© 18 Colin Melbourne
Listening to Handel’s Messiah the melody and words roll through our minds evoking continual; gratitude, delight, and worship.
We praise God for His written word, and rejoice by the indwelling Holy Spirit for the resurrected Living Word of God: The LORD Jesus Christ.
We thank God for creating the musical genius of George Friderick Handel, who composed the oratorio in less than a month, setting the libretto of Charles Jennens in audible glory.
More than Perfect Music
Once you receive the Living Christ into your heart, you cannot fail to be inspired to worship Him as you listen to Handel’s Messiah.
You will find yourself walking down your street contemplating the performance, and almost involuntarily crying out da capo style,
All we like sheep!
All we like sheep!
Startled passers-by return wide-eyed stares.
Perhaps they wonder why you feel the need to declare to the world that it likes sheep.
May be they don’t like sheep?
But we all like sheep, don’t we?
Isn’t that what God says in His written word?
Well, not exactly… Isaiah 53:6 KJV;
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
What a wonderfully subtle way of getting the attention of religious sinners off the world, and onto the word of God: Preaching by singing!
Charles Jennens based his libretto on the KJV. He did a brilliant job of making powerful scriptures “sing-able”.
It was Jennens who persuaded his friend Handel to compose The Messiah, after he’d carefully selected and compiled the words. It’s a tribute to Jennens, as much as to Handel, that the LORD is able to use this masterpiece to thrill believers’ hearts, and convict the ungodly.
Divinely inspired genius at work
Many Christians are so blessed hearing it, they say Handel must have been inspired directly by God to complete it. Diligent Jennens took his time over the libretto, but Handel jotted down the score in only three weeks of labour at 25 Brook Street, London. A remarkable feat, blending exquisitely beautiful melodies, with the written word of God in English. Without pause for rest, Handel continued composing another biblical oratorio, Samson.
To grow in Christ, feed your spirit by reading God’s written word, and by listening to Jennens and Handel’s Messiah, not just at Christmas, but daily, as you awake, commute, and repose.
Especially if you don’t like sheep!
All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all.
Isaiah 53:6 KJV
© 18 Colin Melbourne
You may like to read Even So in Christ and The Man Who Wrote Messiah
