AUGUST SONNET

Raise voices like the singing crickets make

in August, when they start to stridulate.

In summer heat, and for our season’s sake,

match all the buzz cicadas resonate.

Crash cymbals through dark troubles, quick and sharp.

With louder tymbals, drum out jubilee.

Beat sistrums with the angel’s ringing harp

and tap a tune with Heaven’s tympani.

But, I know every tiny abdomen

will one day be a chamber passed away.

Yet for my merry soul, a glad ‘amen’

sings out the promise of eternal’s day.

So long as Christ lets voices amplify!

So long as hearts are raised to glorify!

And David and all the house of Israel

played before the LORD on all manner

of instruments made of fir wood, even

on harps, and on psalteries, and on timbrels,

and on cornets, and on cymbals. 

2 Samuel 6:5

AUGUST SONNET

Let singing crickets and buzzing cicadas remind you to make your praises and requests known to our Heavenly Father who is also our Mighty Creator. Nature's music in the realm of Veery Glade continues to make me very glad to glorify Jesus Christ, the Son of God. Wherever you are, may it be so.

Continuing with this year's theme of Heaven, I think music will be there too (or, is there now!). I imagine great orchestras and mighty choirs fill Heaven's rafters with music, although rafters implies there is a limit and there, most likely, is none. Heaven, for believers, will be a place that includes music expressed from overwhelming joy and thanksgiving, not to mention other emotions and reasons. Let's see what the Bible says about music in Heaven.

Then it came to pass on the third day, in the morning, that there were thunderings and lightnings, and a thick cloud on the mountain; and the sound of the trumpet was very loud, so that all the people who were in the camp trembled.

Exodus 19:16

A Trumpet. Who played the trumpet? I do not think it was a human. It was someone in Heaven. And we read a little further in verse 19 that the trumpet blast sounded long and grew louder and louder just before God and His glory rested on the top of Mount Sinai. Then, in the very next chapter, God spoke the ten commandments. Somebody played the trumpet and we don't know who but everyone heard it. It was a fanfare-type-of proceeding before God's presence arrived.

"a golden bell and a pomegranate, a golden bell and a pomegranate, upon the hem of the robe all around. And it shall be upon Aaron when he ministers, and its sound will be heard when he goes into the holy place before the LORD and when he comes out, that he may not die."

Exodus 28:34-35

Golden bells. We learn that the earthly tabernacle set-up was a shadow or copy of the real tabernacle in Heaven as described in Hebrews, chapter 9. Are there golden bells sewn into the hem of robes in Heaven that ring out to be heard? We don't know. But God had instructed Moses to include the sound of bells. Let's see what else the Bible says.

"The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save; He will rejoice over you with gladness, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing."

Zephaniah 3:17

Singing. Ah, singing! I studied music and I remember my piano teacher at Ithaca College teaching that the best instrument players were the ones who could mimic the human voice on their instruments. The voice is the standard, the measure, the sound to emulate. How can you make the piano sing? How can you play your clarinet to match vocal ability, rising and falling in dynamics? How can you play the cello with phrasing like a singer? This was the goal of a trained instrumentalist! In Zephaniah, we read that God sings. Gotquestions.org says that this verse is about the future millennial kingdom and that God's singing is from His great joy when His people praise Him. Imagine! What a voice!

Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy.

Psalm 33:3

Play skillfully. That means not slipshod, or mediocre, or barely adequate, as if you spent no time practicing. I know it takes years to master an instrument (unless you're extremely gifted). But even then, skill takes focus. I'm sure young David spent hours playing his harp and singing while out tending his father's sheep. He went on to play for King Saul and to write many of the Psalms, many of which mention music. Like...

Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; praise Him with the lute and harp! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals; praise Him with clashing cymbals!

Psalm 150:3-5

Yes, this doesn't say that these instruments will actually be in Heaven but maybe they will be. They are here. Drummers must love the clashing cymbals mention. Many Psalms mention lifting praise to God through music.

Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll, and to open its seals; for You were slain, and have redeemed us to God by Your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation, and have made us kings and priests to our God; and we shall reign on earth." Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: "Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!"

Revelation 5:8-12

And they sang a new song. That's the four living creatures and the 24 elders, each with harps. Jesus, the only One able to take the sealed scroll from His Father, Almighty God, triggers the above musical scene. Trumpet blasts will sound following this scene, unleashing God's wrath. It is a terrible thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. You won't survive it, which is His vengeance—His to claim, His to have.

Hell, the place of scoffers, of people who laughed at God's provision and thought they were mocking Him, who've only but deceived themselves, has absolutely no music. The Bible says weeping and gnashing of teeth are the sounds in Hell. You wouldn't want to go there if you're a music lover.

Only Jesus saves. Live a life trusting Jesus and His Word to hear the music of Heaven.

FOR THE JOY: Poems Reflecting on Christ's Death and Resurrection

With this Easter poetry collection to be published in spring 2027, I hope to encourage readers to trust God's infallible and inerrant Word. If you would like to have a part in the launching of For the Joy, please pray that I fine-tune my poems and painted illustrations to convey the clear message. This fall, I hope to ask beta readers for their feedback. If you love poetry that honors Christ and is true to the Biblical narrative, I'd love to invite you to experience these poems.

HUMPERSTEIN HUBERT FISH

With For the Joy on the front burner, this Christian picture book for children sits on the back burner. But, when time allows, I dabble, painting my main character. I need to paint him well! Maybe by next posting, I'll have an image to share!

FOCUS ON PRAYER

Pray for your church members and pastor and family. Pray specifically for needs you are aware of and for those not aware of, trust God to know the details. He does. Still, we should bow and ask and seek. We should commit time to prayer. Fervent prayer. In-the-closet prayer.

Also, pray for Christian teachers in public schools to stand firm in their environment, and be encouraged. We need Christian teachers in the public school system! Also, pray for Christian schools as well.

FINAL VERSE AND THOUGHT 

Then I saw another sign in heaven, great and marvelous: seven angels having the seven last plagues, for in them the wrath of God is complete. And I saw something like a sea of glass mingled with fire, and those who have the victory over the beast, over his image and over his mark and over the number of his name, standing on the sea of glass, having harps of God. They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying: "Great and marvelous are Your works, Lord God Almighty! Just and true are Your ways, O King of the saints!"

Revelation 15:1-3

Before Christ returns, the song of the Lamb will be sung. And after the great music of the song, the full wrath of God will occur. Before a powerful Savior exists powerful music in Heaven.