richcathers.com

Old Testament Survey: 1Chronicles - Esther

CCEA School of Discipleship

Winter Trimester: 3:00-4:00pm

Before Class

Be sure to sign in.

Have each student wear a name tag

If you have your “timelines” with you, we will be spending a bit of time in that section that starts with Samaria falling through Nehemiah’s return.

(We will also be attempting to begin to build a timeline of significant events and where the Old Testament books fit into the timeline.)

Homework

Did anyone learn something new from your assigned reading in Halley’s Bible Handbook?

A brief “rant”…

I came across a disturbing video on YouTube this week where this guy claiming to be a Christian is trying to discourage people from trying to read through their Bibles in a year. His main reason? You’re going to fail, so don’t try. He builds up a “straw man” argument by saying you have to read fifteen chapters a day to read through in a year (no, it’s only three chapters).

And then he says…

Video: Don’t Read the Bible in a Year

If you looked closely at the quote, it comes from Ellen G. White, the founder of Seventh Day Adventism – a group that most consider “Christian”, but one that goes off the rails on more than a few doctrines. Walter Martin classified it as a “Christian Cult”.

The fellow in the video encourages people to only read short passages and then discuss them with friends. That’s really not a bad idea, but if you’ve never read the entire Bible, and reading the entire Bible isn’t a regular practice of yours, you will lose sight of how the entire Bible fits together. This is how cults start – by keeping you from seeing the context and balancing Scripture with Scripture.

I liked this video better…

Video: Have you read my book?

I don’t want to be legalistic about how much of your Bible you read everyday, but you ought to get into a habit of reading every day.

I also think it’s very important that you have a plan to get yourself through the Bible – whether it takes one years, two years, or three years.

And then do it again. And again.

Don’t be afraid of reading the entire Bible.

Your first three or four times through it you are going to have lots of questions.

But don’t let the questions stop you. Keep reading.

Pastor Chuck used to talk about having a “file” in his head labeled “Waiting for further information”. That’s a great concept. File away, circle, or write down those things you don’t understand, and move on.

There are lots of resources available to answer your questions – Halley’s, good commentaries, your pastors, other brothers and sisters (and yes, you can ask me questions)

But an awful lot of your questions will be answered little by little each time you get through your Bible.

You’ll start making connections – “Hey, this passage is talking about this…!”

Or you’ll hear Pastor Bob teaching on a passage and you’ll think, “That’s one of those things I’ve always wondered about!”

Just keep reading.

One of my goals for our class is to get you hungry about reading the Bible, and give you enough confidence that you will take on the challenge of reading every day.

NOTE: If you really want to read through the Bible in a year, it’s only three chapters a day.

The bigger issue than how big it is, is the establishing of a daily habit. Get to the point where you don’t even think twice about spending fifteen minutes reading – you’ve got it scheduled into your day. Right Manny?

One more thing along these lines.

Reading and teaching through the entire Bible is a part of the Calvary Chapel movement’s DNA.

Many years ago, a young Pastor Chuck Smith was leading a small church. For years he had a two-year supply of topical sermons that he’d use up before deciding to move to a new church. But one time he really liked the church he was pastoring, but he was running out of material. He would eventually come across the following in his copy of “Halley’s Bible Handbook”.

“The Most Important Thing In This Book”

I’m afraid that they no longer have this section in the more recent editions, but I’ve copied it out of my old copy that dates back to 1978. Chuck came across this perhaps fifteen years or so before that.

(I’ll send you a copy of this section when I send out my notes on Monday)

Halley’s challenge to pastors was to learn to teach through the entire Bible. He said it would “revitalize” the church.

It’s because of this that Pastor Chuck shifted his teaching style from being “topical” studies, to learning to teach expository messages through the entire Bible, verse by verse, chapter by chapter.

That’s what you’ve experienced here at CCEA under Pastor Bob.

Calvary Chapel owes much to the ministry of Henry Halley.

That’s one of the main reasons why I’ve made this our extra textbook (besides the Bible).

1Chronicles

Author

Ezra

This is not agreed by all scholars, but Ezra makes the most sense.

The Jewish commentary, The Talmud, says Ezra was the author.

Ezra also has a book named after him (we’ll talk about it in a few minutes).

