Harp

July 30, 2005

A friend of ours is an accomplished organist. Recently she's taken up the harp. The harp is a quiet instrument. It has a soulful depth but not the big pounding sound of other instruments. It's a plucked instrument after all.

The big advance two centuries ago, away from the harpsichord, was the piano-forte, which is literally means soft and loud. The piano strings are struck with a hammer to produce the ?�big' sound.

In ancient times it was the trumpet and the cymbals that were the noisemakers. The harp will always be an instrument of gentle praise. A young King David played the harp to soothe manic ol' Saul's soul. And it mostly worked.

When our friend joined us for early morning prayer the other day, those sublime harp tones gave evidence as to why it's seen as the instrument of heaven. We've been blessed to hear her play.

1 Samuel 16:23
Whenever the spirit from God came upon Saul, David would take his harp and play. Then relief would come to Saul; he would feel better. . . .