Thought for the Day

Thought for the Day

I have often told my college classes that the only completely safe teacher of music philosophy is the Holy Spirit who will guide the Christian musician into all truth.

Reflections after Twenty Months

Reflections after Twenty Months

            We have come to the end of the twentieth month of this blog.  It is my desire that you now have greater insights into the Scriptures concerning music in the Bible and Christian music philosophy and Christian music education.  Parents, ministers of music, and music educators are not always Bible language scholars and, on the contrary, they have general tendency to avoid original language study concerning what the Bible has to say about music.

            All too many musicians' libraries consist of a host of volumes on music history, theory, literature, a few volumes of hymn stories, and their favorite hymnology text without a single concordance or lexicon to study the original Bible languages.  I hope that your word study appetite has been stimulated until you will at least invest in the standard works that are now keyed to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance.

            As the second decade of twenty-first century is nearly half over, you will need to not only be prepared spiritually and musically, but also have a deep understanding of the significance of music in the Bible.  It is important that you be able to understand the music of the Bible in Christian perspective.  I Corinthians 2:12-13 states, "Now ye have received, not of the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that ye might know the things that are freely given to us of God.  Which things also we speak, not in the words which man's wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth; comparing spiritual things with spiritual."

            No book, blog post, or article written by man will be able to completely guide church musicians in the twenty-first century.  Only an understanding of what the Book of Books has to say about sacred music will serve as a guide for Christian musicians of the next century.  If my blog posts have stimulated you to study music in the Book of Books, the many hours that it has taken to prepare these posts have been well spent.

                                                                        G.L.W.

Quote and Thought for the Day

Quote and Thought for the Day

 “Men and brethren, this scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took Jesus.” Acts 1:16  This statement by St. Peter is significant in that it attests to the fact that the Holy Spirit’s inspiration on the Book of Psalms. Ac 1:20 “For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take.”

 

 

The Authenticity of the Book of Psalms

The Authenticity of the Book of Psalms

THE PSALMS ARE INSPIRED.

            As was mentioned before in my blog posts, I have prepared each post with the presupposition that the entire Bible is authored and inspired by the Holy Spirit.  The Book of Psalms is therefore the inspired word of God.  Hibbard, in Whedon's Commentary states, "The Psalms are the only collection of sacred songs plenarily inspired which were ever given to the church, and as such presents a claim upon our reverence, faith, and devotional use which belongs to no other." Commentary on the Old Testament by D.D. Whedon, ed., Psalms Vol. 5, p. 7.

            The Book of Psalms is the only inspired collection of sacred songs extant in the world today.  Since it is an inspired songbook, it is important to study the various places in the Old and New Testaments where the writers quote portions of the psalms and thereby attest to the inspiration of the Psalm collection.  It is also worth noting that in the New Testament there are more exact quotations, references, and allusions to the Book of Psalms than to any other Old Testament Book.

             David claimed the inspiration of the Holy Spirit in II Samuel 23:1-2 where it states, “Now these be the last words of David.  David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said, The Spirit of the LORD spake by me, and his word was in my tongue.”  So, David directly claimed the inspiration of the Holy Spirit when he declared that his psalms were breathed out (ruach 7307) from YHVH (3068) so thoroughly that he stated that God spoke by or through his psalms. The psalmist David further declared that God’s word (millah 4405) was actually in his tongue (lashown 3956

Thought for the Day

Thought for the Day

The idea of music for music’s sake boarders on humanism and therefore, it must be kept in check in the life of a performer who is a committed Christian.

 

 

Aesthetic Meaning vs. Aesthetic Ends

Aesthetic Meaning vs. Aesthetic Ends

           All quality music performance will have valuable aesthetic meaning, but all quality musicing will not have only aesthetic ends.  By the terminology “aesthetic ends’ I mean that the sole purpose of the existence of the music is aesthetic beauty and hence the import of that meaning.  The terminology “aesthetic meaning” is that which is concerned with beauty and emotion as opposed to that which is strictly intellectual.   Robert Berglund explained the evolution of music from utilitarian purposes to aesthetic ends. “Art that exists for art’s sake is art that has ends that are primarily aesthetic in nature. Historically, most vocal music created prior to the fifteenth century was of a utilitarian nature.  Its purpose centered either in the experiences of the church or in social concerns…However, as instrumental music and the instruments themselves were developed, the performance of music for sheer pleasure increased.  Parlor music lead to concert hall music, the purpose of which was primarily enjoyment.”  A Philosophy of Church Music by Robert Berglund, p.18.  

