Theology | A People for His Name

The Primacy of Stringed Instruments in the Book of Psalms

August 17, 2024 — Leave a comment

Musical instruments or terms having specifically to do with them are mentioned explicitly in the Psalms at least 49 times.^a An examination of these occurrences reveals that the Spirit has stressed the importance of stringed instruments above that of both wind instruments and percussion instruments.

Stringed Instruments

Stringed	Mentions	Verses	Psalms	Commands
Harp	14 (33:2; 43:4; 49:4; 57:8; 71:22c; 81:2c; 92:3c; 98:5 (2x); 108:2; 137:2; 147:7; 149:3; 150:3b)	13	13	6 (33:2a; 81:2c; 98:5; 147:7; 149:3; 150:3b)
Psaltery	8 (33:2b; 57:8; 71:22a; 81:2c; 92:3b; 108:2; 144:9; 150:3b)	8	8	3 (33:2b; 81:2c; 150:3b)
“Instrument of ten strings”	3 (33:2b; 92:3a; 144:9)	3	3	1 (33:2b)
“Stringed instruments”	1 (150:4b)	1	1	1 (150:4b)
“Neginoth”	6 (4:1; 6:1; 54:1; 55:1; 67:1; 76:1)	6	6
“Sheminith”	2 (6:1; 12:1)	2	2
“Neginah”	1 (61:1)	1	1
“Play skillfully”	1 (33:3)	1	1	1 (33:3)
“Players on instruments”	1 (68:25b)	1	1
Total	37^b	25^b,^c	23^b,^c	9^c

Wind Instruments

Wind	Mentions	Verses	Psalms	Commands
Trumpet	4 (47:5; 81:3; 98:6; 150:3a)	4	4	3 (81:3; 98:6; 150:3a)
“Cornet”	1 (98:6)	1	1	1 (98:6)
“Organs”	1 (150:4b)	1	1	1 (150:4b)
Total	6^d	5^c	4^c	4^c

Percussion Instruments

Percussion	Mentions	Verses	Psalms	Commands
Timbrels	4 (68:25c; 81:2b; 149:3; 150:4a)	4	4	3 (81:2b; 149:3; 150:4a)
“Loud cymbals”	1 (150:5a)	1	1	1 (150:5a)
“High sounding cymbals”	1 (150:5b)	1	1	1 (150:5b)
Total	6	5^c	4^c	5^c

Discussion

The data about musical instruments in the Psalms shows that stringed instruments (or terms specifically pertaining to them) are mentioned more than three times as often (37 times) in the Psalms as are wind instruments and percussion instruments combined (12 times). Information about stringed instruments is mentioned in more than three times the number of verses in the Psalms (25 verses) than is information about wind instruments and percussion instruments combined (8 verses).

Moreover, stringed instruments (and other information about them) are mentioned in more than three times the number of Psalms (23 Psalms) than wind instruments and percussion instruments are (6 Psalms). Strikingly, nine Psalms mention only stringed instruments (Ps. 33, 43, 49, 71, 92, 108, 137, 144, 147), but only one Psalm mentions only a wind instrument (Ps. 47), and no Psalm mentions only percussion instruments.

The Psalms also reveal that God has commanded the use of stringed instruments nine times in the Psalms, which equals the total number of commands for the use of wind instruments and percussion instruments. Six Psalms have commands for the use of string instruments (Ps. 33, 81, 98, 147, 149, 150), while commands for the use of either wind or percussion instruments are found in four Psalms (Ps. 81, 98, 149, 150).

Another facet of the greater importance of stringed instruments in the Psalms directly pertains to corporate worship in a distinctive way. Of the 55 Psalms that the Spirit inspired to be directed explicitly to the chief musician, eight have explicit mentions of stringed instruments or terms pertaining specifically to them at the beginning of the Psalm (Ps. 4:1; 6:1; 12:1; 54:1; 55:1; 61:1; 67:1; 76:1).

Four other Psalms explicitly have content about stringed instruments, but their content is later in the Psalm (Ps. 49:4; 57:8; 68:25; 81:2). The Spirit, therefore, has inspired explicit mentions of information about stringed instruments in 12 such Psalms!