He was a scribe, a priest from the tribe of Levi, and even a descendant of Aaron the original high priest.

You will definitely see a priestly influence/flavor in this book.

When

450-425 BC.

This puts it in the lifetime of Ezra. You can peek at your timelines…

Originally, 1 & 2 Chronicles were considered a single book.

Why?

History from a post-exile perspective

The nation of Judah had been in exile for 70 years when they were allowed to return to the land of Israel from Babylon. Why had they been in Babylon?

The author is going to give us a bit of God’s slant on things and how the Jews got to where they were.

1Chronicles starts with nine chapters of genealogy, then the death of King Saul, and from chapter 11 to the end it details out the history of King David.

There is not just some overlap with the accounts in 2Samuel, but Ezra has added more, and collected from various additional sources at his disposal.

The book ends with some interesting details about how King David organized the worship of the nation.

Even though he wasn’t allowed to build the Temple, he was given a “blueprint” by God, and allowed to amass all the materials needed for Solomon to construct the kingdom.

David also reorganized the Levites to prepare them for Temple worship.

There’s also quite a bit about David organizing the musicians.

Worship leaders – the Chronicles are books you ought to get familiar with. There are some interesting lessons and pictures there.

And keep in mind, David was not just a warrior and a king. He was a worshipper. He was a musician. He wrote many songs.

Words of “worship”

Christians are often confused about this word “worship”.

For many contemporary evangelical Christians, “worship” is that part of the service where we sing songs.

But that falls far too short of what Biblical worship is.

Besides the “Music”, let me give you three more words that define “worship”

Yield

In the Old Testament, several words are used for “worship”

One word is qadad, which means to “bow down”.

Another is hawa, often translated “worship”, but also carries the idea of bowing down and prostrating oneself before God.

When Abraham’s servant found a bride for Isaac …

(Genesis 24:26 NASB 2020) Then the man bowed low and worshiped the Lord.

Both words are used here.

The idea of “bowing” is to yield. It’s to acknowledge that the One you are bowing to is greater than you.

We may not be physically “bowing” in church, but we definitely need to work at yielding to God.

Adore

There’s a word in Greek that I love – proskuneo. Yes it can carry the idea of prostrating yourself before another, but it literally means “kiss toward”.

I have always taken this to be the emotional part of worship, where we express our love and adoration to God. Your hands might go up, but not necessarily.

When we sing in church, understand that music has inherently in it an “emotional” component.

It’s about loving God with your “heart” and your “soul”.

Jesus used this word when He said,

(John 4:24 NASB 2020) God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.”

The “spirit” is about your spirit touching God’s Spirit.

And worship ought to be wrapped in truth – the truth about God, about us, and our need for Him.

Serve

Another Greek word often translated “worship” is latreuo.

This word has a “Levitical” component to it. It ought to make you think about how the Levites and Priests “worshipped” or “served” God in the Tabernacle or the Temple.

In Hebrew, a parallel word is ‘abad, and it means to work or serve.

Paul uses this word here –

(Romans 12:1 NASB 2020) Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.

How did the Levites and Priests offer “worship” to God?

They brought sacrifices

They prayed

They sang and played instruments

They taught the people

They performed all the duties that were required to keep the Temple going – lighting the Menorah, offering incense, putting out the showbread.

Even seemingly insignificant things like guarding the gates, counting the offerings, and keeping the Temple clean.

That’s what you’ll see in 1Chronicles, the different ways that God is worshipped through serving.

It’s all about things we do to serve and honor God.

This is worship.

Quiz Answer

1. What best describes Biblical worship?

a. Music

b. Yield

c. Adore

d. Serve

e. All of the above

(of course the answer is “e”)

Messianic

God will promise David…

(1 Chronicles 17:12 NASB 2020) He shall build for Me a house, and I will establish his throne forever.

Very similar to the passage we saw last week in 2Samuel.

God promises David that he will have a Son who will have a “forever” throne.

That’s not Solomon. It’s Jesus.

