CONTENTS
Introduction
Music In The Old Testament
Acappella In The New Testament
The Beauty Of Acappella Music
Worship In Song
THE MUSIC OF THE CHURCH
It is the nature of the ekklesia
(church) of Christ to be bonded together
because of a common salvation (Jd 3).
Passages that use the phrase “one another”
saturate every New Testament
book that was directed to the early ekklesia.
The phrase is used so much that we
are overwhelmed with the Spirit’s affirmation
that we as members of the ekklesia
should make every effort to be known
by our love for one another because of
our common salvation by the grace of
God (Jn 13:34,35).
Christianity is a “one
another” faith that is focused on Jesus.
In the context of such emphasis on
the participatory oneness of the body of
Christ, we would expect that the Holy
Spirit would mandate discipleship behavior
that was focused on doing that
which brings us together and keeps us
together. For example, consider these
exhortations: “consider one another to
stir up love and good works” (Hb 10:24),
“bear one another’s burdens” (Gl 6:2),
“bear the weaknesses of the weak” (Rm
15:1), “let every one of us please his
neighbor for his good” (Rm 15:2), and
“for this is the message that you heard
from the beginning, that you should love
one another” (1 Jn 3:11).
We get the
point.
In reference to the unified nature of
the body, we would expect that God also
mandate what should be manifested when
all members of the body come together
in assembly. What His people would
do in assembly should reflect the participatory
oneness of the body. For example,
in the Lord’s Supper/love feast we
are to consider one another and “wait for
one another” (1 Co 11:33). In our assembly
as disciples we are to exhort and
edify one another with our gifts that find
their expression in edifying the whole
body (Read 1 Co 12). In fact, every meeting
of the saints should be an opportunity
for mutual edification through the
mutual participation of the whole body.
Unfortunately, the Corinthians manifested
pride and divisiveness in their assemblies.
The result was that the Holy
Spirit directed the hand of Paul to write
a lengthy portion of Scripture specifically
directed to correcting their divisive attitudes
and behavior (See 1 Co 11-14).
When Christians come together in assembly,
it should always be for edification
and the promotion of the oneness
of the body. Our assemblies should
always reflect our unity and participation
in one another’s lives.
In the midst of his exhortations to the
Corinthians, Paul made the statement, “I
will sing with the Spirit and I will sing
with the mind [understanding] also” (1
Co 14:15). Certain individuals in the
Corinthians’ assemblies were taking
pride in speaking in languages (tongues)
in prayers or songs that no one understood
in the assembly.
Paul said that such
prayer and singing in a foreign language
was unfruitful because no one understood
the language (1 Co 14:14). His mandate
was that if a person spoke in a language
a prayer or song that could not be understood
by the assembly, then that person
should remain silent (1 Co 14:28). He
should remain silent because his speaking
in a language that no one understood
did not edify the entire assembly (1 Co
14:26). He was violating the purpose
of the assembly of the disciples by doing
something that was for his own
pleasure or according to his own abilities
or gifts. He was thus ministering
selfishly, and not according to the “one
another” purpose of the assembly of the
body.
In the “one another” context of the
assembly of the body, Christians have the
opportunity to sing with their voices in
order to encourage one another. Through
song, individuals have the opportunity as
a collective group to bring participatory
exhortation into the assembly of the
saints in order to promote unity.
When we discuss the music of the
church, therefore, we must determine the
type of music that meets the needs of the
participatory function of the body. Music
is defined as “the art and science of
combining vocal or instrumental sounds
or tones in varying melody, harmony,
rhythm and timbre ...” (Webster’s Dictionary).
Music is arranging the notes of
different sounds in a manner that produces
a melody. There are thus two ways
by which music can be produced: vocally
or instrumentally. God recognizes the
existence of these two types of music as
separate, for He is the Creator of all music
(See 2 Ch 29:25-29).
Vocal music is
referred to as acappella music, that is,
singing without instruments. When we
speak of the music of the church, therefore,
we seek to determine which music
God wanted His people to use in order to
accomplish the participatory function of
the disciples to exhort one another.
The word “acappella” is an Italian
word that means “according to (the style
of the) chapel,” or “in the church style.”
The word originally referred to the sacred
choral music that was sung in the
assembly of the church or in the chapel.
In other words, when reference to music
in the assembly of the church was made
years ago, it was vocal singing. This was
the music of the church. Only in modern
times have churches adopted both vocal
and instrumental music in the assemblies
of the church. But this was not the case
from the first century until about four
hundred years ago in the religious world
outside the Roman Catholic Church. All
music of the churches was vocal, or acappella,
and thus, “the music of the church”
was singing without instruments.
Chapter 1
Music In The Old Testament
When considering the acappella music
of the New Testament, it is often good
to consider the acappella music with
which Israel lived for several years after
they came out of Egyptian captivity. The
timbrel, or tambourine, was used to ac-
company the singing of Miriam (Ex
15:20), but it is doubtful that the timbrel
would be considered a musical instrument.
It makes noise, but cannot play a
melody of notes, and thus does not fall
under the definition of musical instruments
as is indicated in 1 Samuel 18:6.
When Israel came out of Egyptian
captivity, Moses and the children of Israel
sang, “I will sing to the Lord, for He
has triumphed gloriously.... The Lord is
my strength and song ...” (Ex 15:1,2).
“Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed
gloriously” (Ex 15:21). The Israelites
celebrated the Lord’s victory that was
given to them over Pharaoh and his army.
Their songs were composed of words that
expressed their thanksgiving and joy.
When Moses came down from
Mount Sinai, after receiving the law of
God, he heard “the sound of singing” in
the camp of Israel (Ex 32:18). However,
on this occasion, it was not the singing
of praise to the Lord, but the singing of
rebellion. Nevertheless, it was singing
by the people, even though it was in reference
to the golden calf they had made
for themselves. The focus of their singing
changed from praising God to their
material idolatry that came with them out
of Egypt.
The next time we witness singing in
the Old Testament was when Deborah
and Barak sang to the Lord for their victory
over the enemies of Israel (Jg 5:3).
They sang praise to the Lord of Israel for
empowering them to conquer their enemies.
When we come to the days of Saul,
we have the first mention of “singing and
dancing ... with tambourines, with joy
and with instruments of music” (1 Sm
18:6). We must keep in mind, however,
that this event took place over four hundred
years after Israel came out of Egyptian
captivity.
In the Old Testament law that God
gave to Israel, He did not include any instructions
concerning the music of Israel.
It was only assumed that when the people
sang, they would verbally express their
thanksgiving to the Lord and praise of
His name. We must also keep in mind
that there is silence in reference to instrumental
until the preceding reference to those who
sang with instruments when Saul returned
from battle. However, the purpose
of the singing of Israel in this situation
did not have the same purpose as
singing among the people of God today.
Singing today is for the purpose of the
members’ edification of one another in a
spirit of unity as they sing praises to God.
“Assembled singing” for participatory
edification was not a part of the Old
Testament law.
David loved his harp while alone as
a boy with his sheep in the peaceful
meadows of Palestine. It was a part of
his life. When he became king of Israel
after Saul, the harp was still a part of his
life. It had a soothing, tranquil sound that
accompanied this sweet singer of Israel.
We must not forget that God remembered
David as the “sweet psalmist (singer) of
Israel,” not the sweet “player” (2 Sm
23:1).
David was a composer and singer
of songs.
The harp that David used did not pro-
duce a sound that would disturb the sheep
in the quietness of the meadows of Palestine.
When David introduced the music
of the harp into the sacrificial services
of the priests at Jerusalem, he wanted to
introduce a tranquil sound during the
commotion and baying of thousands of
animals that were being slaughtered during
the sacrificial feasts of Israel.
David’s introduction of instrumental
music was thus a concession of God, as
was the building of the temple. Neither
were in the original law that God had
given at Mount Sinai, which law was intended
for a rural, agricultural culture in
which Israel lived for over four hundred
years before David. Many years after the
introduction of the instruments of music,
when Israel was in her final apostasy
from God, Amos rebuked the apostates
who sang “idly to the sound of the
stringed instruments, and invent for
themselves instruments of music like
David” (Am 6:5).
David was the “inventer”
in that he introduced the instrument
into the environment of the sacrifices
(1 Ch 23:5). Instrumental music
was not in the original law of God, and
thus, God gave the concession to David
to bring his instruments into the environment
of the sacrificial services. In the
Psalms that David wrote we would thus
expect David to emphasize the praise of
God with instruments (See Ps 149:3;
150). However, during special events in
Israel where the instruments were used,
the Holy Spirit wanted us to remember
that the instrument was the invention of
David, and not a part of the original law
that was given by God on Mount Sinai.
(See 1 Ch 15:16; 25:1; 2 Ch 7:6; Ez 3:10;
Ne 12:31-37).
Before we leave the subject of singing
and instruments in the Old Testament,
we must correct some misinterpretations
that have often been made of Amos 5:23.
In their state of apostasy, God condemned
Israel for their loss of heart in Him. In
the Amos 5 passage, God judged, “Take
away from Me the noise of your songs,
for I will not hear the melody of your
stringed instruments.” This is not a condemnation
specifically of “stringed instruments,”
because the instruments were
a concession of God that were introduced
by David.
In the same context of Amos
5 God told the apostate Israel that He
would not accept those things that He had
specifically commanded in the law, such
as burnt offerings, grain offerings and
peace offerings. He also said that they
“take away” the noise of their singing.
The point is that they had syncretized
(mixed together), the laws of God with
the practices of their idolatrous religions.
Their commanded laws of God were invalidated
by their submission to false
gods and idols.
They were ceremonially
making offerings that were commanded,
but when they were doing so, they had
other gods on their minds.
In all our discussions concerning
David’s introduction of instrumental music
in the Old Testament era of Israelite
history, we must not allow ourselves to
be confused in our discussions concerning
the acappella music of the early
church.
Israel was not a nation to be
bonded together through assemblies.
There was the yearly Passover assembly
of a rural nation. Though this event reminded
them of being a nation of many
tribal groups, the infrequency of the event
did not serve as an occasion for unity that
God intended should happen during the
weekly assembly of Christians. Throughout
the year, Israel functioned as a farming
community of people whose focus
was on the worship of individual families
on the farm. There was no such thing
as the assembled worship of several families
as was characteristic of the weekly
assemblies of the early church (At 20:7;
1 Co 16:1,2).
Through the assemblies of
the early church, God sought to encourage
the bonding of individuals. However,
in the Old Testament situation, the families
were already bonded by blood from
the fathers, and in their common covenant
relationship as a nation, which covenant
God made with them at Mount Sinai.
