marching choir

Here in Orange City, marching band is very much a thing. We have the Pride of the Dutchmen marching band, which regularly wins contests all over the region, and marches in holiday parades a lot.

Nehemiah had something I think would be just as cool, but I’ve never seen one: marching choirs. Two of them.

You can read about them in Nehemiah 12, which describes the huge dedication ceremony for the newly-completed wall around Jerusalem. There are almost 50 verses that describe the celebration, and in them you’ll read this, starting at verse 31:

“I had the leaders of Judah go up on top of the wall. I also assigned two large choirs to give thanks. One was to proceed on top of the wall to the right, toward the Dung Gate. . . . The second choir proceeded in the opposite direction. . . . The two choirs that gave thanks then took their places in the house of God . . . .The choirs sang under the direction of Jezrahiah.”

I love celebrations with music, and vocal music can be especially worshipful. I imagine these two choirs ringing the city with praise music. I imagine the mass choir filling the temple with sound. Way cool!

It really makes me appreciate the good music I hear in our worship services. It kind of makes me want to put a hedge of praise music around my town. That’s not practical, but it reminds me of the call of the prophet for the Jews in exile to be good citizens and bless their new communities. Part of serving God is serving my town, and even if I can’t sing my way around it, I can pray.

I’m called to be a part of this world more than apart from it. It’s good to be reminded of that.