          Every Christian musician must have a clear understanding of the difference between aesthetically performed sacred music which has the primary purpose of being offered to God as a worship offering, and aesthetically performed religious music that has only the aesthetic end of enjoyment.  This is not to say that an aesthetically performed musical offering to God should not be an enjoyable experience for the performer and the listener.  What I am saying is that there is a philosophical difference between a performance of a piece of sacred music which has aesthetic meaning and a performance that has only an aesthetic end.

          What about a musical performance that is strictly art for art’s sake?  I believe that there is no Bible based prohibition of a Christian musician performing a secular piece of music in a concert as art for art’s sake.  However, the matter is much more complicated when a musician’s purpose is presenting a musical offering unto God.  If God is to be the object of a Christian’s sacred musicing, then one’s musicing moves philosophically from mere artistic performance, i.e. art for art’s sake, to the realm of utilitarian purposes.  As one can deduce, any musical performance that is directly addressed to God cannot be strictly a performance of an art form for art’s sake although it may very well contain artistic meaning.

 

Thought for the Day

Thought for the Day

Those who believe very strongly that the Bible teaches tithing to Pastors seem to be unaware that the same Bible verses that teach the principle of tithing also specifically teach tithing to the Levite musicians.

 

 

Why the Music of the Temple Was Successful part 6B

Why the Music of the Temple Was Successful part 6B

THE MUSICIANS WERE PAID 6B

            Tithing to the Levites is recorded in Numbers 18:24 and 26; Deuteronomy 14:28-29, and 26:12; Nehemiah 10:37-38, 12:44, and 13:5.  Tithing to the singers is specifically mentioned in Nehemiah 12:44-47; 13:5, and 13:10-12.  Here are some examples of several such commands.  Numbers 18:21 states, "And, behold, I have given the children of Levi all the tenth in Israel for an inheritance, for their service which they serve, even the service of the tabernacle of the congregation."  Some believe that this Scripture and this financial plan only refer to preachers.  However, Nehemiah 11:23 is a little more plain, "For it was the king's commandment concerning them, that a certain portion should be for the singers, due for every day."  Nehemiah 13:5 specifically tells what this portion was, ". . . and the tithes of the corn, the new wine, and the oil, which was commanded to be given to the Levites and the singers. . ."  Finally, Nehemiah 13:10 tells what happens when the church musicians are not taken care of financially, "And I perceived that the portions of the Levites had not been given them:  for the Levites and singers, that did the work, were fled every one to his field."

            On the basis of the specific Scriptures given above which specifically teach tithing to the Levite musicians, it seems that one can draw the conclusion that tithing to the musicians was not an option.  The following are some conclusions from this study.  First, in the Old Testament the Hebrews supported the music of the Temple by paying a tithe which was a tenth, or "portions" to the Levites.  Second, there can be no doubt that some of the verses do refer to Temple musicians since the word "singers" is used specifically in conjunction with the practice of tithing. Third, the scriptural example left to us in the Old Testament is that we should tithe to the minister of music. Fourth, since the Levites were employed in their work day and night as much as every day's ministry required, they were paid on a full-time basis by receiving a "tenth."  It stands to reason that if a minster of music only "does the work" on a part-time basis he or she should receive pay in respect to the amount of time spent with the music ministry.

 

Thought for the Day

Thought for the Day

The Bible doesn’t teach that a Christian should give ten percent of his or her income, but rather it teaches paying or returning the ten percent that rightfully belongs to God.

 

Why the Music of the Temple Was Successful part 6A

Why the Music of the Temple Was Successful part 6A

THE MUSICIANS WERE PAID. 6A

            The sixth reason that the music of the Temple was so successful was that the Israelites paid tithes to the Levite musicians.  Some church fellowships believe that the work of a minster of music should be a "labor of love" and not a paid staff position.  Many church services today involve music ministry for one-third to one-half of the total service time.  This portion of the church ministry is often the responsibility of the minister of music.  It is generally believed that such a person should accept this responsibility and consider it a sacred trust.  In Luke 10:7b Jesus said, ". . . the labourer is worthy of his hire."  We will show with this scriptural review of tithing in the Bible that it is a Biblical principle to pay tithe to the chief musician or the minister of music.  It is a Biblical principle for the chief musician to work day and night or as much as every day's ministry requires, and it is the responsibility of the church to pay tithes to this person if both are to be blessed and the work of God is to advance properly.

            There are several verses in the Old Testament concerning the responsibility of the Israelites to pay tithe.  There are several general references to tithing in the Bible including Leviticus 27:30, Deuteronomy 12:6, II Chronicles 3:15, Luke 18:2, and Hebrews 7:5.⁴ It is generally understood tithing is a Biblical principle, but many people do not know that there are scriptures specifically recording the fact that the Israelites paid tithe to the Levites and even more specifically to the "singers."