As I was studying I Chronicles 25, which tells how David orchestrated prophetic worship in the Temple, I realized that it closely parallels something going on in the church today: cell groups. In my seventeen years as a pastor, I spent the last seven working with cell groups.
The experts tell us that when a cell group grows to 12-15 people, it needs to become two groups. When the group becomes too large, not everybody can participate. A typical living room has room for about a dozen people. The intimacy of a small group breaks down when the group outgrows 12-15.
This means a cell group leader needs to be training another leader, who will lead the new group when the first group grows and multiplies.
The cell group model is an ideal model for training in prophetic music. A team of 12 musicians is probably as large as a prophetic song team needs to get. It is hard for all the musicians to hear each other when the team gets too large. Therefore, a large seminar is not an ideal means of training prophetic musicians because it is impossible for everyone to participate.
A prophetic song cell would need to grow to a dozen, and then become two groups. Probably the musicians would be more eager to see the groups multiply than what has usually proven to be the case in cell churches, because a musical team of six may be more comfortable than a group of twelve.
This process of growth would be the process of raising up prophetic musicians.
I don’t pretend to be enough of a scholar to reconstruct what the Davidic administration of prophetic musicians looked like. But there are five principles in I Chronicles 25 that, when taken together, look very similar to the cell group structure that has proliferated in the church lately.
Five Principles in I Chronicles 25
1. Groups of twelve. This is substantiated in I Chronicles 25:8-31, which tells how the groups were broken up and assigned their duties. With repetition that becomes almost monotonous, we see that the musical teams were formed with groups of twelve. Here are a few thoughts:
Prophetic song is spontaneous. Therefore, a team of musicians must be able to hear each other so they can flow with new bursts of inspiration when God gives it. This is one of the factors that limits a group to about twelve.
Prophetic song is relational. Each musician has his or her own unique God-given sound. If the musicians know each other, they can learn to bring out the best in each other. But again, the capacity to know one another personally limits the group to about twelve.
Prophetic song is caught, not taught. This means the best way to develop greater fluency in prophetic song is by doing it. It is possible to teach hundreds or thousands in a classroom, but even Jesus poured Himself into a team of twelve disciples with His hands-on training.
2. Brothers and sons. David’s administration of prophetic song centered on three families of prophetic musicians: Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun. Again, I Chronicles 25:8-31 tells us with much repetition that the twenty four teams were comprised of “sons and brethren.” Thoughts:
There was an ongoing effort to raise up the next generation. The sons would outlive the brethren, carrying the testimony of Jesus forward for another generation.
This ongoing effort did not hinge on individual fathers, but on several men/women of a generation. Unhealthy attitudes can develop when a single individual becomes “father” or “mother” to a group of young people. But with several people from the older generation, an unhealthy sense of possessiveness can be avoided.
This principle is a fulfillment of Malachi 4:5-6: God will turn the hearts of the children to the fathers, and of the fathers to the children.
3. Teachers and students. I Chronicles 25:8 speaks of “the teacher with the student.” This tells us that each team was geared not only towards serving in their turn, but also towards training new musicians.
Prophetic song can and should be taught. We can't teach exactly what notes to play or words to sing when God next moves us in prophetic song. But we can teach people to get into the flow. The groups were cross-generational.
There are specific skills needed in prophetic song. I Chronicles 25:7 says 288 musicians were skillful. Here are several skills that go with prophetic song: technical virtuosity, a capacity to let prophetic lyrics bubble up, a capacity to discern the mood of the Holy Spirit moment by moment, and a capacity to engage in the protocol of body ministry as defined in I Corinthians 14. Of all these skills, only one can be learned in a secular environment: technical virtuosity on the instrument. All the other skills are best learned in a mentoring situation.
There is not only a need to train other musicians, but also to train other disciplers. This is like the four generations in II Timothy 2:2, which says, “And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also.”
4. Chief musicians. Somebody has to be in charge. Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun were chief musicians among their families. Likewise, the list in I Chronicles 25:8-31 shows that each team had a leader. A few thoughts:
As in cell groups, the leader needs to be not the star performer, but a facilitator. This means the leader might even be the worst musician in the group. But his/her job is to draw out the other musicians. Practically speaking, this means the leader will need to restrain the most eager musicians so the less forceful will step out.
The leader will model a dynamic of brokenness and teamwork. This means the leader will demonstrate by his/her lifestyle that we need to honor the grace of God in one another, and not just think in terms of reaching our “personal best.” The leader reinforces the basic theme of Christian discipleship that we must lose our lives to find them – and this is particularly true for musicians.
The leader will not necessarily be the only mentor. A guitar player might need to further train another guitar player, or help a bass player learn what kind of groove works best with a certain type of song. One drummer might need to teach another a specific rhythmic pattern. In technical training, there will be lots of one-on-one. The group leader needs to facilitate these relationships so the whole group can grow.
5. David, the ultimate administrator. Though there were three chief musicians and twenty-four group leaders, David was in charge of the whole group. He was a musician and doubtless imparted much to the team. Nevertheless, he was not able to devote all his energies to the worship and song ministry. The three chief musicians reported to him, and David integrated their ministry with the other aspects of the kingdom. A few thoughts:
The prophetic musicians should not become a law unto themselves. Music is not the heart of what the church is about. Prophetic music becomes unhealthy when the musicians begin to think the church exists as a platform for their prophetic and musical gifts. It is vital that the prophetic musicians submit themselves to pastors and/or apostles who are looking at the larger picture.
There is a mutual submission between “David” and the prophetic musicians. The fact that David appointed three chief musicians indicated that he did not micromanage their musical development. The fact that there were three families involved suggests that there may have been three very different sounds, and that David did not insist on uniformity.
The “king” needs to help release the musicians who are gifted in areas that don’t necessarily flow with the discipling model. Some need to be prophetic soloists; some need to flow in evangelism; some need to focus on the agenda of a local church in worship leading. This means the musicians in the cell group may develop skills for which they don’t see and immediate outlet. The “king” and chief musicians together need to maintain a sense of vision that will encourage the musicians to hang in there. There will be a new day in the church – congregations will have a new appetite, and the prophetic musicians will be much needed. Those of us who are trained before that time need to persevere like Joshua and Caleb.