Chapter 2
Acappella In The New Testament
We must continually remind ourselves
of the nature of the ekklesia, and
thus remember the mutual “one another”
participatory assemblies that bring the
members of the body together as one. It
is not surprising, therefore, that when we
study the nature of the New Testament
body of Christ, we find an assembly identity
in which members are bound together
by a participatory ministry of gifts.
One
means by which Christians are bound together
is in their singing to one another.
As will be discussed throughout the remainder
of this book, acappella music accomplishes
God’s purpose of binding
Christians together in their mutual expression
of love and praise from their
hearts. We must make every effort, therefore,
to build ourselves up in the area of
singing in order to accomplish the purpose
of promoting unity through participatory
singing.
There are two primary statements in
the New Testament in reference to the
music of the church. Both statements are
made by Paul. They are made in the context
of the Christian’s life in general, not
only in reference to the assembled singing
context of the church. They are not
passages that refer exclusively to the assembly
of the saints, but would include
the assembly. The passages define the
nature of the Christian’s life every day
of the week. We must understand this
very clearly in order to understand what
Paul writes in Ephesians 5:18-21 and
Colossians 3:16.
“And do not be drunk with wine, in
which is debauchery, but be filled with
the Spirit, speaking to one another in
psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs, singing and making melody in
your heart to the Lord, always giving
thanks for all things to God the Father
in the name of our Lord Jesus
Christ, submitting to one another in
the fear of God” (Ep 5:18-21).
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you
richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing
one another in psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs, singing
with grace in your hearts to the Lord”
(Cl 3:16).
A. Definitions:
Consider closely what Paul says in
Ephesians 5:18-21. It must be noted that
the participles in the passage are imperatives.
“Speaking” (lalountes), “singing”
(adontes) “making melody” (psallontes),
“giving thanks” (eucharistountes), and
“submitting” (hupotassomenoi) are participle
imperatives that emphasize the
fact that these things must typify the nature
of every disciple.
“Singing” and
“making melody” are essential characteristics
of one’s life as a Christian. In
order to fulfill the mandates of what Paul
is stating as an imperative, therefore, every
Christian must “sing” and “make
melody” in his heart. He must do so in a
manner that typifies the nature of his life
of praise. Unfortunately, what some have
done is confine what Paul described in
Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 to
the assemblies of the saints. But in the
context of the instructions, Paul is discussing
our life behavior, not just our assemblies
with one another.
1. “Singing” and “making melody”:
Some have assumed that since these two
actions are separate in Ephesians 5:19,
one must refer to vocal music and the
other to instrumental music. But if this
were true, every member of the body
would have to play an instrument since
the mandate of Paul is to every member
of the body. The fact is that “making
melody” (psallontes) cannot be separated
from “in your heart.” The grammar is
the same as Jesus’ statement in Mark
12:30, “You will love the Lord your God
with all your heart ....” “With all your
heart” is the means by which one loves
God.
The action of love cannot be separated
from the heart, as the “making
melody” cannot be separated from one’s
heart. The heart is the instrument by
which one loves God and makes melody.
If our singing does not come from our
hearts, then we fall under the same condemnation
that was revealed in the Amos
5:22,23 passage. Heartless singing is
worthless in expressing true worship.
Our singing becomes only a “noise” if
there is no melody in our hearts.
2. “Making melody” (psallontes):
The Greek word from which “making
melody” is translated is psallo. The
Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon defines this
word, “. . . in the New Testament, to sing
a hymn, sing praise.” The Moulton and
Milligan Greek Lexicon define the word,
“to sing a hymn.” The Thayer’s Greek
Lexicon defines the word, “. . . in the New
Testament to sing a hymn, to celebrate
the praises of God in song.” And finally,
W. E. Vine’s Expository Dictionary of
New Testament Words defines psallo to
mean, “. . . in the New Testament, to sing
a hymn, sing praise.”
The above meaning of the word
psallo was carried out in the behavior of
the early church.
In explaining the singing
of the early church, M. R. Vincent,
in his Word Studies in the New Testament
wrote the following:
A psalm was originally a song accompanied
by a stringed instrument ....
The idea of accompaniment passed
away in usage, and the psalm in New
Testament phraseology, is an Old Testament
psalm, or a composition having
that character” [Emphasis mine,
R.E.D.].
The Shaff-Hergog Encyclopedia of Religious
Knowledge (Vol. III, p. 1961) concurs
with this thought in the following
statement:
It is questionable whether, as used in
the New Testament, “psallo” means
more than to sing .... The absence of
instrumental music from the church
for some centuries after the apostles
and the sentiment regarding it which
pervades the writings of the fathers are
unaccountable, if in the apostle’s
church such music was used” [Emphasis
mine, R.E.D.].
The word psallo can be found in the
Greek language with meanings as “to
pluck the hair,” “to twang the bowstring”
or “to touch the cords of a musical instrument.”