Significant Verse

You might be surprised at my pick here …

(1 Chronicles 6:33–34 NASB 2020) —33 These are the ones who served with their sons: From the sons of the Kohathites were Heman the singer, the son of Joel, the son of Samuel, 34 the son of Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Eliel, the son of Toah,

This is from the middle of those long first nine chapters of genealogies. I’ll talk more about this in a minute…

A word about genealogies

There are several genealogies given through the Bible in various places.

The problem for most of us with western eyes is that we see all those names, and probably because we are afraid of trying to pronounce them, we just skip over them.

Genealogies are what tie the Scriptures together.

They show us that the Bible is not a bunch of random stories about people who have no connection with each other.

Some of you seemed a bit surprised last week when I told you that Boaz was the son of Rahab the harlot.

That fact came from a genealogy.

It’s about connections.

If nothing more, you see that God kept His promise to David when you track the genealogies to Jesus.

You will also learn that there names that are a little more common. There is more than one Caleb. There is more than one Korah. There is more than one Gomer. And so how do you tell them apart?

You ask, “Who are they the son of?”

Some of you might remember that little book that came out in 2000 by Bruce Wilkinson called “The Prayer of Jabez”.

It’s found in those genealogies of 1Chronicles.

(1 Chronicles 4:9–10 NASB 2020) —9 Jabez was more honorable than his brothers, and his mother named him Jabez, saying, “Because I gave birth to him in pain.” 10 Now Jabez called on the God of Israel, saying, “Oh that You would greatly bless me and extend my border, and that Your hand might be with me, and that You would keep me from harm so that it would not hurt me!” And God brought about what he requested.

If you skipped the genealogies, you’d miss that gem.

For me, I got pretty excited one day reading through 1Chronicles 6.

Some of my excitement came when I read that one of the first of three major worship leaders, Heman, was a grandson of the prophet Samuel.

How do I know this is the prophet Samuel? By his father’s name (it matches 1Samuel 1:1).

I was also excited to see that Samuel’s family wasn’t a total loss.

In the book of 1Samuel we read that Samuel’s sons didn’t follow the Lord.

But his grandson did (Heman).

And lastly, I was always a bit bothered by Samuel performing so many sacrifices in 1Samuel when I thought he was from the tribe of Ephraim.

(1 Samuel 1:1 NASB 2020) Now there was a man from Ramathaim-zophim from the hill country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.

I knew that the Law stated that only those descended from Aaron (tribe of Levi) were allowed to perform sacrifices.

But when I continued reading in 1Chronicles 6, I realized that Samuel WAS a descendant of Aaron as a “Kohathite”, and that he was a Levite/priest who lived in Ephraim. He wasn’t from the tribe of Ephraim.

Isn’t it funny the things that nerdy pastors get excited about?

2Chronicles

Author

Ezra

When

450-425 BC.

Why?

Israel’s history from a post-exile perspective

2Chronicles will cover the time of Solomon through the Babylonian exile.

Note: After Solomon, the kingdom of Israel splits.

The author of Chronicles only follows the history of Judah.

You will not see the back and forth between the history of the kings of the north and the south like 1&2Kings.

Again, keep in mind that Ezra is a priest, and he will add all sorts of juicy tidbits he found in the records about how the kings treated the Temple, the prayers of the kings, and the worship of God.

You will hear several times what I call their “national anthem”, or “Israel’s worship chorus”, a refrain that is sung over and over …

“He is good

For His mercy endures forever”

Significant Verse

It’s hard to pick just one, but perhaps one of the most important ones for the people of Ezra’s day is this – God is responding to Solomon’s prayer of dedication of the Temple, and God tells the nation what to do if they ever stray…

(2 Chronicles 7:14 NKJV) if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

I think this was what Daniel was responding to in Daniel 9 when he realizes that the nation has been in Babylon for seventy years, and it’s time to go home.

Daniel is praying and confesses the sins of the people.

Other important passages…

(2 Chronicles 16:9 NASB 2020)

(2 Chronicles 20:21–22 NASB 2020) —21 22

Ezra

Author

Ezra

His name means “help”.

When

450-425 BC.

Why?

Worship restored

The book documents the waves of people returning to Jerusalem from Babylon.

Under governor Zerubbabel and Jeshua the high priest, an altar is set up and sacrifices to Yahweh begin.

Then they lay the foundation of the new Temple.

