Music in the Church

Question: Do I really need to know everything the Bible says about music in order to have an accurate vision of this subject?

Answer: No, but music is a unique subject. Music, by nature, is very emotional – it has great power to touch the human heart. So, it is very easy for anyone to have a view about music that is highly influenced by personal taste, religious culture, and personal opinion. We need to survey everything the Bible says about music as a way of developing a reality check in our own thinking processes.

Question: Do I really need to survey the Old Testament to have a correct view of music for the New Testament church?

Answer: Yes. There are many things we can learn from the Old Testament that will be helpful in reaching our goal to develop a balanced vision.

Moses was educated in all the wisdom of the Egyptians and was powerful in speech and action.

Ancient Egyptian music. All music is sacred. Male spiritual leadership defines the music. Women singers and musicians perform the music. Why? Egyptian music was soft and smooth.

God prescribed no laws for music in public worship. The nearest thing was a rule about trumpets (Numbers 10:2). The silence of the law would be seen later as leaving this option open for public worship when appropriate resources (material, artistic, human) would come available.

An unexpected set of circumstances suddenly appeared at the dawn of the age of kings in Israel (reign of Saul, David, and etc.). The Holy Spirit would come upon a group of men in a city and they would begin to “prophesy”. This prophesying was a form of singing (1 Sam. 10:5, 19:20). These groups of men became a male chorus who praised the Lord in song with instruments.. This was the first time in Israel such a unique phenomenon had happened.

David was aware of that phenomenon and he decided to imitate it in public worship. 1 Chronicles 25:1-3 shows us clear how David imitated that model of the male chorus and orchestra. We have a vision of how David imitated that model in 2 Samuel 6:5, 14.

In the background David encouraged the development of “secular” music. This came in the form of “men and women singers” (2 Samuel 19:35). They sang folk songs (2 Chron. 35:25) and songs to delight the heart (Eccl. 2:8). Men and women singers performed for special banquets of the king and celebrations of wealthy people.

In the foreground David specialized in music for public worship. At this point we will itemize the music-form he developed and later we will explain how you can trace his music system in the scriptures. David’s music included the following characteristics:

· David’s music was performed in the tabernacle (temple) at the time of the assembly and sacrifice

· The non-priestly worshippers listened to the music of the priests (no congregational singing).

· The original orchestra consisted primarily of stringed instruments and percussion instruments.

1 & 2 Kings is the history of Israel as recorded by the kings’ historians. 1 & 2 Chronicles is the history of Israel as recorded by the high priest’s historian. The Chronicles tell us more about the religious life of Israel than do the Kings. It is in these two books that we learn the most about David’s music.

The following texts give us insight into the system of music David created. First, he appointed a director of music for public worship in the tabernacle:

Zechariah, Aziel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Unni, Eliab, Maaseiah and Benaiah were to play the lyres according to alamoth, [21] and Mattithiah, Eliphelehu, Mikneiah, Obed-Edom, Jeiel and Azaziah were to play the harps, directing according to sheminith. [22] Kenaniah the head Levite was in charge of the singing; that was his responsibility because he was skillful at it.

David appointed a large number of priests to work in the ministry of music and worship.

Four thousand (priests) are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have provided for that purpose."

All the priests that worked in this ministry were trained in music schools for their work.

All these men were under the supervision of their fathers for the music of the temple of the Lord, with cymbals, lyres and harps, for the ministry at the house of God. Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman were under the supervision of the king. [7] Along with their relatives--all of them trained and skilled in music for the Lord--they numbered 288. Young and old alike, teacher as well as student, cast lots for their duties

The musical priests were assigned a specific place to stand when they celebrated the worship of God in song.

All the Levites who were musicians--Asaph, Heman, Jeduthun and their sons and relatives--stood on the east side of the altar, dressed in fine linen and playing cymbals, harps and lyres.

The king and the priests looked upon the instruments they used in public worship as being very special. They referred to them as follows:

The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the Lord's musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the Lord and which were used when he gave thanks

Then Jehoiada placed the oversight of the temple of the Lord in the hands of the priests, who were Levites, to whom David had made assignments in the temple, to present the burnt offerings of the Lord as written in the Law of Moses, with rejoicing and singing, as David had ordered.

He stationed the Levites in the temple of the Lord with cymbals, harps and lyres in the way prescribed by David and Gad the king's seer and Nathan the prophet; this was commanded by the Lord through his prophets. [26] So the Levites stood ready with David's instruments, and the priests with their trumpets.

