The sun lights and warms our life. Our planet could not exist without the sun, yet most of us think little about it. We may notice it only in its absence or in its excess.
So it is with music in our church meetings.
Music warms and lights our meetings. It is an important vehicle through which the Spirit can be felt. Yet, like the sun, many Mormons pay attention to music in church meetings only in its absence or excess.
\"Music is such an important part of our service,\" President Ezra Taft Benson said in 1978.
In fact, music is so important that just three months after the church was organized, the Lord instructed Emma Smith to make a collection of hymns. In connection with that call, the Lord made a remarkable declaration to the Prophet Joseph Smith: \"For my soul delighteth in the song of the heart; yea, the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads\" (Doctrine and Covenants 25:12).
Modern-day prophets have also proclaimed the importance of music in our worship services.
In the preface to the current edition of the church's hymnal published in 1985, the First Presidency wrote: \"Inspirational music is an essential part of our church meetings. The hymns invite the spirit of the Lord, create a feeling of reverence, unify us as members and provide a way for us to offer praises to the Lord.
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This story is provided by the LDS Church News, an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is produced weekly by the Deseret News.