There will be opposition to the Temple being rebuilt, but eventually under the encouragement of the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the Temple is finally finished.

After this, Ezra himself will make his way to Jerusalem from Babylon to help further the work at the Temple and teaching the people God’s ways.

Significant Verse

(Ezra 7:10 NASB 2020) For Ezra had firmly resolved to study the Law of the Lord and to practice it, and to teach His statutes and ordinances in Israel.

This is Ezra explaining how he was able to make the dangerous journey from Babylon to Jerusalem.

This is what Ezra was all about.

You could make a four-point sermon from this verse – resolve, study, practice, teach.

Nehemiah

Author

Nehemiah

Though Ezra may have had a hand in writing some of it, it is pretty clear that most of the book contains the memoirs of Nehemiah.

Nehemiah was a cupbearer to the Persian King Artaxerxes. That made him a pretty important person with access to the King.

Halley suggests that Nehemiah as a Jew might have been able to get the job he had because of how God used Queen Esther (more about that in a minute).

When

450-425 BC.

In the oldest Hebrew manuscripts, the books of Ezra and Nehemiah are one single book.

Nehemiah will get to Jerusalem 12 years after Ezra does. Their lives will overlap.

Why?

Building the walls

This will be Nehemiah’s main goal.

The walls of a city are what keep that city from being invaded.

When Nehemiah arrives in Jerusalem, the walls around the city are nothing but rubble.

Nehemiah will organize the Jews living in Jerusalem, and they will resist the opposition against them and rebuild the walls.

Messianic

He wanted to bring restoration.

Significant Verse

This may not be “THE” verse in Nehemiah for most, but as a preacher, this is my favorite verse.

Here’s the scene: The scribe Ezra has gathered the people together in Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles. This “gathering” involved a little bit of teaching as well. Ezra stood on a platform above the crowd, and he had a group of fellow priests stood around him, repeating what Ezra said to the crowd. Then there’s this…

(Nehemiah 8:8 NKJV) So they read distinctly from the book, in the Law of God; and they gave the sense, and helped them to understand the reading.

This is what preaching/teaching is supposed to be all about.

Read clearly from the book

The congregation needs to know that what you are talking about indeed comes from God’s Word.

Give the sense

A good teacher will not just “read” the words, but help explain them so the congregation understands what the Scriptures are saying.

J.Vernon McGee used to say, “Put the cookies on the lower shelf” so everyone can get to them.

For those of you who teach in the Children’s Ministry – this is your challenge as well. Can you find ways to explain to the children in words they understand what God is wanting them to know?

Illustration

Nine year old Joey, was asked by his mother what he had learned in Sunday school. “Well, Mom, our teacher told us how God sent Moses behind enemy lines on a rescue mission to lead the Israelites out of Egypt. When he got to the Red Sea, he had his engineers build a pontoon bridge and all the people walked across safely. Then he used his walkie - talkie to radio headquarters for reinforcements. They sent bombers to blow up the bridge and all the Israelites were saved.” “Now, Joey, is that really what your teacher taught you?” his mother asked. “Well, no, Mom. But if I told it the way the teacher did, you’d never believe it!”

Understanding

The whole goal of teaching is to understand.

If you come away from a sermon or Bible study, and aren’t sure what the teacher was really trying to say, then there’s a problem.

Esther

Author

Most consider Mordecai to be the author.

Mordecai was the cousin of Queen Esther, and he’s also a major character in the book.

When

464 BC

Why?

God’s deliverance of the Jews

The story of Esther is not just about how a young Jewish girl became the Queen of Persia, but how God used her and her cousin Mordecai to rescue the Jews from the plot of the wicked man Haman who was intent on wiping out all the Jews.

Her story takes place about 40 years after the Temple in Jerusalem has been rebuilt.

Some have questioned whether this book should be part of Scripture because God is not specifically mentioned in the book.

But you’d have to be a fool to not think He is involved when you see how He maneuvers individuals and rescues the Jews.

The feast of Purim becomes a Jewish tradition from this book, celebrating when God used Esther and Mordecai to rescue the Jews.

