Jubal's Lyre: Essentials for Music in Worship
The Bible contains multiple calls, commands really, for us to praise and sing. The psalmists frequently used the imperative form: sing unto the Lord, praise His name. It’s not an option; we must praise. The great 20th-century composer (and Christian) Igor Stravinsky gave a fine summary of this compelling aspect of our life as believing musicians in an interview following the premiere of his Symphony of Psalms: “You must praise God with a little art if you have any.”
We must praise all the time, and sing praise, but we must never think that what we do brings on or conjures God’s Spirit or presence. As one of the most famous and misunderstood passages in the Bible, we read in 2 Chronicles 5:7-14 how the Ark of the Covenant was brought into the new Solomonic Temple. The “Shekinah glory” of the Lord honored the sincere praise of all gathered: “All the priests who were there had consecrated themselves, regardless of their divisions. 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. They were accompanied by 120 priests sounding trumpets. The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang: ‘He is good; his love endures forever.’ Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God,” (v 11b-14).
What an event! Praising in unified effort with the very best of their skill.
Too often we think what we offer in praise brings on God’s glory. It does not. God honors our feeble efforts but not for the reasons we might think. Plus, we do not bring on Shekinah glory by a secret sequence of notes, like in the classic scene from the film Close Encounters of the Third Kind! God honors the humble, sincere, honest offerings given from our best-intentioned minds and hearts.
As God does not need our music, the music is essentially for us — not for Him, but to Him. It is our fulfillment of praise. With that in mind, we must always strive for the very best, in all areas of musical endeavors, especially in sacred worship. Quality matters.
Perhaps that great church musician and biblical scholar of the 18th century, Johann Sebastian Bach, put it best, a clear guide for us in the 21st century, when he would write on his manuscripts phrases like “To the Greater Glory of God” or “To God Alone Be the Glory.” That’s it in a nutshell, is it not? Our praise is all for His glory. Another brief jotting he would sometimes pen is among my favorites, one he used when faced with a challenge on multiple levels (musical, theological, personal): “Jesus, Help!”
May we always embrace the essentials of music designed for worship, being sure our hearts and minds are focused on open praise to the Lord, not on what we offer except that it be the absolute best we can bring. God will always honor our honest efforts in praise — praise we must give.