Prophesied with lyres, harps and cymbals (1 Chron. 25:1)

In my devotional reading I came across the following verse:

David and the chiefs of the service also set apart for the service the sons of Asaph, and of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who prophesied with lyres, with harps, and with cymbals. (1 Chron. 25:1)

Notice that Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun prophesied while playing a variety of musical instruments. I looked up commentaries to figure out what was the nature of their ministry and prophecy. Verse 3 in the same chapter gave a little more information.

under the direction of their father Jeduthun, who prophesied with the lyre in thanksgiving and praise to the Lord. (1 Chron 25:3b)

When I think of prophecy, I think of God revealing judgement or God revealing more information about His Son, Jesus Christ. In this passage the office of prophet is also the office of choir director. These prophets are revealing ways to praise God through music. However, these psalms also reveal the Messiah. Psalm 89 is attributed to Asaph and it is a very messianic song full of prophecy. David is a prophet who prophesied through Psalms and music: Psalm 2, 16, 22, 34, 69 and 110. David seems to be standardizing this function within the temple. The best commentary I found with my limited resources is the footnotes in the ESV Study Bible.

1 Chron. 25:1–8 David and the leaders of the Levites divided the musicians into the three family groups of Asaph, Jeduthun, and Heman (see 6:31–47), who prophesied with musical instruments, i.e., wrote songs. In some cases, their songs seem to have become part of OT Scripture, for Asaph is named in the titles of Psalms 50 and 73–83, and Jeduthun in the titles of Psalms 39, 62, and 77. In addition, Heman here may be the same person as Heman the Ezrahite named in the title of Psalm 88 (cf. also 1 Chron. 6:33). The verb “to prophesy” (Hb. naba’) indicates that their songs were prompted or guided by the Spirit of God. This shows that “prophecy” is not always a direct announcement of God’s plans; it indicates that the person is operating as God’s authorized spokesman, here providing the right way for God’s people to sing to him (they prophesied … in thanksgiving and praise to the Lord, 25:3).

David and the leaders of Israel at that time spent time and effort organizing and developing the ministry of music within the temple. They viewed music as a prophetic ministry that was meant to use instruments and songs that praised and gave thanks unto the Lord. In our church, the leaders decided to be very intentional about the liturgy. Our liturgy is designed to proclaim the gospel. This seems to be a very valid application of the passage. The music ministry is a prophetic ministry. The songs should proclaim the gospel during a service. The whole service should be carefully designed to proclaim Christ as Lord in every aspect of the service.