· 2 Samuel 7, God gave David a special covenant that promised that the Messiah would come via David’s dynasty (Psa 89:3, 28, 34, etc.).

· Covenants include responsibilities given to the recipient of the covenant (in this case, music).

The book of Psalms became the “hymnal” for the music of the temple. At this point in our studies it is appropriate that we help you to get acquainted with the largest book in the Bible, the Psalms.

The book of Psalms is divided into five books. A careful study of the message of each song in each book will help us estimate the date each book was published. Book 1 was compiled in the reign of Solomon. Book 2 was compiled in the age of King Hezekiah. Books 3 & 4 appeared after Israel returned from Babylonian captivity, and Book 5 appeared in the time of Nehemiah.

King David wrote 50% of all the psalms in the book of Psalms. As each of the five books were published each editor selected some of the psalms from David’s archives and added in other songs. The musical priests were the authors for most of the other psalms in the five books.

There is a wealth of information in the headings of the psalms. 70% of the psalms give us the author’s name. 25% of the psalms reveal both the style and purpose of each psalm. 10% of the psalms tell us a little of the background behind the psalm, and 8% tell us the name of the melody that was to be used in singing those psalms.

There are seven different kinds of psalms in the book of Psalms. The following table gives us the list.

We understand laments, praise, and thanksgiving. But songs of wisdom, faith, and royal songs may need some explaining.

Songs of ascent (Psa 120 to 134) was a chain of songs God’s people would sing as they traveled in groups from their hometown toward Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover, Pentecost, or Feast of Tabernacles. The series of songs provided a coherent chain of vocal expressions to mirror the journey to Jerusalem.

Wisdom songs were the songs that provided instruction in musical form. Songs like Psalm 1, 14, and 53 are illustrations of these kinds of songs.

Royal psalms were those songs that celebrated the dynasty of King David. God gave David a covenant in which he promised that some day a descendant of David would become king over God’s kingdom forever. We recognize these songs as Messianic songs. Psalm 16, 78, and 110 are illustrations of these kinds of songs.

The longest chapter in the entire Bible is Psalm 119. This song was written by a priest who had experienced a time in his life when he had been a prodigal son (v. 67, 176), and as a restored servant he also experienced persecution (v. 51, 69, 87). The song is filled with statements of dedication to God and a desire to obey God’s will.

Psalm 113 to 118 is a series of songs that Jews traditionally sang during the Passover meal. These are the songs Matthew refers to in Matthew 26:30.

Twenty-nine of the psalms mention the use of instrumental music. Let’s briefly examine these texts.

A third of them list instruments of music in the heading to the psalm. Those headings suggest that specific instruments work best with that psalm. Psalm 5:1 is for flutes, Psalm 4:1 is for stringed instruments.

Two-thirds of those psalms mention instruments in the text of the psalms. Many of those references are admonitions. “Awake, my soul! Awake harp and lyre!” (Psa. 57:8).

More than 120 references speaks directly about the subject of singing. “Sing to the Lord a new song!” (Psa. 149:1). “Sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant!” (Psa. 135:3).

The heavier emphasis on singing over the use of instruments shows how the singers of Israel understand the primacy of the message of their songs. Instrumental music was for the background while the lyrics of the songs was for the foreground.

The psalms are quoted 78 times in the New Testament. Almost all those citations were used for evangelism and doctrinal instruction, not for public or private worship.

Question: Did any of the psalms quoted in the New Testament come from the list of 29 psalms that make mention of instrumental music? Yes, only one – Psalm 45. The heading to Psalm 45 tells you that it was a wedding song used in the wedding of the king (most likely king Hezekiah). This wedding song speaks first to the groom (the king). The second part of the song speaks to the bride. It is in part one of the song we see the statement: “…the music of the strings makes you glad!” (v. 8). Verses 6 - 7 are quoted in Hebrews 1:8 - 9. The quotation is used to prove that Jesus holds a rank higher than the angels. Hebrews 1 does not quote the part about strings making the groom glad.

New Songs. Six of the psalms admonish the singers to sing to the Lord a new song (33:3 / 40:3 / 96:1 / 98:1 / 144:9 / 149:1). These admonitions come from Books 1, 4, and 5 of the book of Psalms. Similar admonitions are found in Isaiah 42:10. Revelation 5:9 and 14:3 offer illustrations of new songs actually being sung in heaven.

