“A Musical Meditation” by the Rev. Dr. Don Wahlig, August 18, 2024, Year B / Pentecost 11 (Proper 13) -  Psalm 150 [Hymn Sing Sunday]

THEME:  Praise God with music, the gift he gave us to perceive his beauty and glory.

Did you grow up with music in your house? What kind? Every culture known to humankind makes music of one sort or another. It seems to be part of our make-up that we enjoy making music, and we enjoy hearing music. There is a good reason for that. Our brains are wired for music.  It starts when sound waves enter our ears and vibrate along our auditory nerve. That’s where things get really interesting.

Those nerve signals are processed in different parts of the brain. We perceive rhythm and melody, harmony and pitch, timber and tone in different lobes. The response of each is interconnected with other parts of the brain. They all work together to shape the way we experience the music we hear. That combined response is powerful. It is physical. It’s emotional. It’s even intellectual.

Not long ago, researchers noticed that musicians tend to have an unusual ability in math. They were curious whether different kinds of music might have different affects. So, they tested this by asking subjects to perform a series of mental tasks as they listened to different kinds of music. What they found was remarkable. Of all the different kinds of music, they found that listening to Mozart has the single greatest impact on intellectual function and short-term memory. This has become famous. It is known as the "Mozart effect."  Scientists are not exactly sure why, but they do have a theory. They think that listening to music is a sort of warm-up exercise for the firing of our nerve cells. This warm-up allows our brains to function more efficiently.  

So, parents and students, pay attention. Next time you or your kids are studying for a test, you might want to play a Mozart sonata on your iPhone. Listening to music has other physical benefits that go beyond the brain. It helps blood flow more easily. It can reduce your heart rate. It can even lower your blood pressure. Music also affects our feelings. It has been said that music has the most direct connection with the emotions. We can all relate to that, right?  This, too, has a physical basis.  Listening to music decreases the level of cortisol (the stress hormone). At the same time, it increases feel-good hormones like serotonin, endorphin, and dopamine. So, music not only helps our minds and bodies function better, it makes us feel better, too. 

Friends, this is not an accident. This is how God made us. It God’s his gift to us. And, like all his gracious gifts, our enjoyment of music has a purpose. As the Westminster Shorter Catechism asks, “What is the chief end of humankind?” The answer is “To glorify God and enjoy him forever.”  That is what music helps us to do.  Charles Kingsley, the great 19^th century English pastor, famously said, “Music is a sacred, divine, God-like thing.  It was given to man by Christ to lift our hearts up to God. It makes us feel something of the glory and beauty of God, and of all which God has made.”

Has music ever made you feel God’s glory? I felt it earlier this week as I was wandering through Winchester Cathedral. I was admiring the gorgeous stained glass, the massive, vaulted stone ceilings, and the graves of famous people like Jane Austin. Then, from somewhere, softly and surely, the most divine organ music began filling the entire cathedral. It was a holy moment, for sure. It seemed to me the sure presence of God. And I was grateful.

Friends, this is what Psalm 150 is all about. It is the final psalm in the psalter, the last word of a vast and varied collection of music that Israel wrote to reflect their experience of living with a loving God. It is the joyous response of praise in recognition that God is both great and good.  And both beyond measure. That is the message for us. Praise God, and use all the instruments at our disposal to do it, especially our voice.

So, what do you say? Shall we do just that!