My Martin... still bringing the heat

Guitars

Eight years ago I took an insurance check from a car wreck (not my fault) and cashed it. It was for a thousand dollars. I was nineteen and about to start college, so I probably should have saved it, but instead I took the money to Ciderville Music and bought a Martin guitar. It wasn’t very flashy, but it was a good, solid, handmade guitar that was perfectly intonated and had a great sound. It was the first really nice instrument I had ever owned. I was in a band at the time and after playing my new guitar, the other songwriter/singer in the band went down to Ciderville the next day and used his savings to buy the exact same model Martin, two serial numbers away from mine. These two guitars were like twins in every way. They looked, played and sounded exactly alike. It was awesome. Now, our guitars may have been the same, but we were not. This friend of mine plays with incredible finesse and a soft touch, bringing the sweetest tones out of the instrument; while I play my guitar like a hammer, slamming a strong, low end.

Two years ago I got together with that friend after not seeing him in around five years to play some music. The really interesting thing is that after six years of being played by two completely different types of guitarists, these two instruments didn’t sound anything alike. I have always heard that a Martin guitar ages and changes with its owner, but its really true! It’s almost like my guitar was made for me and only for me, and it may have taken a few years, but you can tell it was made for me just by the sound of it. It was made for me and it was made that way by me.

I was reading the other day in 1 Chronicles 23 about when David was old and ready to die. He appointed his son Solomon to be king over Israel, and he was getting Solomon all set up for office by making sure that everyone was in the right place doing what they were supposed to. He was telling all the Levites their jobs and in verse 5 he said, “Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the LORD with the musical instruments I have provided for that purpose.” David had specifically ordered the building of musical instruments for the purpose of praising God… that’s the only reason they were made. Did you know that you are like those instruments? You were made for praise! Isaiah 43:21 says that God formed you so that you would proclaim His praise… that’s why you exist!

I think God is building a symphony orchestra to proclaim His praise, full of all kinds of different sounding instruments. Now, everyone is different, with different personalities, gifts and abilities, and as we go through life, God takes us all through different things. Your life may be harder than another person’s but maybe that’s because God is looking for a certain timbre of praise that can only come from you… you trusting Him and praising Him through the tough things in your life. When it’s all over, we’ll all be there together joining our praise to the praises of those who have gone before us and we will all be His opus… His work of praise. When your heart is full of praise no matter what you’re going through, He has the instrument He wanted… made for Him and made by Him.