Significant Verse

Mordecai is the one who uncovers the plot of Haman to have all the Jews in the Persian empire destroyed. When Mordecai asks Esther to step up and speak to King Ahasuerus about this, she is reluctant at first. The rule was that if someone came before the King, even the queen, without his permission, they could be put to death. But Mordecai tells her…

(Esther 4:14 NASB 2020) For if you keep silent at this time, liberation and rescue will arise for the Jews from another place, and you and your father’s house will perish. And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?”

Is that it?

This ends the Old Testament “history” books.

As Halley’s pointed out, the last three Old Testament prophets (Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi) all fit into the time frame of Ezra through Nehemiah.

There will be about four hundred years before the events of the New Testament start up.

Halley has a section titled “The 400 Years between the Testaments” that gives some background to this time.

Some have referred to this period between the Testaments as a time when God was “silent”.

But was God really “silent” during this time?

I think that just like the book of Esther, God was at work.

We may not have prophetic books coming during these years, and in that sense God might be considered “silent”, but God was far from being inactive.

The Jews were not inactive.

You can read some of the historical records of those times in what is known as the “Apocrypha”, books that the Catholic church likes to consider as the Bible.

Those books may be just a tad off doctrinally, but they often contain great historical material.

The Greeks will conquer the Persians of Nehemiah’s day.

They will rule over the land of “Israel”.

For a short period of time the Jews will revolt against the Greeks and have their own short-lived kingdom known as the Hasmonean kingdom.

Then Rome will move in and conquer everything.

But wait, there’s more.

I think there are several significant things that we don’t pay much attention to that happen during these four hundred years.

1. Synagogue

The Jews will develop this concept of meeting together on Sabbath.

2. Rabbi

The Jews will develop schools to train men to teach God’s Word.

The nation had gotten itself into so much trouble because they had strayed from God’s Word.

Men like Ezra would study and train others to teach the people in the synagogues.

3. The Returns

We often look at the waves of refugees returning from Babylon going to Jerusalem and think this was all there was.

Initially the Jews settled only in the south, in the land of Judah.

They would rebuild the Temple and set up their rabbinical schools in Jerusalem.

But there were also rabbinical schools developing in Babylon as well.

These schools tended to be a little more “charismatic” than those in Jerusalem.

Around 100BC, a new wave of Jews began to immigrate from Babylon to Israel.

Because the south was already so well developed, this new wave of immigrants would settle in the north, in the area of the Galilee.

I believe this is why Babylon is mentioned as one of the time markers in Matthew’s genealogy of Jesus.

When Jesus arrived, and began His ministry in Galilee, there were well-established schools in Galilee, and they were indeed a bit more “charismatic” than those in and around Jerusalem.

They believed in and practiced miracles. They believed in the work of the Holy Spirit.

It’s in this context that Jesus arrives.

Homework

Read HBH section on “Poetry and Wisdom” (found before the book of Job – about 3 pages).

Read HBH intro section to Psalms (read right up to where it starts talking about individual psalms – about 5 pages).

Be ready to answer this question: How many authors were there to the book of Psalms? (from HBH).

richcathers.com

Before Class

Be sure to sign in.

Have each student wear a name tag

If you have your “timelines” with you, we will be spending a bit of time in that section that starts with Samaria falling through Nehemiah’s return.

(We will also be attempting to begin to build a timeline of significant events and where the Old Testament books fit into the timeline.)

Homework

Did anyone learn something new from your assigned reading in Halley’s Bible Handbook?

A brief “rant”…

And then he says…

Video: Don’t Read the Bible in a Year

And then he quotes from a book that says it’s not good to read the Bible without getting a deeper understanding…

If you looked closely at the quote, it comes from Ellen G. White, the founder of Seventh Day Adventism – a group that most consider “Christian”, but one that goes off the rails on more than a few doctrines. Walter Martin classified it as a “Christian Cult”.

I liked this video better…

Video: Have you read my book?

I don’t want to be legalistic about how much of your Bible you read everyday, but you ought to get into a habit of reading every day.

I also think it’s very important that you have a plan to get yourself through the Bible – whether it takes one years, two years, or three years.

And then do it again. And again.

Don’t be afraid of reading the entire Bible.

Your first three or four times through it you are going to have lots of questions.

But don’t let the questions stop you. Keep reading.