However, according to historians
and Greek lexicons, this meaning
did not find its way into the New Testament
in reference to the singing of
Christians. That which was “plucked”
or “touched” was the vocal cords of the
heart. It is for this reason that translators
correctly translated the word psallo to
simply mean “sing.”
The above meaning is what the translators
of hundreds of translations wanted
us to understand in their use of the English
word “sing” to translate the Greek
word psallo in the following verses:
“For this cause I will confess to You
among the Gentiles and sing [psallo] to
Your name” (Rm 15:9), “I will sing with
the Spirit and I will sing [psallo] with
the mind also” (1 Co 14:15), “Is anyone
cheerful? Let him sing [psallo] psalms”
(Js 5:13).
Every credible translation uses
the word “sing” to translate psallo. Since
the Holy Spirit used the word psallo in
reference to what Christians should do
with hymns, psalms and spiritual songs,
then we would conclude that the Spirit
wants every Christian to approach God
with his heart through vocal music.
God
desires that our praise of Him through
song originate, not externally, but internally
from our hearts. The music must
come from the melody of our hearts.
B. A note from church historians:
We would not do justice to this subject
by using our present day environment
of the typical assembly of the typical
church as the guide by which we would
either determine or judge the music of
the body of Christ. In fact, if Jesus would
step into the assembly of some churches
today, He would probably think that what
was going on would be quite strange.
Since we are driven by the authority
of the word of God, then it is always our
purpose to first investigate the Holy
Scriptures in any matter that pertains to
our behavior and worship.
Any mandate
of God must take priority over our present
day practices. Once we understand the
instructions of God in His word, then we
can proceed to study through church history.
It is thus interesting to survey
through the statements of church historians
in order to capture their understanding
of the behavior of the early church.
This is particularly interesting in reference
to the historians’ research in reference
to the singing of the early church.
Without exception, every commentator
and church historian agrees that the early
church fulfilled her obligation to sing
praises to God with acappella music.
As a matter of historical perspective,
the use of instruments in conjunction with
vocal music in Christendom came many
centuries after the establishment of the
early church. Around A.D. 139, Justin
Martyr, wrote, “The use of singing with
instrumental music was not received
in the Christian churches, as it was
among the Jews in their infant state, but
only the use of plain song [Emphasis
mine, R.E.D.].” McClintock and Strong
made the following statement in reference
to the development and use of instrumental
music in Christendom:
The Greek word psallo is applied
among the Greeks of modern times exclusively
to sacred music, which in the
Eastern Church has never been any
other than vocal, instrumental music
being unknown in that church, as it
was in the primitive church. Sir
John Hawkins, following the Romish
writers in his erudite [scholarly] work
on the History of Music, makes Pope
Vitalian, in A.D. 660, the first who
introduced organs into churches.
But students of ecclesiastical archaeology
are generally agreed that
instrumental music was not used in
churches till a much later date; for
Thomas Aquinas, A.D. 1250, has these
remarkable words: “Our Church does
not use musical instruments, as harps
and psalteries, to praise God withal,
that she may not seem to Judaize.”
From this passage we are surely warranted
in concluding that there was no
ecclesiastical use of organs in the time
of Aquinas.
It is alleged that Marinus
Sanutus, who lived about A.D. 1290,
was the first that brought the use of
wind organs into churches, and hence
he received the name of Torcellus. In
the East, the organ was in use in the
emperor’s courts, probably from the
time of Julian, but never has either the
organ or any other instrument been
employed in public worship in Eastern
churches; nor is mention of instrumental
music found in all their liturgies,
ancient or modern (Vol. VIII, p.
739) [Emphasis mine, R.E.D.].
In contrast to the assemblies in pagan
temples wherein instruments were
used in worship, the early church refrained
from such. Early Christians understood
that they should refrain from the
use of instrumental music in their assemblies,
understanding that vocal music was
instructed to be used by the early New
Testament prophets of God, and later recorded
in writing as in Ephesians 5:19
and Colossians 3:16.
In the Roman
Catholic Church, the custom of vocal
music evidently changed when Pope
Vitalian introduced in Catholic Church
assemblies instrumental music in the seventh
century. However, during the period
of the Reformation of the sixteenth
and seventeenth centuries, the leading reformers
sought to restore vocal music to
the assemblies of the reformed churches.
Most churches of Christendom today
use instrumental music in their assemblies.
Though most have little knowledge
of the historical controversy that has
surrounded this subject, they have often
been unaware of the benefits of acappella
music and why the great leaders of the
Reformation Movement stood against the
introduction of instrumental music into
the assemblies of the Reformation
churches.
Instrumental music has become
so common in the assemblies of
churches today that adherents to these
churches often do not realize the marvelous
bonding effect that acappella music
has in bringing the hearts of the people
together in an assembly context.
It is not our purpose in this book to
investigate the use of instrumental music
in the assembly of the church, but to
exalt what God intended should be accomplished
with acappella music. For
some reason God instructed the early
church to sing only with their voices in
order to exhort one another and praise
Him.
This tradition continued for several
centuries after the establishment of
the ekklesia. For this reason, it is necessary
that we rehearse again what God intended
should be accomplished by the
medium of participatory singing among
the disciples of Jesus.