New songs offered the worshipper variety in melodies and lyrics in worship. Without new songs people would eventually grow weary of singing the same songs over and over and over again.

News songs had special meaning in Bible times because new songs were relatively rare. In our world today new songs are much more commonplace.

The prophets of God promoted the music of David when people had the right attitude toward God, His law, and His standards of righteousness.

Isaiah served God as a prophet. According to Jewish tradition, he was of royal blood; it has sometimes been inferred from the narratives and oracles of his book that he was, at any rate, of noble descent. As appears from the introduction to the book (1:1), he prophesied under Uzziah (790 - 740BC), Jotham (740 - 731 BC), Ahaz (731 - 715 BC) and Hezekiah (715 - 686 BC). He was called to be a prophet in the year that king Uzziah died (6:1).

Isaiah was married; his wife is called the prophetess (8:3), perhaps because she too prophesied.

Most of Isaiah’s prophecies (sermons, admonitions, predictions) are composed in poetic form. You can see that by observing the structure of the text on the page in modern translations of Isaiah such as the New International Version. This means that Isaiah could sing most of his sermons.

Some of the sermon/songs of Isaiah are written in the style of the psalms in the book of Psalms. You can see examples of this in twenty-one songs of Isaiah are found in his writings in chapters 5, 12, 14, 16, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 30, 35, 38, 42, 44, 47, 49, 51, 52, 54, 55, and 65.

There is little new we can learn from these songs about music in Israel’s worship. It is interesting to see how Davidic-styled music became a teaching media for this prophet.

Naturally the social conditions in Samaria affected religious habits. Religion was being not neglected but perverted. At the national religious shrines (5:5) ritual was being maintained (4:4f.), but it went hand in hand with godlessness and immorality. Far from pleasing Yahweh it invited his judgment (3:14; 7:9; 9:1-4); it did not remove but increased transgression (4:4). God was not to be found at the national shrines (5:4f.) because he could not accept the worship there (5:21-23); the true preoccupations of the people were with other gods (8:14). In addition, this rich ceremonial and the costly sacrifices were being offered at the expense of the poor (2:8; 5:11).

Away with the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps.

Woe to you who are complacent in Zion, and to you who feel secure on Mount Samaria, you notable men of the foremost nation, to whom the people of Israel come….[5] You strum away on your harps like David and improvise on musical instruments. [6] You drink wine by the bowlful and use the finest lotions, but you do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. [7] Therefore you will be among the first to go into exile; your feasting and lounging will end.

I will turn your religious feasts into mourning and all your singing into weeping. I will make all of you wear sackcloth and shave your heads. I will make that time like mourning for an only son and the end of it like a bitter day.

This writer has found people who want to use the words of Amos to prove that God condemned the music of David after his life-time (God only gave David permission to have instruments of music). This viewpoint ignores the context.

In Amos 5:7, 1, 22 the context clearly asserts that the people were spiritually corrupt. That is the reason he rejected their music.

In Amos 5:1,4, 6 he clearly asserts that the people were very affluent and very indifferent to the spiritual decline of God’s people. He condemned their abuse of their affluence. The music of David in Amos 6:5 was the men and women singers, not the temple music.

There is nothing in the Old Testament that prescribed or described the synagogue. But we meet the synagogue in the ministry of Jesus (Luke 4:16) and Paul (Acts 17:2). The synagogue helped to shape our vision of the Christian assembly, so we need to look into history and appreciate its development.

The synagogue had its first phase of development during the Babylonian Captivity of 586 BC to 530 BC. The Jews were determined to maintain their uniqueness even though they were forced to live among the Babylonians. So, they began to assemble together on the Sabbath Day and share their common faith, hope, and love with one another. They encouraged and supported one another in their quest to remain God’s chosen people.

The synagogue evolved a church government with elders, deacons, and teaching ministers. Synagogues developed assemblies with a cappella congregational singing, scripture readings, prayer, and preaching God’s Word.

When the Jews returned home to Israel they brought the synagogue with them. When the temple was restored in Jerusalem the people began to realize quickly the difference in the two. The temple was a national center of worship. The synagogue was a community center of mutual encouragement.

The priestly choir and orchestra became the music of national public worship. A cappella congregational singing became the music of interpersonal encouragement and the quest to build up the local church.