By striking contrast, none of the 55 Psalms explicitly directed to the chief musician have content about wind or percussion instruments at the beginning of the Psalm. Three of the 55 Psalms do have later content in them about wind (Ps. 47:5; 81:3) and percussion instruments (Ps. 68:25; 81:2).

The Spirit has thus inspired content about stringed instruments in four times as many such Psalms (12 total) compared to content about wind or percussion instruments (3 total for both wind and percussion instruments)! This far greater proportion stresses the comparative importance of stringed instruments above wind and percussion instruments.

These facts about what the Spirit has revealed about musical instruments through the Psalms plainly teach us that stringed instruments are far more important than are either wind instruments or percussion instruments. The primacy of stringed instruments in the Psalms therefore is undeniable.

Application

Musically conservative brethren who choose to use wind and percussion instruments only sparingly and in limited ways in their corporate worship have full biblical justification to do so. The biblical data in Psalms does not necessitate that either wind instruments or percussion instruments are to be used prominently in corporate worship.

Moreover, churches that cite the mentions and commands in the Psalms concerning percussion instruments to justify the use of rhythmically dominant music in their corporate worship would do well to consider whether what they are doing in their corporate worship properly accords with what the Psalms teach us about the primacy of stringed instruments in corporate worship.

Notes:

^a I am fully aware that there is more data in the Psalms that may pertain to the use of musical instruments. I have chosen not to treat that data because there are significant uncertainties about what that data signifies. For example, some sources hold that Nehiloth in Psalm 5:1 has to do with the use of flutes (see the translation note in the NET Bible), but they state that this understanding is uncertain.

^b Psalm 45:8 has the same Hebrew word that is rendered as “stringed instruments” in 150:4.

^c The totals do not equal the sum of the numbers in each row of this column because some of the entries are from the same verse, Psalm, or command, respectively.

^d Psalm 87:7 may speak of the use of pipes or flutes.

^e As needed, I will be making changes, corrections, additions, etc. to the information in this post. I would appreciate feedback about any factual errors that need correcting.

^fPhoto Credit: D. Hendrix

In Music, Theology

What ἕκαστος Teaches Us about the Harps in Revelation 5:8

August 10, 2024

Revelation 5 is the first of three passages in the final book of Scripture that reveal to us the only musical information in Scripture that the Spirit has inspired for our profit about heavenly worship music. A careful handling of the Greek word ἕκαστος [Eng. “each”] in Revelation 5:8 teaches us a key truth about the harps that are mentioned in that passage.

Revelation 5:8 καὶ ὅτε ἔλαβε τὸ βιβλίον, τὰ τέσσαρα ζῶα καὶ οἱ εἰκοσιτέσσαρες πρεσβύτεροι ἔπεσον ἐνώπιον τοῦ ἀρνίου, ἔχοντες ἕκαστος κιθάρας, καὶ φιάλας χρυσᾶς γεμούσας θυμιαμάτων, αἵ εἰσιν αἱ προσευχαὶ τῶν ἁγίων.

Revelation 5:8 And when he had taken the book, the four beasts and four and twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints.

The Spirit’s use of this word shows us that all of the elders in this scene had the exact same thing–harps. Whatever harps signify in this verse therefore has to be the same thing for each elder.

Those who take harps in this verse to be symbolic of praise offered on all kinds of musical instruments do not have any basis to do so in the text. The text does not allow for or support in any way holding that some of the elders had one musical instrument, others had a different musical instrument, and so on.

All 24 elders in Revelation 5:8 had harps–they did not have differing musical instruments among themselves. Revelation 5:8 does not in any way support the view that harps in the passage signify praise on all kinds of musical instruments.

In Exposition, Interpretation, Music, Theology

Do What is Right Even If Your Heart Is Not Fully in It!

July 22, 2024

Have you ever heard someone say something like this: “It’s not what you do that matters—it is the heart that matters”?

Take care that you are not misled by such statements. The heart certainly matters, but what you do also matters.

In fact, God teaches us that He cares about people’s doing what is right in His sight even if they do not do it with a perfect heart!