Chapter 3
The Beauty Of Acappella Music
Singing among Christians is mentioned
several times throughout the New
Testament. Singing manifested both the
spirit of joy and praise in the heart of
Christians, as well as their desire to exhort
and encourage one another. The focus
of Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians
3:16 is that our singing be both vertical
in praise of God and horizontal in exhortation
of one another. When both purposes
for singing are accomplished, then
the members of the church are greatly encouraged
to be united as one.
There were no special places where
the early Christians sang to one another.
Singing was simply a part of their lives.
They sang anywhere and at anytime. The
following are some of the purposes, or
advantages, of acappella singing, as well
as the nature of the spirit of singing that
Christians must manifest in praising God
and edifying one another:
A. Singing is the outpouring of a joyful
heart.
James wrote, “Is anyone cheerful?
Let him sing psalms” (Js 5:13). Sing
ing is an emotional outlet. It is an outlet
of one who feels joy in his or her heart.
Those who are experiencing the true joy
of their salvation naturally express their
joy through song. James does not state
that one’s singing should be limited to
the presence of others. Joyful hearts sing
anytime and anywhere. This fact was
manifested in the lives of Paul and Silas
when they were in prison in Philippi. The
magistrates of the city commanded that
both evangelists be beaten with rods (At
16:22). “Now when they had laid many
stripes on them, they cast them into
prison” (At 16:23).
The jailor “put them
into the inner prison and fastened their
feet in the stocks” (At 16:24). You get
the picture. Paul and Silas were sore from
beating and sitting in stocks in the darkest
part of the prison. And yet, “about
midnight Paul and Silas were praying
and singing hymns of praise to God” (At
16:25). It is the nature of joyful Christians
to sing, even under the most dire of
circumstances.
Because of the singing of Paul and
Silas, the other prisoners were listening
to them. We must conclude from this
occasion of acappella music that the singing
of Paul and Silas opened the door to
the hearts of their fellow prisoners. At
least this was the case with the jailor. An
earthquake opened the prison doors, but
the songs had already opened his heart
(See At 16:26-34).
We encourage our preachers to stand
in markets and on street corners in order
to preach the gospel to the public through
spoken lessons. Likewise, we need to
encourage our gifted singers to stand in
markets and on street corners in order to
preach the gospel through song. We have
experienced that more people will often
listen to the singers than to the preachers.
B. Singing is a means of communicating
to one another.
In the context of their daily relationships
with one another, Paul stated that
Christians must be zealous in “speaking
to one another in psalms and hymns and
spiritual songs” (Ep 5:19). Singing encourages
Christians to communicate with
one another in a way that brings joy to
their hearts. “One another” means that
there are at least two who must speak
through songs that are spiritual in nature.
Christians have an obligation to communicate
with one another in song because
they are obligated to encourage and exhort
one another.
What is important to remember concerning
the context of Ephesians 5:19 is
that “speaking to one another” in song is
not limited to a specific place or time.
The entire context of Ephesians 5 focuses
on the daily behavior of the Christian.
On every occasion, and at every opportunity,
Christians should fulfill their obligation
to their fellow brothers and sisters
in Christ by communicating with one
another through song. Unfortunately,
many have limited their singing communication
to a specific time and place. Outside
this special time and place they often
fail to keep the channels of communication
open through song.
C. Singing is a means of teaching the
word of Christ.
Paul exhorted that we should “let the
word of Christ dwell” in us richly (Cl
3:16). When the word of Christ dwells
in us richly, it is only natural that the word
of Christ be expressed through our singing.
Paul thus commanded, “... teaching
and admonishing one another in
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs ...”
(Cl 3:16).
Singing is a means of teaching
one another the word of Christ. In
order for one to be taught, he must clearly
hear and understand that which is being
taught through song. This assumes that
the teaching through song must not be
cluttered with noise that drowns out one’s
speaking through song. The teaching in
song must be clearly heard. The ministry
of teaching through song thus assumes
that Christians are to be in a quiet place
where the words of the songs can be
clearly understood. If the noise of the
environment is so loud that the words
of the teaching cannot be heard, then
the mandate of teaching one another
through song is useless.
Teaching through song also demands
that the word of Christ is being taught in
the songs. One is not teaching the word
of Christ through songs that have no reference
to the word of Christ. One is not
teaching the word of Christ when singing
those words that are contrary to the
truth of the Bible. In other words, in order
for individuals to be teaching the
word of Christ through song, they must
know the word of Christ. When Christians
are filled with the knowledge of
Christ, they are able to admonish one
another with the word (Rm 15:14). If
they do not know the word of Christ, then
they could be singing error, and thus, not
accomplishing the purpose for singing
which God instructed.
Teaching through song assumes
that not everyone must sing at the same
time. The act of teaching assumes that
someone is speaking and others are listening.
If an individual has a truth of
the word of Christ that he or she would
like to teach others, then there must be
those who are willing to listen, as well
as the opportunity for the teaching to take
place. If a group of Christians have truth
they want to express through the means
of song, then there must be an audience
that respectfully listens to their teaching
through song.
(It is interesting to note
that the first translations of the Bible into
English were portions of the Bible that
were translated into English by preachers
who composed their translations into
songs that they sang before the people.)
