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When the Minstrel Played from Refreshing Hope Ministries on Vimeo.

Today I want to talk about the spiritual power that can be brought on by music. There is an interesting story told in 2 Kings chapter 3 when Moab rebelled against Israel. After the death of King Solomon, the nation of Israel had been split into two parts by a civil war: Samaria and Judah. Samaria had drifted far away from God and they worshipped all sorts of idols including golden calves. Samaria was led by King Jehoram, who was the son of the wicked Ahab and Jezebel, while Judah remained true to the lineage of King David and worshipped the Lord as he had.

About 853 BC, the kingdoms of Samaria and Judah were at peace and their civil war was over, when the kingdom of Moab rebelled against Samaria. So King Jehoram asked Judah and their neighbor Edom to come help them deal with Moab. The three armies joined forces, and they decided to attack Moab from the south, which required them to pass through the dry desert of Edom.

After traveling seven days, there was no water for the army or the livestock with them. Jehoram began to panic because the Moabite army was already gathering on the border and their own armies had no water, so they may thirst to death in the desert before the battle even began. Jehoshaphat, the righteous king of Judah, sought for a prophet to inquire of the Lord for them, while Jehoram the pagan king of Samaria, blamed the Lord for causing it.

 (2 Kings 3:9–13 NASB) So the king of Israel went with the king of Judah and the king of Edom; and they made a circuit of seven days’ journey, and there was no water for the army or for the cattle that followed them. Then the king of Israel said, “Alas! For the LORD has called these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab.” But Jehoshaphat said, “Is there not a prophet of the LORD here, that we may inquire of the LORD by him?” And one of the king of Israel’s servants answered and said, “Elisha the son of Shaphat is here, who used to pour water on the hands of Elijah.”

Jehoshaphat said, “The word of the LORD is with him.” So the king of Israel and Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom went down to him. Now Elisha said to the king of Israel, “What do I have to do with you? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother.” And the king of Israel said to him, “No, for the LORD has called these three kings together to give them into the hand of Moab.”

The prophet Elijah had a long struggle with King Ahab and Jezebel, and sometimes he had to run for his life. They were bad to the bone. Jezebel tried to kill all the prophets of the Lord in the land and replaced them with at least 450 prophets of baal, and 400 prophets of asherah. Many of them ate at her table (1 Kings 18:19). The prophet Elisha speaking here had been the prophet Elijah’s apprentice, so he told the king of Israel to go and ask the prophets of his father (Ahab), and his mother (Jezebel) for advice.

 (2 Kings 3:14–15 NASB)  Elisha said, “As the LORD of hosts lives, before whom I stand, were it not that I regard the presence of Jehoshaphat the king of Judah, I would not look at you nor see you. “But now bring me a minstrel.” And it came about, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.

Elisha was annoyed that the wicked son of Ahab and Jezebel wanted him to inquire of the Lord for him. There was drama, turmoil, noise, and he was upset about the whole situation. It was not an ideal environment for hearing from the Lord. Elisha was only willing to speak to them because the godly King of Judah was with them.

Elisha needed to hear a clear word from the Lord, so he called for a musician, and while the musician played, the hand of the Lord came upon him. When Elisha needed to calm his mind down and hear from the Lord, he turned to music. When this nameless musician used his god-given ability, the power of God came upon the prophet.

The directions that came from the Lord were to dig trenches in the desert valley, which was hard work for hot, thirsty, nearly dead men. The Lord said that He would provide the water, but first they were to dig ditches to contain what was coming. Digging ditches was something the people could do, so God didn’t ask them to do more than they were able to. When God wants us to prepare for the blessing He will bring, He gives us things that we can actually do.

(2 Kings 3:16–20 NASB)  He said, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Make this valley full of trenches.’ “For thus says the LORD, ‘You shall not see wind nor shall you see rain; yet that valley shall be filled with water, so that you shall drink, both you and your cattle and your beasts. ‘This is but a slight thing in the sight of the LORD; He will also give the Moabites into your hand. ‘Then you shall strike every fortified city and every choice city, and fell every good tree and stop all springs of water, and mar every good piece of land with stones.’ ” It happened in the morning about the time of offering the sacrifice, that behold, water came by the way of Edom, and the country was filled with water.

When the Moabite army saw the sun rising over the water, it had a red glow, and they assumed that the three armies had turned on one another and began fighting. Apparently that happened a lot then. They charged in to loot the bodies, but instead found the armies alive and well, and Israel defeated Moab. A nameless musician had played music for Elisha, then the hand of the Lord came upon him and he gave the king’s directions. When they followed the Lord’s directions, everything else fell into place.

To summarize this, the kings faced a crisis, so they inquired of the Lord, in this case through a prophet. The prophet Elisha needed to clear his mind and calm his spirit, so he sent for a musician to play. While the minstrel played, the hand of the Lord came upon him, and directions were given to them: “Dig ditches.” They dug the ditches, and soon the crisis was over.

This is a recipe for success and we can apply it in our lives. The Lord speaks to His sheep (John 10:27). He gives us simple directions that we are able to follow, then He provides the blessing. We can build ourselves up in the Spirit and sharpen our hearing through spiritual songs, hymns, and psalms.

You can pray this with me if you like:

Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray that You help me get in tune with what You are doing today. Please speak to me in a way that I understand and give me simple directions that I can act on to improve my life, and to be able to be a blessing to others. My life is Yours Lord, in the name of Jesus Christ I pray. Amen!