2 Chronicles 25:1 Amaziah was twenty and five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty and nine years in Jerusalem. And his mother’s name was Jehoaddan of Jerusalem. 2 And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart.

For our profit, the Spirit inspired this passage to teach us that God took note that Amaziah did what was right in His sight, but not with a perfect heart.

Even if your heart is not fully in it, always do what is right in the sight of God!

In Discipleship, Exhortation, Interpretation, Theology

Isaiah 38:20 and the Importance of Stringed Instruments

July 15, 2024

Isaiah 38:20 The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.

Hezekiah was one of the godliest kings ever to rule over a nation. In this verse, he communicates that his response to God’s sparing him from dying from what was originally divinely declared to be an illness that would lead to his death was to extol God musically all the days of his life in the house of God!

What’s particularly noteworthy in this statement is that he specifies that the instruments to which they would sing his songs in the temple of God were stringed instruments. This is one of several such statements in Scripture that lead me to hold that stringed instruments were the most important instruments that were used in acceptable corporate worship of God in His temple.

In Interpretation, Music, Theology

Let Us Praise God with Singing on Stringed Instruments Day and Night on the Lord’s Day!

July 6, 2024

God ordained that there would be consecrated singers who would minister to Him *day* and *night* with singing accompanied with stringed instruments.

1 Chronicles 9:33 And these are the singers, chief of the fathers of the Levites, who remaining in the chambers were free: for they were employed in that work day and night.

Especially on His uniquely consecrated day, it was a good thing to sing praises to His name upon stringed musical instruments *in the morning* and *every night.*

Psalm 92:1 <A Psalm or Song for the sabbath day.> It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD, and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High: 2 To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, 3 Upon an instrument of ten strings, and upon the psaltery; upon the harp with a solemn sound.

O that there were many more consecrated followers of Christ in our day who would supremely value the honor and privilege of being in God’s house both *in the morning* and *in the night* on the Lord’s Day to glorify God with singing His praises accompanied by stringed instruments.

In Exhortation, Prayer, Theology

“How Biblical Is Your Demonology?”

June 30, 2024

Today, I added a new forum post for discussion on Sharper Iron, “How Biblical Is Your Demonology?”

In the opening post, I said the following:

Pastor Mark Minnick preached a very helpful message this morning from Mark 1:21-24 that treats the subject of demonology in considerable detail:

“A Powerful, Indwelling Demon Reacts to Jesus Christ“

I heartily recommend the careful consideration of this treatment of the subject of demonology and examining your own beliefs in light of it to see how biblical is your demonology.

In Theology

Divine Wisdom versus Occult Wisdom: Learning from A Vital Comparison

June 22, 2024

In a remarkable passage, God instructs us through an astonishing comparison between two groups of people—certain specially gifted servants of God and certain practitioners of the occult.

Daniel 1:17 As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. 18 Now at the end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. 19 And the king communed with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. 20 And in all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.

To understand what God wants us to learn from this vital revelation, we must compare and contrast these two groups carefully.

From Scripture, we know that both groups were image bearers and recipients of common grace. It might seem to some believers that each group therefore should have had some people in that group who were better in some areas of wisdom and understanding than those in the other group were.

In “all matters of wisdom and understanding, that the king enquired of them [emphasis added to the original],” Daniel and his three friends, however, were found to be “ten times better than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.” Through this astounding revelation by the Spirit, we learn that it is wrong to expect that the image of God in man and common grace ensure that all groups of people will have among them at least some who excel in some areas of wisdom and understanding above those who are in other groups of people.

Contrary to this expectation that might seem to us to be what ought to be true, we must hold that specially gifted servants of God excel far above all practitioners of the occult in all areas of wisdom and understanding!

Moreover, we must understand plainly that occult wisdom is not the all-excelling wisdom of God in any matter of wisdom and understanding. What’s more, neither this passage nor any other passage of Scripture provides any biblical basis to hold that there has ever been or will ever be any area of wisdom and understanding in which occultists have excelled above specially gifted servants of God.

