Psalms 51:1: “To the chief Musician, A Psalm of David, when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bathsheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions”.
The very first verse in this Psalms introduces us to five people, a chief musician, David, Nathan Bathsheba and God. It is not uncommon for Semitic literature to use allegorical names. Archeologists have found no evidence of anyone named David, Abraham, and Isaac etc. But they have found evidence of people like that with different names. Unless God specifically ask that someone be named a certain name, I doubt the name we have in the Bible is the same that these people were known as while on earth. I believe God has given everyone a name and we will learn it when we get to heaven. I believe the names of most of the people in the Bible are their heavenly names and not the names their parents gave them and by which they were known while on earth. I also believe that each name in Hebrew tells us the story of that person. Embedded in the name of everyone even those of all the begets you will find their story.
So let’s take a look at these four names that introduce us to this Psalm. I believe each name tells us a story, a story of worship and a message about worship for those who serve on a worship team or are a worship leader. To help me with this I asked my study partner and the drummer from our worship team in church to assist me in this study.
Now keep in mind this is a story of David’s cry from restoration to God after his sin with Bathsheba. Yet, we learn in II Samuel 12:13 that God forgave David before he even asked for forgiveness. So what is this Psalm all about with his plea for a clean heart and removal of sin? I believe the answer is found in this story told by the five names addressed in this Psalm
The first name is one we do not consider a proper name, it is just the chief musician. It is the word Natsach and I capitalize it because I think it should be a proper name. David presented this Psalm to Natsach. Who is Natsach. I think the translators who render this as chief musician probably have it right but a more modern expression would be worship leader. Natsach means leader. The context tells us this leader leads in musical worship. The word comes from a Semitic root which means to be brilliant to stand out, to be pure. In this name we see a clue as to why David is still seeking forgiveness. Our worship team representative told how there are times he does not feel pure before God when he sits to play the drums for the worship service. He realizes that he cannot lead others in worship if his heart is not pure. I understand, when I come to the worship service I expect my worship leaders to have a pure heart for I am also coming to them like David came to his worship leader, Natsach with his plea for restoration and he assumes his worship leader has a pure heart so he can draw from that purity. A worship leader without a pure heart, who is going through the motions, copying other worship leaders, trying to impress the congregation is going to fool no one. Believers can spot the phony because we believers are desperate to follow the lead of someone with a pure heart. So why the chief musician or worship leader?
Our worship leader told us that when he feels impure he does confess his sin to God but he still feels impure. Yet as he begins to worship God in playing his musical instrument, he begins to feel God’s presence and the more he feels the presence of God the more his faith grows to believe he really has been forgiven for God would not share his presence with him if he were not forgiven. When I come into a worship service I feel guilty, I know I have sinned before God and I have confessed it, but I still feel that separation from God and I question if I have been forgiven. However, as I draw upon the worship presented by our worship leaders I begin to feel God’s presence and the more I do the more my faith grows that I am indeed forgiven.
Natsach (worship leader) also means to be brilliant and to stand out. Sometimes you watch your worship leaders and their faces are almost aglow, it is almost like they have a brilliant light and they stand out among the congregation. I believe David saw this glow on Natsach so he shared his pain with him hoping he would experience that presence of God like Natsach. We need to be around other believers. The Bible tells us in Hebrews 10:25: “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” God has forgiven us but sometimes we do not forgive ourselves or we are just not sure. But once God has forgiven us there is no reason we cannot enjoy His presence. Thus we must gather with others who are forgiven to exhort us to join them in worship and in so doing worship becomes a Natsach, a purifying process. The job of the Natsach (worship leader) is to begin and lead in a purifying process. The purpose of worship is to purify us, not in the sight of God, that has already been done, but in our sight and that of the other believers. For David to share this highly personal Psalm with the worship leader, the Natsach, means he was making his sin public knowledge . Not saying we have to do that, David was a king, the pastor of his nation, it behooved him as a leader to make his sin known and to assure everyone that God had forgiven him. Also David was desperate to be restored to the presence of God that he went to the one who himself was a Natsach a shining light of the presence of God, to lead him in worship where he would again feel the presence of God and know he was truly forgiven.
The first story or instruction in worship told in this Psalms from Natsach is that our worship leader must himself be pure and must realize that he is leading not just a worship and praise to God but also leading the saints in a purifying process.
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