Is Your Music Noisy?

                       Is Your Music “Noisy”?  

Ezekiel 26:13 states “And I will cause the noise of thy viles to cease; and the sound of thy harps shall be no more heard.”

        The Lord God pronounced judgment against Tyre (Tyrus) because they had wasted Jerusalem.  Tyre was also indulgent in its musicing practices.  The Lord (Adonay 136) who is the sovereign controller of the universe promised Tyre that he would cause the noise of their songs to cease.

       Like the music praxis of ancient Tyre, some twenty first century Christian musicians have become indulgent in their way s of musicing.  One of the main causes of indulgent musicing is that musicians often become enamored with noise and decibels i.e. with noise based music praxis.  Twenty first century Christian musicians need to be careful not to become self-serving, performance oriented, noise makers.  A sense of musical priority is always appropriate when a Christian is attempting to music unto God.

      Notice that the Lord (Adonay 136) God (Jahovih 3069) was concerned with the sounds (qowl 6963) that the musicians were making with their musical instruments. The sovereign controller of the universe who is the autonomous self-existent God was not pleased because of, among other things; they were producing noise based music.  The Hebrew word used here is hamown (1995) which means tumultuous sound.  So, the bible music lesson is very clear in this Scripture.  God hears noise based music as we know from Ezekiel 26: 13 and He was not pleased with it.  Therefore, it is not a farfetched philosophical concept that God will be displeased when we try to music unto Him with noise based music.  The great music historian Curt Sachs once stated, “How did the ancient Jews sing?  Did they actually cry at the top of their voices?  Some students have tried to make us believe that such was the case, and they particularly refer to several of the Psalms that allegedly bear witness of praying in fortissimo.  But I suspect them of drawing from translations rather than from the original.”  The Rise of Music in the Ancient World, by Curt Sachs, p. 80