The grace and truth that came by Jesus Christ is outlined for us in the historical books of the New Testament. Let us explore what we find in the gospels and Acts on the subject of music.

Background. Jesus was born six miles from Jehovah’s temple with its priestly choir and orchestra. Every city and village in Palestine also had a community synagogue with its a cappella congregational singing. The four gospels contain 68 references to Jesus going to the temple, and they contain 43 references to Jesus going into synagogues.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people.

When Jesus entered the ruler's house and saw the flute players and the noisy crowd, he said, "Go away. The girl is not dead but asleep." But they laughed at him.

Jesus came upon a funeral. We see people playing laments on flutes for this somber occasion.

" 'We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.'

Flutes were also used for rejoicing in moments of joy. The term “dirge” means a lament.

"Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing.

The term for “music” in the Greek is Symphonia. You recognize this word as the root for our modern idea of a symphony – an orchestra made up of many different kinds of instruments.

The term for “dancing” is the Greek Choros. You recognize this word as the root for our modern term “chorus”. It describes a group of people who are both singing and dancing for joy.

The people celebrated Jesus by shouting Psalm 118. The term “shout” is used more than 12 times in the book of Psalms to denote a form of singing (see Psa 65:13, 71:23, 95:1).

The Jewish tradition was to sing Psalm 113 to 118 during the Passover banquet. This was not a Divine law, but a custom of the Jews. This verse shows us that Jesus honored that custom. This is the only mention made of singing in the biography of Jesus.

…praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

The term for “praising” is the Greek word Aineo. The term can describe people praising God in conversation or praising God in song. Romans 15:11 (to be discussed in detail later) uses the word aineo and in that context it denotes singing. Luke 2:20 uses the same term and suggests that the shepherds praised God conversationally. Praising in Acts 2:47 happened in a context of Christians meeting in homes (Acts 2:46). So, if they were singing it may have been primarily in a small group fellowship context rather than the general public assembly context.

About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.

In this text we see two prisoners sharing a midnight devotional in the prison of Philippi. Their songs and prayers represent an excellent precedent for private devotionals in our world today. But this is not an example of a general public assembly.

You have seen an excellent survey of material on the subject of music in the gospels and Acts. You can see that much of what we have seen is a window into the secular culture of the Jews in situations like funerals and moments of joy.

We have seen Jesus honoring the tradition of the Jews in the Passover, and we have seen an apostle and his assistant sharing a midnight devotional.

You can see from this survey that Jesus did not preach a theology of church music during his ministry upon the earth. He offered no commands and no prohibitions on the subject.

You can also see that the book of Acts offers us no sermons on music in the public assembly, and neither does it offer us any window into the assemblies of the early church in matters of music.

We need to be impressed by the silence of the gospels and Acts on the subject of music. This insight will be helpful later.

Next we need to survey the doctrinal content of the Epistles in the New Testament.

There are at least five Christian spiritual songs in the writings of the apostle Paul. Consider these:

There are only eight scriptures in this section that discuss singing. Four of them do not fit the assembly and four are about the assembly. Let us first survey the four that are not relevant to the assembly.

How are we to understand this verse? Is it a command for churches to sing on Sunday? We find the answer by exploring the context (Romans 15:1 - 11).

The purpose of Romans 15:7 - 12 is to persuade Jewish Christians to accept Gentile Christians as also belonging to the kingdom of God. Paul reinforced this principle by quoting three Old Testament passages that speak of the Gentiles. The common denominator among those three passages is “Gentiles”. Singing is incidental. The three passages quoted are Psalm 18:40, Deuteronomy 32:43, and Psalm 117:1. These quotations make mention of how plans to bless the Gentiles. The two quotations from Psalms affirms how the singers of Israel would sing God’s praises among the Gentiles.

Romans 15is not focused on the public assembly on Sunday. These verses focus our attention on the fact that God wants Gentiles to be apart of the kingdom.

He says, "I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises." (Citing: Psa. 22:22).

In Hebrews 1 & 2 Jesus is declared to hold a rank higher than the angels. As we approach Heb. 2:12 the writer is declaring that Jesus is willing to call his disciples his brothers. Heb. 2:12 quotes Psalms 22:22 to prove that Jesus will call his disciples his brothers. That is the subject of this text, not church music.

Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone happy? Let him sing songs of praise. [14] Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. [15] And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. [16] Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.

Some make the claim that James 5:13 is a commandment given directly to the public assembly. Before we hastily endorse that claim we must examine the context of this verse.

