Music | A People for His Name

Six Times through the Psalms in 2023!

May 31, 2023

One of my goals for 2023 is to read the book of Psalms twelve times this year. If I am able to do so, I will have read the book of Psalms through 100 times in my life, and 75 times since 2012, when God first directed me to start intensely studying what the Bible teaches about music.

Tonight, I finished reading the Psalms for the sixth time this year!

Psalm 146:1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise the LORD, O my soul. 2 While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

In Bible reading, Music, Testimony

Book Update 5.26.23

May 26, 2023

God has directed me to study what the Bible teaches about music for more than 12 years now. He has also led me for several years to work on writing my book The Battle for Kingdom Music: A Call to Worldwide Consecration.

I have taken this week off from work so that I can do at least 30 hours of work on my book and read the Psalms through for my sixth time this year.

After doing 16 1/2 hours since May 22, I may now be 95% finished with my first draft! I have also read Psalms 1-50 in the last three days.

Psalm 35:27 Let them shout for joy, and be glad, that favour my righteous cause: yea, let them say continually, Let the LORD be magnified, which hath pleasure in the prosperity of his servant.

In CCM, Christian Books, Music

Sing Aloud to the God of Our Mercy!

May 14, 2023

Psalm 59:16 But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble. 17 Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.

David ends this Psalm with three exclamations of his resolve to sing to God: “I will sing . . . I will sing aloud . . . will I sing . . .”

Like him, we must resolve to sing *aloud* of God’s power and mercy because He has been our defense, refuge, and strength in the days of our troubles.

We must sing *aloud* to the God of our mercy!

In Exhortation, Music

In Gratitude for the FBFI Resolution on Music

May 5, 2023

Praise God that He directed brethren in the FBFI to speak out in resolve concerning music that is acceptable to God!

97.10 Regarding a Commitment to Godly, Christ-honoring Music:

The FBF rejects the notion that music is not a matter of separation. Clearly, we would separate from a pastor or church that used rock music either to attract a crowd or-God forbid-in worship. Therefore, we recognize that it is a separation issue. The encroachment of “CCM” or Contemporary Christian Music as a musical genre has been ignored too long. It is wrong to judge motives subjectively, but it is essential to discern the implications of methods, particularly in music. Fundamentalists should be able to agree that we must be committed to Godly,
Christ-honoring music. With sufficient prayerful discussion with Fundamentalist musicians, and necessary study of the subject by our preachers we will be able to move toward a consensus of what is meant by ‘Christ-honoring’ music in practice. We call for Fundamentalists to cease defending tastes in music as a matter of “preference” and begin to expound the principles whereby those who need guidance on this issue can be truly helped. We assert that those who boast of their “balance’ and ‘objectivity” while rejecting the teaching of biblical principles concerning music are compromising the means whereby this issue can be resolved. Neither tradition nor taste are the issue. The Bible communicates principles of music that is acceptable to God that can and should be known and taught.

This resolution is from the PDF “Past FBFI Resolutions: 1946—Present” available at the bottom of this page: https://fbfi.org/positions/

In CCM, Ministry, Music

“Come, O Thou Prophet of the Lord”

April 29, 2023

“Come, O Thou Prophet of the Lord” by Charles Wesley is a wonderful hymn that I discovered this week in my church’s hymnal, “Hymns of Grace and Glory.”

Come, O Thou prophet of the Lord,
Thou great interpreter divine,
Explain Thine own transmitted Word,
To teach and to inspire is Thine;
Thou only canst Thy self reveal,
Open the book and loose the seal.

Whate’er the ancient prophets spoke
Concerning Thee, O Christ, make known;
Chief subject of the sacred book,
Thou fillest all, and Thou alone;
Yet there our Lord we cannot see
Unless Thy Spirit lend the key.

Now, Jesus, now the veil remove,
The folly of our darkened heart;
Unfold the wonders of Thy love,
The knowledge of Thyself impart:
Our ear, our inmost soul, we bow,
Speak, Lord, Thy servants hearken now.

In Music

Are All Kinds of Percussion Acceptable to God for Use in Corporate Worship?

April 18, 2023

Are all kinds of percussion acceptable to God for use in corporate worship? I believe that the following diagram treats and applies Scripture properly to provide a clear answer to that question.

In brief, Scripture teaches that even for all things that are lawful, not all of them are expedient and not all of them edify. Because that is true, both all things that are expedient and all things that edify are subsets of the set of all things that are lawful.

Only those things that are lawful and expedient and edifying are acceptable to God for use in corporate worship. If something is lawful but it either is not expedient or it does not edify or both, it is unacceptable to God for use in corporate worship.

