Does God Play Piano?
John 1 reveals to us that God and the Word lived together for eternity as spirit beings before they created anything wood and ivory. But there’s not one word about what they did to entertain themselves before they decided to reproduce themselves. The baby grand they had in mind would be the ones Adam and Eve would create that would eventually become resurrected sons and daughters in Their family and Kingdom. The Baldwin was Samson after one too many visits to his barber.
Am I the only one surprised that nothing is said in the Gospels about Jesus or His disciples doing anything musical except for singing a hymn to end Jesus’ last Passover (Matthew 26:30)? Jewish weddings featured singing and dancing, but if there were a piano bar at the one in Cana, Jesus was too busy keeping it stocked to have time to play!
OK, close the lid on the jokes, but there’s no question, God and the Bible play up music.
Job 38:7 states that at creation “the morning stars sang together.” And ever since people have touted the unequaled majesty of angelic choirs. Revelation 14:2 notes “the sound of harpists playing their harps” at God’s heavenly throne, and warns that seven special angels will blow a mean trumpet. In our musical world today, harps and trumpets accent the band, but a choir director wanting accompaniment wants a pianist.
God called David “a man after His own heart” (Acts 13:22). It was David’s skillful playing on harp (1 Samuel 16:16-18) that got him hired to be Saul’s special servant. When king, David established 24 groups of musicians for special service with “harps, stringed instruments and cymbals” (1 Chronicles 25). Psalms mention praising God but never with a Steinway.
We know that God treasures music so much that at the dedication of Solomon’s Temple, the moment God chose to enter was not when Solomon spoke but when the instrumentalists and singers made “one sound to be heard in praising and thanking the Lord” (2 Chronicles 6:13). How this should inspire a choir and ensemble! How important is congregational singing!
We know God is not limited in sound by human ears. Physicist Janna Levin says the universe has a soundtrack and black holes “bang on spacetime like a drum.” Amazing! But a NASA YouTube “concert” leaves me jittery! Quick, I need to hear Roger Williams playing “Autumn Leaves!” God speed the day when everybody can assemble at the speed of thought in September in the Adirondacks for an outdoor concert!
One day Beethoven will play again and with his ears unstopped! How about “Moonlight Sonata” on the moon?
How could “pleasures forever more” (Psalm 16:11) not include the glories of piano mastery by the likes of Arthur Rubinstein?
Can you even begin to imagine the incredible sounds that are going to rock and awe the universe after God resurrects all the greatest musicians and singers of all time, and then gives them godly mind creative power with angels as backup?
If somebody can’t locate a Steinway, here’s hoping God will indulge me the pleasure of creating one.
OK, it’s obvious, in no way can I prove from the Bible that God plays piano.
But I can’t wait for lessons from Burt Bacharach!