“Teaching and admonishing one another
in psalms and hymns and spiritual
songs” does not assume that everyone
is teaching at the same time. It assumes
that some are teaching and others are listening.
This seems to be the context of 1
Corinthians 14:26,27. When the Corinthians
came together in assembly, there
were those who had a psalm. Some had
a teaching, others a language, some a revelation,
and then there were those who
had an interpretation. All the singing of
psalms, teaching, speaking in a language,
etc. were to be done for the edification
of the whole assembly.
In other words,
not everyone came with a psalm. However,
the whole came with all the ministries
that Paul mentioned in 1 Corinthians
14:26,27. They were ministries that
were, in an orderly manner, to be used
for the edification of the whole body. Not
everyone had a revelation or a language.
Some came with a psalm. They would
in the assembly, therefore, be given the
opportunity to teach with their psalm
while others listened. Not everyone had
to sing when one was teaching through
song. Someone may have written a song
and the whole assembly needed to listen
to the teaching of the song. When the
newly revealed teaching in song was
learned by the whole assembly, then the
whole assembly could join together in the
song.
The nature of the assembly was defined
by Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:31.
“For you can all prophesy one by one so
that all may learn and all may be exhorted.”
Paul instructed that those who
had written or received a psalm by inspiration
should take the opportunity of the
assembly to teach the word of Christ
through song. If different people came
with different songs, then “one by one”
they could teach their songs to the assembly.
This is possibly the commentary
on what the Hebrew writer wrote in
Hebrews 2:12. “I will declare Your name
to My brothers, in the midst of the assembly
I will sing praise to You.” Notice
the first person pronoun “I.” This
was an individual singing praise to God
in the assembly while others were listening.
D. Singing encourages the ministry of
singing.
Everyone can sing. However, there
are those who are gifted with voices that
excel. The preceding point C should be
understood in the sense that the body as
a whole has gifted singers and gifted
speakers. We should give an opportunity
to our gifted speakers and singers to
use their gift to edify the body as a whole.
If one feels that the gifted are entertaining
the body through their gift of singing,
he have missed the point.
When our
gifted speakers deliver a good lesson to
the assembly that is eloquently spoken,
we often compliment them. We should
also compliment our gifted singers
among us who can stir our spirits through
spiritual songs. Gifted speakers and singers
have special abilities to lift up our
hearts in praise to God. Acappella music
is an opportunity for the body to
clearly hear Bible lessons of spiritual
songs by our gifted singers.
The advantage of acappella singing
is that the gifted singers can minister to
the body. The teaching of their songs
communicates exhortation because our
minds are focused on the words of their
singing. It is for this reason that our
gifted singers must not be interrupted by
any surrounding noise of the environment.
If we cannot hear the words of the
singers, then they cannot minister to us
teaching with their gift. The louder the
surrounding noise, the less the singers are
able to teach by means of their gift. In
many cases we have witnessed that those
who have trained themselves to play instruments,
for which they have no mandate
to exercise in the assembly of the
saints, actually drown out those who have
a divine mandate to teach through singing.
E. Singing stimulates the organic life
of the body.
The ekklesia is an organic body in
motion for the purpose of serving others.
Along the path of service, the members
of the body have obligations to one
another. They are to “consider one another
to stir up love and good works”
(Hb 10:24). One of the means by which
the body organically functions is that the
members stir up one another through the
ministry of singing. The members of the
body speak to one another in song (Ep
5:19).
They teach and admonish one
another through spiritual singing in order
to encourage love and good works.
God knew what singing would do as
a dynamic bonding experience for the
ekklesia. He knew that when the members
of the body speak to one another for
the purpose of edification, they would
grow together as the ekklesia of Christ.
Their responsibility to sing to one another
would bond them together as a functioning
body that would reach out in service
to others.
Two people will have a hard time
holding a grudge against one another if
they are singing to one another in song.
If they do have a matter of contention
between themselves, it will soon pass as
they exhort one another through song.
When brothers and sisters are bonded
together in song, the dynamics of participatory
singing stimulates the organic
function of the body to work as one.
F. Singing focuses on ministering to
others.
Though individuals sing to themselves
in praise of God, the Scriptures
add the responsibility that in song Christians
must teach and admonish one another.
Singing, therefore, is an outward,
not inward ministry. It is an expression
of joy from the heart of one disciple to
the heart of another disciple. In our singing
to one another, we are encouraged
by hearing others sing to us. Acappella
music, in teaching and admonition, focuses
on reaching out to others. In assembled
singing, each Christian should
focus on his or her output in song from
the heart in order to teach and admonish
the others. Acappella music is a mutual
ministry of the church as a whole. The
serendipity (“unexpected surprise”) of
our individual participation in singing is
that we are personally exhorted when we
join in song with the whole assembly.
G. Singing includes everyone.
The “one another” statement of Ephesians
5:19 and Colossians 3:16 is an inclusive
statement. Everyone must sing.
And when everyone sings, everyone is
included in the body life. This is the
advantage of singing over playing mechanical
instruments. Not everyone can
play an instrument. But everyone can
sing.
God knew that when everyone
joined in with his or her offering in song,
then the natural feeling would be that everyone
would feel that he or she is a part
of the organic life of the body. Everyone
would have a sense of belonging.