James 5 is the conclusion of his letter to the churches. This chapter contains a list of admonitions. The dominant theme of James 5 is advise on how to deal with persecution that is caused by wealthy unbelieving Jews who persecute Christians.

In verses 13 - 16 James shows us the role that prayer and singing can play in the ups and downs of the Christian life.

In verses 13-14 James uses the Greek term Tis -- “any one”. It is used three times. This term is singular (speaking of an individual), not plural (speaking of a group). James’ repetition is designed to make it clear that he is focused on individuals facing diverse life circumstances of trouble, joy, or sickness. This is not a text addressed to the public assembly.

Even in the case of lifeless things that make sounds, such as the flute or harp, how will anyone know what tune is being played unless there is a distinction in the notes?

Paul begins his essay on the need to be rational in the public assembly by reminding us about the melodies to songs and other musical composition. We recognize music by the patterns of its musical melodies. Music composed of random notes have no meaning at all to anybody. The “rational” dimension of music is seen in its melodic patterns. Being rational is important. It is functional.

So what shall I do? I will pray with my spirit, but I will also pray with my mind; I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind.

Paul uses the term “spirit” in verses 14 - 16 to describe the emotional (subjective) benefits one may obtain by doing certain things. He points out that emotional (subjective) benefits are inadequate. We need objective (rational) benefits. He uses singing to illustrate this point.

This text is indicative, not a commandment. This text is personal with a view to establishing a norm that will be applied to the assembly later in this chapter.

So if the whole church comes together and everyone speaks in tongues, and some who do not understand or some unbelievers come in, will they not say that you are out of your mind?

This verse describes a public assembly. Two visitors attend the assembly. One is a seeker of truth and the other is an unbeliever who is attending (most likely because he was invited by one of the members). If these visitors find the assembly in chaos with everybody talking at once and talking in foreign languages, then those visitors will think that the Christians are insane. They will not be impressed. They will not likely return to this assembly in the future. This means that the church loses some evangelistic opportunities because of the inferior quality of the assembly.

But if an unbeliever or someone who does not understand comes in while everybody is prophesying, he will be convinced by all that he is a sinner and will be judged by all, [25] and the secrets of his heart will be laid bare. So he will fall down and worship God, exclaiming, "God is really among you!"

These verses describe the very opposite of the verses above. The same two visitors come to church. They attend a rational assembly where they can understand everything. They will be impressed and will stand in awe of this assembly. These visitors will be open to evangelistic conversations that may lead to their conversion.

What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.

Here are the guidelines for the public assembly – guidelines that include church music. This is the key text on this subject in the apostolic epistles.

Paul begins with a description, not a prescription. He observes that the Christians chose to bring into the assembly several things – hymns, words of instruction, revelations, tongues, and interpretations. Paul does not command every church to bring all these things into the assembly, but he does observe these were things that happened in the assembly in Corinth.

The command he offers is this: Everything must be done for the strengthening of the church. Notice the fact that we are required to judge the success of our assemblies by the positive impact our assemblies have on our members. If our assemblies help make Christians stronger and more committed to Jesus, then we have been a success. If our assemblies have been boring, flat, and have failed to inspire strength in the hearts and lives of members, then our assemblies have been a failure. We are required to work toward the strengthening of our members!

[17] Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord's will is. 18] Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit. [19] Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Singing and making music in your heart to the Lord, [20] always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, [21] and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Ephesians 4:17 - 5:21 focuses primarily on moral instruction to the Christians at Ephesus. Inserted into that moral essay is a short section that brings church music to our attention. Let us follow Paul’s logic.

Paul commands us to be wise, not foolish. Our goal is to understand the Lord’s will. He offers two contrasting behaviors to illustrate the Lord’s will. His negative will is this – do not get drunk on wine. Why? Because it leads to debauchery. His positive will is for all of us to be filled with the Spirit. We must be filled with Holy Spirit rather than alcoholic spirits.

Paul’s introduction to church music begins with a single commandment. The subject of the command is implied, not stated. The subject is “YOU”. The action that is commanded is this “BE FILLED WITH THE SPIRIT”.

Be filled with the Spirit is a passive activity. How can someone obey a passive commandment? We all understand how to obey a passive commandment in baptism. We are not commanded to baptize ourselves or to baptize someone else. We are commanded to give permission to someone else to baptize us (Acts 2:38). We are not commanded to fill ourselves with the Spirit. We are not commanded to fill others with the Spirit. We are commanded to allow God to fill us with the Spirit.