Application

Consecrated believers must not hold to the faulty notion that all groups of people will have some among them who excel in some areas of wisdom and understanding such that they are better in those areas than are the best people in every other group of people. In particular, the Bible does not provide any basis for Christians to hold that practitioners of the occult have ever produced through their wisdom anything that is distinctively of the occult such that God’s people should make any use of it in any facet of their living a life that is pleasing to God.

God’s people must categorically reject all occult wisdom and all things that are distinctively of the occult!

In Interpretation, Theology

The Importance of What First Samuel 10:5-6 Reveals about Music

June 8, 2024

After Samuel had anointed Saul, he uttered a striking prophetic declaration of what would shortly happen to Saul:

1 Samuel 10:5 After that thou shalt come to the hill of God, where is the garrison of the Philistines: and it shall come to pass, when thou art come thither to the city, that thou shalt meet a company of prophets coming down from the high place with a psaltery, and a tabret, and a pipe, and a harp, before them; and they shall prophesy: 6 And the Spirit of the LORD will come upon thee, and thou shalt prophesy with them, and shalt be turned into another man.

Concerning what it reveals about music, this passage is significant for several reasons.

First, it shows that more than two years (cf. 1 Sam. 13:1) before David came to the forefront as a uniquely skilled musician in Israel (1 Sam. 16:14-23), God already had a group of prophets among His people who were sacred musicians who ministered with music for Him! As prophets, these men were specially chosen, anointed, and empowered servants of God on whom He had put His Spirit; these musicians undeniably therefore knew fully how to play sacred music that pleased God.

Second, the verse speaks about the prophetic use of three different kinds of instruments: stringed (psaltery, harp); percussion (tabret); and wind (pipe). The verse, therefore, shows the legitimacy of using each of these kinds of instruments for sacred uses.

Third, the verse mentions two stringed instruments but only one each of the other two kinds of instruments. The greater number and variety of stringed instruments versus percussion or wind instruments points to the greater importance of stringed instruments in sacred activities.

Fourth, the verse does not make any mention of singing. Although the lack of mention of singing does not definitively show that there was no singing by those in this prophetic company, the explicit mention of multiple musical instruments and no mention of singing stresses the importance of the use of musical instruments in sacred ministry.

In Interpretation, Music, Theology

“Gathered Church Worship”

May 26, 2024

Gathered church worship is our offering up together to God the Spiritual, devotional responses of which He alone is worthy.

—Pastor Mark Minnick

In Mount Calvary Baptist Pulpit, Quotes, Theology

Biblical Comparisons and Superlatives

May 18, 2024

Scripture reveals a vast number of comparative statements and superlatives that instruct us in various ways to hold that there are things that are superior to other things in their same categories. Meditating on such statements has provided me with several important insights that I hope to present in at least one future post.

I encourage very careful examination and contemplation of the following compilation of such statements.

Gen. 43:11 And their father Israel said unto them, If it must be so now, do this; take of the best fruits in the land in your vessels, and carry down the man a present, a little balm, and a little honey, spices, and myrrh, nuts, and almonds:

Num. 18:12 All the best of the oil, and all the best of the wine, and of the wheat, the firstfruits of them which they shall offer unto the LORD, them have I given thee.

Jdg. 8:2 And he said unto them, What have I done now in comparison of you? Is not the gleaning of the grapes of Ephraim better than the vintage of Abiezer?

Ps. 81:16 He should have fed them also with the finest of the wheat: and with honey out of the rock should I have satisfied thee.

Ps. 147:14 He maketh peace in thy borders, and filleth thee with the finest of the wheat.

Exodus 30:23 Take thou also unto thee principal spices, of pure myrrh five hundred shekels, and of sweet cinnamon half so much, even two hundred and fifty shekels, and of sweet calamus two hundred and fifty shekels

Cant. 4:14 Spikenard and saffron; calamus and cinnamon, with all trees of frankincense; myrrh and aloes, with all the chief spices:

Cant. 7:9 And the roof of thy mouth like the best wine for my beloved, that goeth down sweetly, causing the lips of those that are asleep to speak.

Ezek. 27:22 The merchants of Sheba and Raamah, they were thy merchants: they occupied in thy fairs with chief of all spices, and with all precious stones, and gold.