There is a time for individual singing
to one’s self, or when two or three
are gathered together. But when individual
singers come together in the assembly
of the people of God, something
dynamic happens.
To be a part of assembled
acappella singing is an experience
that few people today in Christendom
understand simply because they
have not allowed themselves the opportunity.
Some assemblies have become
so dominated by and dependent on instrumental
music that they have forgotten
to sing as an assembled body. The
instrumentalists have hijacked the assembly
at the expense of those who want to
sing with their voices alone. Our encouragement
to these churches is that they
must learn to sing acappella again. Once
they do, they will understand the beauty
and dynamic that God intended should
be experienced in assembled acappella
singing.
H. Singing is a mutual offering of
praise to God.
The members of the body speak to
one another in song, but also as the body
they make melody in their hearts in unison
to the Lord (Ep 5:19). They sing with
grace in their hearts to the Lord (Cl 3:16).
Christians can individually sing at all
times in their daily walk of life. However,
when the individual members of the
body bring their melodious hearts together
in song as an assembled body, they
are bonded together through the harmony
of their vocal singing.
The beauty of
acappella music is in the harmony that is
produced when singers come together as
a group. There is a natural spirit of unity
among those who seek to harmonize their
voices with one another. God knew this,
and thus, He instructed Paul to write that
Christians speak to one another in song.
This seems to be the meaning of the Hebrew
writer’s statement in Hebrews
13:15. “Therefore, by Him let us continually
offer the sacrifice of praise to
God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving
thanks to His name.”
The “fruit of our lips” can mean nothing
other than vocal singing in praise of
God. This is not something that can be
produced mechanically. “Making
melody in our hearts” in praise to God is
the “fruit of our lips.” When Christians
assemble together to join in songs of
praise to God, something magical happens.
The beauty of acappella music is
truly discovered when devoted disciples
of Jesus unite together in offering praise
to God with the fruit of their lips.
I. Singing is spiritually without limits.
There is an interesting phenomenon
that takes place when individuals pour
out their hearts in song. We often sing
until we become hoarse, where we can
sing no more. But after so much singing,
we feel exhilarated.
We have a sense
of peace, knowing that we have poured
out our hearts in praise to God and edification
of one another. It is a feeling of
tremendous elation. We feel so elated
with the experience that we cannot wait
until we have the same experience again.
There seems to be no end to the emotional
joy that one experiences when he
or she vocally sings with others as united
hearts pour out their feelings to the Lord.
But with mechanical noise it is different.
After about thirty minutes of amplified
mechanical music from giant
speakers, the listeners are physically tired
and exhausted.
One of the first lessons
that is taught to airplane pilots in their
training is that noise emotionally and
physically wears the individual down. In
flying airplanes over great distances for
great periods of time, the individual becomes
physically and emotionally tired
because of the noise of the airplane.
The
same is true when assembled people are
bombarded with the high decibel noise
that is mechanically produced and projected
through amplifiers and speakers.
Those who have experienced the loud
noise of amplified mechanical music
have often never experienced the difference
between an hour of mechanical
music and an hour of vocal music.
And
since mechanical music has captivated
and dominated the majority of religious
groups today, it is doubtful whether they
will take the opportunity to experience
the difference. But everyone who has
poured out his or her heart in vocal music
with fellow worshipers knows the difference.
After an hour of amplified instrument
music, one is exhausted.
After
an hour of vocal music, one is spiritually
exhilarated and emotionally uplifted, not
worn down. Please keep in mind that
there is a difference between being emotionally
exhausted and emotionally exhorted.
Emotional exhaustion is not
spiritual exhortation.
But what about the harps? There is a
difference between a full instrumental
band that takes a dominant role before
an audience as a concert and the background
sound of a harp. David knew this,
though he never experienced the reverberating
noise of amplified mechanical
music that is so typical of religious
groups today. If he had the opportunity
to amplify the noise of a full band across
the peaceful meadows of Palestine, surely
his sheep would have been scattered from
Dan to Beersheba.
In the book of Revelation, John used
symbols to signify the nature of eternal
dwelling (Rv 1:1). He used harps as a
symbol, or metaphor to portray the appeal
of the heavenly dwelling. The harps
were not literal, as the incense and other
figures of speech were not literal (See Rv
5:8). These figures only referred to concepts
and teachings that were above their
literal use in this world. However, we
would wonder why the Holy Spirit used
harps to refer to the appeal of heaven?
This is easy. The sound of the harp is
appealing, as heaven should be. David
knew this when he introduced the sound
of harps as the background music during
the offering of the animals as sacrifices
in the tabernacle service. But every instrumentalist
knows that there is a vast
difference between the amplified instru-
ment music of today through monstrous
speakers and the quiet background music
of a harp.
Acappella music was the music of the
early church. For the preceding reasons
God wanted to accomplish through vocal
music that which would bring the
members of the church together to both
exhort one another and offer up praise to
Him. In the midst of a religious world
that seems to be obsessing over the performance
of high profile bands and orchestras,
we would plead for a restoration
of the simplicity of acappella music.
Our plea is based on the aforementioned
reasons.
God simply knew what
He was doing when He instructed the
holy writers to teach the church to offer
up the fruit of their lips in vocal music.