How do we enact be filled with the spirit? First, we understand the importance of this action. Second, we choose to allow it to happen to us. Third, we ask in prayer to fill us. Note Ephesians 3:16 illustrates prayer and the Spirit. Fourth, we proceed with confidence that God will answer our prayer.

Observe that every phrase begins with a word that ends in “-ing”. Here a verb has been transformed into an adjective. All five of these phrases describe the subject (YOU). All of these phrases describe people who choose to be filled with the Spirit.

We are not commanded to speak, sing, make melody, give thanks, or to submit to one another. These are descriptions, not prescriptions. Adjectives do not prescribe, they describe.

People who are filled with the Spirit are the same people who speak, sing, make melody, give thanks, and submit to one another. If being filled with the Spirit is a command, and if obeying that command produces people who speak, sing, make melody, give thanks, and submit to one another; then, all five of these descriptive actions are as important as the commandment that initiate them.

The first and last present participle phrase both include the idea of “one another”. It is the “one another” of these phrases that make us aware of the connection this text has to the assembly.

Speaking to one another means that we do sit passively in our pew and listen to the choir, praise team, or congregation sing to us while we sing to nobody. Everybody is a part of the action.

We all know that Psalms were songs invented by Jewish singers. What about hymns and spiritual songs?

Let us first define a spiritual song. This phrase is not used anywhere in the scriptures outside the New Testament. This is a style of singing that was invented by first century Christians and widely utilized among the saints.

If psalms were composed by Jews and spiritual songs were composed by Christians, then hymns were most likely religious songs that had their roots among the godly Gentiles.

Making melody derives from the Greek word Psallontes. You recognize the root word “psallo” (psalm). This is the verb form of that term. In the verb form the word psallontes has two possible meanings: (1) to pluck the strings of [a harp], and (2) to sing. There are four possible meanings here: (1) to play a harp only, (2) to sing only, (3) to play a harp and sing, (4) to play the strings of your heart while singing.

Advocates of instrumental music in the public assembly assert that psallontes includes the use of instruments. Some of them make the case that if we refuse to use instruments in our public worship then we are violating the spirit of this concept. Advocates of a cappella music claim this means to sing and pluck the strings of our heart in the process. How are we to know which view is correct since both are potentially inherent in the term?

Words have meaning in accordance with they way they are used by the speaker of those words. And often the speaker intends for words to be understood in the context of the culture in which he lives. This is the key to resolving this issue.

Paul lived in a culture where there existed two parallel traditions of music: (1) the temple, and (2) the synagogue. The assembly of the church of Christ ran parallel to the synagogue, not the temple. The a cappella heritage of the synagogue became the heritage of the local church. When you see the church / synagogue context, then we can understand psallontes.

In this text the phrase “one another” is used twice – in verse 19 and again in verse 21. This phrase describes interpersonal (social) interaction. It describes a goal of one Christian impacting the life of another Christian. We see the public assembly in this phrase. We see people building each other up in the assembly as we saw in 1 Corinthians 14.

We remind you that the five present participle phrases (which include these “one another” phrases) are not commands. They are descriptions. Descriptions of whom? Those who obey the command to allow themselves to be filled with the Spirit. Spirit filled people are the persons who get involved in “one another” activities.

This text runs parallel to Ephesians 5. Both of these texts contain the same concepts and principles, so there is nothing new to be learned by a detailed study of Colossians 3.

From Romans to Jude we found church music directly associated with the public assembly only in 1 Corinthians 14 and Ephesians 5. In both of those texts the subject of singing was treated in descriptive language, not prescriptive language. In both texts there were commandments, but they were focused on the purpose of assembly activities (to build up the church) and the background of assembly activities (to be filled with the Spirit). This discovery cannot be ignored when we are seeking to discuss the subject of music as it applies to the assembly.

The book of revelation says more about music than any other book of the New Testament. There are 22 verses that speak about music. Eight verses speak of singing songs, two verses speak about new songs, four verses speak about harps, and the other verses include song lyrics. All these verses are found in three prime chapters – Revelation 5, 14, and 15.

The book of Revelation is seen by some students as a book that speaks literal truth. There shall be genuine dragons, genuine stars falling from the sky, and real demons flying around like locust.