Gen. 47:6 The land of Egypt is before thee; in the best of the land make thy father and brethren to dwell; in the land of Goshen let them dwell: and if thou knowest any men of activity among them, then make them rulers over my cattle.

Gen. 47:11 And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded.

Exod. 22:5 If a man shall cause a field or vineyard to be eaten, and shall put in his beast, and shall feed in another man’s field; of the best of his own field, and of the best of his own vineyard, shall he make restitution.

1 Sam. 8:14 And he will take your fields, and your vineyards, and your oliveyards, even the best of them, and give them to his servants.

1 Ki. 21:2 And Ahab spake unto Naboth, saying, Give me thy vineyard, that I may have it for a garden of herbs, because it is near unto my house: and I will give thee for it a better vineyard than it; or, if it seem good to thee, I will give thee the worth of it in money.

Ezekiel 20:6 In the day that I lifted up mine hand unto them, to bring them forth of the land of Egypt into a land that I had espied for them, flowing with milk and honey, which is the glory of all lands:

Num. 18:29 Out of all your gifts ye shall offer every heave offering of the LORD, of all the best thereof, even the hallowed part thereof out of it.

Num. 18:30 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, When ye have heaved the best thereof from it, then it shall be counted unto the Levites as the increase of the threshingfloor, and as the increase of the winepress.

Num. 18:32 And ye shall bear no sin by reason of it, when ye have heaved from it the best of it: neither shall ye pollute the holy things of the children of Israel, lest ye die.

1 Sam. 2:29 Wherefore kick ye at my sacrifice and at mine offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honourest thy sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the chiefest of all the offerings of Israel my people?

1 Sam. 15:9 But Saul and the people spared Agag, and the best of the sheep, and of the oxen, and of the fatlings, and the lambs, and all that was good, and would not utterly destroy them: but every thing that was vile and refuse, that they destroyed utterly.

1 Sam. 15:15 And Saul said, They have brought them from the Amalekites: for the people spared the best of the sheep and of the oxen, to sacrifice unto the LORD thy God; and the rest we have utterly destroyed.

1 Ki. 10:18 Moreover the king made a great throne of ivory, and overlaid it with the best gold.

2 Ki. 5:12 Are not Abana and Pharpar, rivers of Damascus, better than all the waters of Israel? may I not wash in them, and be clean? So he turned and went away in a rage.

1 Sam. 21:9 And the priest said, The sword of Goliath the Philistine, whom thou slewest in the valley of Elah, behold, it is here wrapped in a cloth behind the ephod: if thou wilt take that, take it: for there is no other save that here. And David said, There is none like that; give it me.

2 Chr. 9:11 And the king made of the algum trees terraces to the house of the LORD, and to the king’s palace, and harps and psalteries for singers: and there were none such seen before in the land of Judah.

Lk. 15:22 But the father said to his servants, Bring forth the best robe, and put it on him; and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet:

2 Kings 20:13 And Hezekiah hearkened unto them, and shewed them all the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah shewed them not.

Amos 6:6 That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the chief ointments: but they are not grieved for the affliction of Joseph.

Est. 2:9 And the maiden pleased him, and she obtained kindness of him; and he speedily gave her her things for purification, with such things as belonged to her, and seven maidens, which were meet to be given her, out of the king’s house: and he preferred her and her maids unto the best place of the house of the women.

1 Cor. 12:31 But covet earnestly the best gifts: and yet shew I unto you a more excellent way.

Heb. 7:19 For the law made nothing perfect, but the bringing in of a better hope did; by the which we draw nigh unto God.

Heb. 7:22 By so much was Jesus made a surety of a better testament.

Heb. 8:6 But now hath he obtained a more excellent ministry, by how much also he is the mediator of a better covenant, which was established upon better promises.

Heb. 9:23 It was therefore necessary that the patterns of things in the heavens should be purified with these; but the heavenly things themselves with better sacrifices than these.

Heb. 10:34 For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance.

Heb. 11:16 But now they desire a better country, that is, an heavenly: wherefore God is not ashamed to be called their God: for he hath prepared for them a city.

Heb. 11:35 Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were tortured, not accepting deliverance; that they might obtain a better resurrection:

In Discipleship, Interpretation, Theology

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