LET EVERYTHING THAT HAS BREATH
PRAISE THE LORD

"Let everything that has breath praise the LORD." What a mandate! Have you ever noticed that this directive from Psalm 150 immediately follows a comprehensive listing of almost every instrument that the psalmist had available to him? In the preceding three verses he lists trumpet, harp, lyre, tambourine, strings, flute, and cymbals. But the real motivation for expanding our instrumental music ministry isn't found in the list of instruments. You'll find it at the end of verse two. "Praise Him for (according to) his surpassing greatness."

I've been asked occasionally to justify the use of a wide variety of musical timbres and textures in our worship services, and my answer almost always comes from a passage like verse two. If God is truly limitless in His character qualities, His mighty acts, and His diverse means of communicating with us, shouldn't our response to His greatness be equally diverse? If he has blessed us with a variety of instrumentalists, shouldn't "everything
that has breath" be given an opportunity to participate in our worship?

How do we achieve such a lofty goal in a smaller church setting? Here are a few ideas that may help.

1. Start small. Once you've determined who your instrumentalists are, schedule some time to spend with them individually. A fifteen minute lesson every other week will allow you an opportunity to work with 8 players adding only one hour to your work load. This will give you an opportunity to assess ability level of every player and let you get familiar with each of their instruments in a low pressure environment.

2. Work on solos. Before trying to combine players into ensembles, give them some appropriate solos to master. Have an accompanist available for lessons once solos are mastered, and plug them into your worship services as preludes, offertories, postludes, or anywhere else you might deem appropriate.

3. Expand their understanding of keys. Most high school band or orchestra members only play in five keys and church hymnals use as many as nine. Have them work on unfamiliar scales and assign solos which broaden their command of new keys.

4. Accompany corporate worship. Once you've found three or four players that can play in all of your "hymnal keys", begin to incorporate a good hymnal orchestration into your lessons and services. You don't have to cover all of the parts in the orchestration because your pianist is covering the harmonic setting. Use whatever parts you have.

5. Little is much. Your instrumentalists need not play every verse of every hymn. Brass need rest. Use the sonority that best illustrates the text and style of the hymn. Be careful not to add too many players at once. The idea is to enhance corporate worship without distracting the worshiper.

6. Teach intonation. Buy a digital tuner and allow players to take it home occasionally. This is a great way for them to learn the inherent intonation problems on their instruments. One of the biggest distractions to corporate worship is poor intonation.

7. Work chamber groups. Many churches try to play full orchestra pieces too soon in the development of their instrumental program. Find good brass, woodwind, and string small ensemble pieces to rehearse for special services before trying to use a large ensemble arrangement. You need functional brass and woodwind ensembles, two keyboard players, and a rhythm section before trying an orchestral piece.

8. Teach excellence. While it is true that God looks only at the heart, the average worshiper is easily distracted. Paul told Timothy to study and to show diligence in his approach to the Word. Our instrumentalists should be equally diligent in the work that God has given them. (Col. 3: 23-24)

May God bless you and your churches as you seek to worship Him with a rich tapestry of sound. "Let everything that has breath praise the LORD. Praise the LORD."