Pastor Chuck used to talk about having a “file” in his head labeled “Waiting for further information”. That’s a great concept. File away, circle, or write down those things you don’t understand, and move on.

There are lots of resources available to answer your questions – Halley’s, good commentaries, your pastors, other brothers and sisters (and yes, you can ask me questions)

But an awful lot of your questions will be answered little by little each time you get through your Bible.

You’ll start making connections – “Hey, this passage is talking about this…!”

Or you’ll hear Pastor Bob teaching on a passage and you’ll think, “That’s one of those things I’ve always wondered about!”

Just keep reading.

One of my goals for our class is to get you hungry about reading the Bible, and give you enough confidence that you will take on the challenge of reading every day.

NOTE: If you really want to read through the Bible in a year, it’s only three chapters a day.

The bigger issue than how big it is, is the establishing of a daily habit. Get to the point where you don’t even think twice about spending fifteen minutes reading – you’ve got it scheduled into your day. Right Manny?

One more thing along these lines.

Reading and teaching through the entire Bible is a part of the Calvary Chapel movement’s DNA.

“The Most Important Thing In This Book”

I’m afraid that they no longer have this section in the more recent editions, but I’ve copied it out of my old copy that dates back to 1978. Chuck came across this perhaps fifteen years or so before that.

(I’ll send you a copy of this section when I send out my notes on Monday)

Halley’s challenge to pastors was to learn to teach through the entire Bible. He said it would “revitalize” the church.

Calvary Chapel owes much to the ministry of Henry Halley.

That’s one of the main reasons why I’ve made this our extra textbook (besides the Bible).

1Chronicles

Author

Ezra

This is not agreed by all scholars, but Ezra makes the most sense.

The Jewish commentary, The Talmud, says Ezra was the author.

Ezra also has a book named after him (we’ll talk about it in a few minutes).

He was a scribe, a priest from the tribe of Levi, and even a descendant of Aaron the original high priest.

You will definitely see a priestly influence/flavor in this book.

When

450-425 BC.

This puts it in the lifetime of Ezra. You can peek at your timelines…

Originally, 1 & 2 Chronicles were considered a single book.

Why?

History from a post-exile perspective

The nation of Judah had been in exile for 70 years when they were allowed to return to the land of Israel from Babylon. Why had they been in Babylon?

The author is going to give us a bit of God’s slant on things and how the Jews got to where they were.

1Chronicles starts with nine chapters of genealogy, then the death of King Saul, and from chapter 11 to the end it details out the history of King David.

There is not just some overlap with the accounts in 2Samuel, but Ezra has added more, and collected from various additional sources at his disposal.

The book ends with some interesting details about how King David organized the worship of the nation.

Even though he wasn’t allowed to build the Temple, he was given a “blueprint” by God, and allowed to amass all the materials needed for Solomon to construct the kingdom.

David also reorganized the Levites to prepare them for Temple worship.

There’s also quite a bit about David organizing the musicians.

Worship leaders – the Chronicles are books you ought to get familiar with. There are some interesting lessons and pictures there.

And keep in mind, David was not just a warrior and a king. He was a worshipper. He was a musician. He wrote many songs.

Words of “worship”

Christians are often confused about this word “worship”.

For many contemporary evangelical Christians, “worship” is that part of the service where we sing songs.

But that falls far too short of what Biblical worship is.

Besides the “Music”, let me give you three more words that define “worship”

Yield

In the Old Testament, several words are used for “worship”

One word is qadad, which means to “bow down”.

Another is hawa, often translated “worship”, but also carries the idea of bowing down and prostrating oneself before God.

When Abraham’s servant found a bride for Isaac …

(Genesis 24:26 NASB 2020) Then the man bowed low and worshiped the Lord.

The idea of “bowing” is to yield. It’s to acknowledge that the One you are bowing to is greater than you.

We may not be physically “bowing” in church, but we definitely need to work at yielding to God.

Adore

There’s a word in Greek that I love – proskuneo. Yes it can carry the idea of prostrating yourself before another, but it literally means “kiss toward”.

I have always taken this to be the emotional part of worship, where we express our love and adoration to God. Your hands might go up, but not necessarily.

When we sing in church, understand that music has inherently in it an “emotional” component.

It’s about loving God with your “heart” and your “soul”.