Concerning all kinds of percussion, some hold that all kinds of percussion are lawful because they believe that there are no prohibitions in Scripture against any kinds of percussion. Even if that were a correct basis for concluding that all kinds of percussion are lawful, it would not be sufficient for establishing that they are all also expedient and edifying because there simply is no Scripture that teaches that all kinds of percussion are lawful, expedient, and edifying.

In fact, as the diagram sets forth, 1 Corinthians 13:1 implies that there are ways to sound certain percussion instruments that are not expedient and edifying. Because that is true, there is no biblical basis to hold that all kinds of percussion are acceptable to God for use in corporate worship.

If one disagrees and asserts that all kinds of percussion are in fact acceptable to God for use in corporate worship, he has the burden of proving from Scripture that all kinds of percussion are lawful, expedient, and edifying.

In Interpretation, Music, Theology

A Biblical Response to Robert Bakss on Percussion Instruments in Psalm 150

March 6, 2023

In his book, “Worship Wars: What the Bible Says about Worship Music,” Robert Bakss discusses the role of drums in worship music. He writes,

Most of the musical instruments in Psalm 150 are percussion instruments. This shows that beat is acceptable in worship music.

— p. 67

Are these statements correct?

Musical Instruments Mentioned in Psalm 150

Three verses in Psalm 150 mention multiple musical instruments:

Psalm 150:3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp. 4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs. 5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

Psalm 150 mentions 8 musical instruments or groups of musical instruments:

1. trumpet
2. psaltery
3. harp
4. timbrel
5. stringed instruments
6. organs
7. loud cymbals
8. high sounding cymbals

Three of the 8 instruments or groups are percussion instruments: timbrel, loud cymbals, and high sounding cymbals. Three out of 8 means that most of the musical instruments in Psalm 150 are not percussion instruments.

Conclusion

A careful examination of Robert Bakss’ statements about Psalm 150 shows that his first statement is factually wrong and therefore does not support his second statement. It is not true that Psalm 150 “shows that beat is acceptable in worship music” because “most of the musical instruments in Psalm 150 are percussion instruments.”

Brethren who seek to support that view need to provide factually correct information from Scripture to support their belief that beat is acceptable in worship music.

In CCM, Exposition, Interpretation, Music

Why Comparing Offering Animal Sacrifices to Offering Music Is Biblical

February 28, 2023

Scripture establishes a very strong connection between animals offered to God and music that is offered to Him. It does so implicitly in Psalm 43 through the mention of the altar of God and the playing of music:

Ps. 43:3 O send out thy light and thy truth: let them lead me; let them bring me unto thy holy hill, and to thy tabernacles. ⁴Then will I go unto the altar of God, unto God my exceeding joy: yea, upon the harp will I praise thee, O God my God.

Notice that David speaks explicitly of going to God’s altar and praising God on the harp!

Moreover, Psalm 69 directly compares the two and instructs us that offering acceptable music to God pleased Him better than animal sacrifices did:

Psalm 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving. ³¹This also shall please the Lord better than an ox or bullock that hath horns and hoofs.

These two passages as well as others, including in the NT, make clear that comparing what Scripture reveals about divine acceptance of animal sacrifices offered to God on an altar and what it reveals about divine acceptance of music offered to God is legitimate and fully biblical.

In Interpretation, Music, Theology

On Worshiping God Today without the Use of “Modern” Music

February 23, 2023

Before believers started accepting rock music in worship, none of their worship music had a strong beat, prominent use of percussion, or a whispered singing style. Multitudes of believers were edified by that “old” music and genuinely worshiped God in spirit and truth with it.

Because multitudes of genuine believers did so for decades and decades before there was ever any rock or rock-based music used in worship, the same is certainly true today. Churches and believers who have never used any rock or rock-based music in their worship do not have any reason or need to change or apologize for their music that other believers regard as “old” music.

Just as God was truly worshiped in the past, He can be and is truly worshiped today without the use of any so-called “modern” music.

In CCM, Music, Theology

Book Update 12.31.22

December 31, 2022

I have been studying what the Bible teaches about music for more than 11 years now. I have also been working for several years on writing my book The Battle for Kingdom Music: A Call to Worldwide Consecration.

On December 23, I began an extended time off from work. My goals for this time were to do at least 30 hours of work on my book and read the Psalms through twice while doing so to saturate my mind with God’s own thoughts about music.

This morning, I finished my second time going through the Psalms since December 22!

This afternoon, I finished working 30 hours on my book since December 23! God has given me tremendous progress on my book during this time!

It seems that I am getting close to having the rough draft of the book done. Lord willing, I hope to complete the book and have it published by September 2023.

Praise God for His faithfulness!

In CCM, Christian Books, Ministry, Music

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Musical Instruments Mentioned in Psalm 150

Conclusion

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