We would thus plead with our instrumental
friends that they give acappella music
a chance. Silence the instruments for
a month. Allow the assembly to learn
how to sing again and you will be surprised.
Learn “four-part harmony,” and
the church will come alive. (If you do
not know what four-part harmony is, then
you have a long way to go in understanding
the beauty of what our Creator made
possible with the human voice.)
Chapter 4
Worship In Song
In worship we pour out our hearts to
the Lord. Worship is an inward response
to our awareness of the presence of God
in our lives. For the Christian, it is the
result of his continual realization of what
God has done for him through Jesus
Christ. Worship, therefore, originates
from within the heart of man. It is not
something that can be imposed on man
with either a pleasing environment or
sound from outside man. True worship
needs no crutches, either to be initiated
or continued. If environmental circumstances
are needed for the individual to
bow down before God in worship, then
the worship is artificial, if not simply
ceremonial.
Singing is naturally worshipful.
Singing is the expression of a joyful
heart. It is the evidence of cheer within
an individual. We can understand why
Paul would instruct Christians to make
melody in their hearts to the Lord (Ep
5:19), and to sing with grace in their
hearts to the Lord (Cl 3:16). Through
the singing of secular songs, the individual
is expressing inner feelings. How
much more natural would it be for one
who realizes the presence of God in his
or her life to pour out one’s heart in spiritual
songs?
There is a difference between being
mesmerized and true worship. According
to dictionaries, the word “mesmerize”
means “the state of being under mesmeric
influence ... to hypnotize.” One is
mesmerized by something outside himself.
When we fall under the influence
of a mesmeric influence, we are emotionally
controlled by that influence. It is
important to understand that being mesmerized
and worshiping God are not the
same.
We have found that people have great
difficulty in determining the difference
between mesmerization and worship.
Mesmerization is an influence from outside,
whereas worship originates from
within. David mesmerized himself with
his playing on the harp, but his worship
originated from within his heart. An individual
can mesmerize himself by playing
on an instrument, but at the same time
never worship God.
A multitude can be
mesmerized at a rock concert, but never
experience worship. Consider also that
one can be so mesmerized with his gift
of playing an instrument, and the sound
thereof, that he can forget God. Simply
because an individual is swooned by the
art of his fingers does not mean that he is
making melody in his heart to the Lord.
In this context it might be good for
some to remember the dictionary definition
of an idol. Webster’s Dictionary
gives one definition of an idol as the following:
“. . . any object of ardent or
excessive devotion or admiration.”
Idolatry is also defined as “excessive attachment
or veneration for some person
or thing; admiration which borders on
adoration.”
Christians should be very
careful about giving themselves over to
anything that is of this world. In our
worship, Christians must give themselves
over to the One who is above this world
by offering the melody that is in their
hearts. They do not give themselves over
to an object that is in their hands to which
they give “ardent or excessive devotion.”
We must keep in mind that God is
the creator of all music, both vocal and
mechanical. He knew that the mechanical
would originate from outside the individual,
but the vocal would originate
from within the heart.
Vocal music
would thus accomplish the purpose for
which He commanded it among the
saints. This helps us understand why God
instructed vocal music among Christians.
They must focus on their hearts, not their
abilities, lest they become so enthralled
with their abilities to play an instrument
that they forget the One they are to worship.
In their worship, therefore, the
Christians’ vocal music keeps them away
from focusing on their abilities to play.
It keeps them from idolizing something
that is of this world. Acappella music
keeps them focused on generating
melody in their hearts.
If Christians focused on their abilities
to play mechanical instruments, then
they would be tempted to suppress vocal
music in order to give way to the dominance
of either the instrument or the individual
or individuals who were mesmerized
by what they can generate with
machinery. The audience would be
tempted to become spectators to the skills
of those who would perform before them
with an instrumental band or orchestra.
God never intended that the music of the
assembly should be a “save our children”
effort to encourage instrumental concerts.
The music of the church belongs to the
church, not a select few. Some people
need to remember that the assembly of
the saints is not about them and their performances,
but about Jesus.
We would suggest that those who
play instruments should take another look
at the dominant role their playing of instruments
has taken in the assemblies of
churches. We have been in some assemblies
where the instrumentalists have actually
hijacked the assembly as an opportunity
to perform before an audience.
We cannot see this taking place in the
assemblies of the New Testament church
in the first century.
As some Corinthians
took advantage of the assembly to boast
in exercising their gift of tongues, no one
person or group of people should be given
the opportunity to do the same in the assemblies
of the body of Christ. If they
do, then they are as Paul stated when he
rebuked the Corinthians with the words,
“You are puffed up” (See 1 Co 1:29; 3:21;
4:7; 5:6; 8:1; 13:4; 2 Co 5:12; 10:17;
compare Cl 2:18).
The origin of the music that God
wants has always been the result of what
James stated. “Is anyone cheerful? Let
him sing psalms” (Js 5:13). Nothing has
changed since these words were written.
Today, we ask for a restoration of acappella
singing because of the joy that
comes forth from the hearts of the worshipers.
Is there anyone cheerful today?
If there is, then we ask that they do simply
as James instructed. When an assembly
of cheerful people happens, the result
is that everyone sings with their
voices.
Worship In Song