They fear the power that music seems to have over people, so they want to restrict its use.Īugustine acknowledged that struggle in his own soul. As far as they’re concerned, any time you combine music with words in the church, you’re asking for problems. Other Christians think that music undermines the Word. “We worship a triune God who sings, and he wants us to be like him.” They say things like, “Music speaks to me better than words can,” or, “I can’t worship unless I hear the style of music I like.” For these folks, the impact of words is not only helped by music it’s dependent on it. They think that words without music - and that’s usually a certain kind of music - are dry, unaffecting, and unimportant. Some Christians think that music supersedes the Word, both in its significance and effect. When it comes to combining music and words, Christians tend to fall into one of three categories. There’s more to say about why God wants us to sing, but first I want to make a few general comments about how music relates to words. We worship a triune God who sings, and he wants us to be like him. Hebrews 2:12 applies Psalm 22:22 to Jesus when it says, “In the midst of the congregation I will sing your praise.” And Ephesians 5 tells us that one effect of being “filled with the Spirit” is “addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (verses 18–19). On the eve of his crucifixion, Jesus sang hymns with his disciples (e.g., Matthew 26:30). In Zephaniah 3:17 God exalts over his people “with loud singing.” Why does God so often tell us not simply to praise him but to sing his praises when we meet? Why not just pray and preach? Why sing? Why are God’s people throughout history always singing? Why words and music and not just words alone? Why does God want us to sing? One reason is that God himself sings. And in the New Testament we’re commanded not once, but twice, to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to one another when we meet (Ephesians 5:19 Colossians 3:16). The longest book of the Bible, the Psalms, is a book of songs. In just four verses we’re commanded to sing seven times.Īll told, the Bible contains over four hundred references to singing and fifty direct commands to sing. Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises! (Psalm 47:6) Sing to the Lord, bless his name tell of his salvation from day to day. Oh sing to the Lord a new song sing to the Lord, all the earth. God’s heart for setting words to melodies is evident from even a casual reading of the Psalms. We may not want to imitate Luther’s attitude, but we do want to imitate his passion for singing - because God himself is passionate about singing. (Luther, “Preface to Georg Rhau’s Symphoniae iucundae,” LW 53, cited by Buszin in “Luther on Music,” The Musical Quarterly 32, no. A person who gives this some thought and yet does not regard it as a marvelous creation of God, must be a clodhopper indeed and does not deserve to be called a human being he should be permitted to hear nothing but the braying of asses and the grunting of hogs. When man’s natural ability is whetted and polished to the extent that it becomes an art, then do we note with great surprise the great and perfect wisdom of God in music, which is, after all, His product and His gift we marvel when we hear music in which one voice sings a simple melody, while three, four, or five other voices play and trip lustily around the voice that sings its simple melody and adorn this simple melody wonderfully with artistic musical effects, thus reminding us of a heavenly dance where all meet in a spirit of friendliness, caress, and embrace. In a foreword to a collection of songs arranged for multiple voice parts, he wrote the following: He also had no problem saying what was on his mind. ![]() Luther loved congregational music and considered music next to theology in importance. If that’s where you’re at, Martin Luther wants to have a few words with you. You might be someone who patiently endures the singing on Sunday mornings until you hear what you really came for - the message. I was involved with the vocal group GLAD for thirty years and have been leading corporate worship for even longer. I grew up on groups like the Swingle Singers, Association, and Beach Boys and sang in or accompanied choirs throughout high school and college. It’s been a part of my life for as long as I can remember. This message appears as a chapter in The Power of Words and the Wonder of God.
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