Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to him with the harp of ten strings!—Psalm 33:2 (ESV)

Although my harp is not the type that King David, the author of Psalm 33, played, I also play an ancient instrument. My vintage Oscar Schmidt autoharp (in the zither family) has more than three times as many strings as David’s U-shaped lyre of antiquity. Tuning a thirty-six-string instrument on a cold Sunday morning before church music rehearsal can be time-consuming. To put it into perspective, it’s the equivalent of tuning six guitars. 

I’ve recently noticed that while hurriedly tuning each of those steel strings, anxious to get to music rehearsal on time, I find myself praying quick, brief prayers of gratitude as each string comes into tune true to its note. “Thank You, Jesus! . . . Thank You, Jesus! . . . Thank You, Jesus!” When it dawned on me what I was doing, I began to refer to tuning my instrument as a thirty-six-string prayer. 

That’s really what this song of life is about, isn’t it? Seeking God’s blessing, praying that He will bring the individual notes of my life into resonance with His plan, and thanking Him when situations and events are in harmony with His will. I’m thankful that Jesus fine-tunes me each and every day; no doubt my praise of thanks to Him is music to His ears.