“I should be sorry if I only entertained them [hearers]. I wish to make them better.”
Born on February 23, 1685, George Frideric Handel loved music from the earliest part of his life. As a child, he would sit at the church organ and create beautiful music to the surprise and delight of those who heard him.
Handel’s father, believing that music would not provide a worthwhile enough career for him, encouraged him to give up music and become a lawyer. But that isn’t what God had planned for him.
By the time Handel was in his twenties, he was the highest paid composer (music writer) in the entire world. He opened the famous Royal Academy of Music, and people flocked to hear his works performed.
Fame was not to last forever, though. Soon, there were newer and better composers; and people forgot about George Frederic Handel. He no longer had the money or praise of men, and he became very depressed over his life. His hands grew crippled, and no one came to hear him play anymore. He believed he was done.
Once again, God had other plans. He was not finished with Handel yet. One day, Handel received an important manuscript from a man named Charles Jennens. The text was written about Jesus Christ, and most of it was drawn directly out of the Bible.
On August 22, 1741, Handel locked himself in his house with Jennen’s manuscript and began writing music to go with its words. Twenty-three days later, he finished the most famous oratorio (a kind of musical) of all time. Handel’s Messiah is still performed today worldwide, especially around Christmastime. The Messiah includes the famous “Hallelujah Chorus,” for which audiences stand as a tradition to honor the God Whom it is about (“for the LORD God omnipotent reigneth!”).
Once again, Handel became famous, and still is famous today, although the experience humbled him.
God honors those who honor Him. Have you devoted all you have to His honor and glory rather than your own?
1 Corinthians 2:9 – Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him.