A second group sees the book of Revelation as being almost entirely symbolic. It does not speak the literal truth. It speaks in parables and analogies. It hints at truth. But we should not take the text seriously as literal truth.

A third group sees the book of Revelation as a blend of symbols and literal truth. God, the angels, the seven churches of Asia Minor, the conflict, the struggle, and the victory are literal truth. The dragons, bowls, falling stars, and the great harlot are symbolic.

People who dislike the harps in heaven will tend to vote in favor of the view that treats Revelation as symbolic. The harps are not real instruments, they symbolize the beauty of heavenly singing. Revelation speaks of voices that sound like trumpets, lions, and thunder.

People who like the harps in heaven will tend to vote in favor of the view that treats revelation as literal truth. There are real harps just as there are real angels.

We observed at the very beginning of this study that our personal tastes, biases, and cultural heritage will tend to motivate us to go to one extreme or another. This is what is happening here.

Some parts of Revelation are definitely symbolic. There are at least 50 verses in Revelation that compare one thing to another using the preposition “like”. We learn in astronomy that stars are hundreds of time larger than the earth. There are about 8 verses that describe stars falling to the earth. If that literally happened the earth would be destroyed before any other prophetic event could happen – that must be symbolic.

But many portions of Revelation are not symbolic. Angels are not symbolic. The throne of God is real. Singing in heaven is real. The way harps are described in the text does not hint of them being symbolic.

[6] Then I saw a Lamb, looking as if it had been slain, standing in the center of the throne, encircled by the four living creatures and the elders. He had seven horns and seven eyes, which are the seven spirits of God sent out into all the earth. [7] He came and took the scroll from the right hand of him who sat on the throne. [8] And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. [9] And they sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.

[1] Then I looked, and there before me was the Lamb, standing on Mount Zion, and with him 144,000 who had his name and his Father's name written on their foreheads. [2] And I heard a sound from heaven like the roar of rushing waters and like a loud peal of thunder. The sound I heard was like that of harpists playing their harps. [3] And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.

And I saw what looked like a sea of glass mixed with fire and, standing beside the sea, those who had been victorious over the beast and his image and over the number of his name. They held harps given them by God [3] and sang the song of Moses the servant of God and the song of the Lamb: "Great and marvelous are your deeds, Lord God Almighty. Just and true are your ways, King of the ages.

Twelve times the book of Revelation describes heaven as the ultimate temple. Revelation describes the heavenly temple in terms similar to those in the Old Testament. This includes its music.

Heaven is the Christian’s temple. The local church in the Christian’s “synagogue”. The music in these two locations perfectly parallels what we find in the Old Testament.

The heavenly realm is not contaminated with evil. But we find many harps in heaven. This demonstrate the premise that harps are not evil.

Music should not be seen as “good or evil”. Music is functional. Instrumental music and choirs serve a function. A cappella music serves a function. We need to determine the purpose of our assembly and find the music that best suits its purpose.

The best way to understand the context of the church is the following scripture:

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.

Church music should not be viewed as a moral issue (right or wrong, good or evil). Church music should be seen as a functional purpose-driven issue:

(1) A cappella congregational singing is the music of interpersonal encouragement, motivation, and the building up of the church.

(2) Instrumental music and choirs are the music forms that fit the temple approach to the worship and praise of Jehovah.

The purpose of the assembly is to build up the church and encourage its members. Acappella music is precisely that type of music. This is why the synagogue and the early church utilized this form of music.

Many who oppose instrumental music in the assembly treat instrumental music as a moral issue. To them it is immoral to bring instruments in worship. They would compare instruments of music to murder, adultery, or stealing. We have found no evidence at all in our studies to support such a view. Indeed, different types of music serve different functions. We need to support a cappella music as serving the function of supporting mutual encouragement in the assembly.

In our world today most people treat music as a function of taste. This opinion might be stated like this: “If you like a cappella music, then use a cappella music. If you like instrumental music, then use instrumental music. If you like choirs or praise teams, then use them.”

When music becomes an expression of taste, then the purpose of mutual encouragement and the building up of the church will be ignored. When these purposes are ignored, then the music of the church may not accomplish its purpose. Churches will be entertained, but they will not be edified.

The Hilltop congregation practices only a cappella music in our worship services. As stated in the conclusion of Joe Ed's study, "The purpose of the assembly is to build up the church and encourage its members. Acappella music is precisely that type of music."