship in northern Canada where a man had been saved late in life. In his earlier days, he had been a heavy smoker and had his voice box removed because of cancer. When the Christians sang the Lord’s praises, he was silent. That is, until he saw Psalm 150. I have breath, he thought. So he asked if he might bring his kazoo and praise the Lord with that. They graciously invited him to do so. What sweet music heaven must have heard as a result! Now if Psalm 4 is a bedtime vesper, Psalm 5 is a sunrise prayer. “My voice You shall hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning I will direct it to You, and I will look up” (v 3). We’ll think more about this psalm in the next devotion, but look at the ways David describes his prayer: “my words [the content of his request]…my meditation [the intent of his heart]…my cry [the extent of his passion]…my voice [the portent of the answer],” because He’s the God who both hears and heeds His own (vv 1-3)!