WORSHIP: WORD & MUSIC: LESSON 12

M U S I C , T H E O L O G Y, & M I N I S T R Y
FROM SCRIPTURE & ELLEN WHITE
Purpose of Music in Worship

• Purpose and Role of Sacred Music:

• Convey theology & shapes spirituality

• Expression and communication

• Join in God’s delight

“Whoever sings, prays twice”

– AUGUSTINE
“Congregational song is indispensable
to Christian public worship.”

– BRIAN WREN
V I TA L I M P O R TA N C E O F
C O N G R E G AT I O N A L S O N G

Richard Crawford, hymnologist, says:

“A piece of music [. . .] accumulates impact over time not

because it changes itself, but because it stores more and
deeper cultural meanings for those who sing and hear
it.”
V I TA L I M P O R TA N C E O F
C O N G R E G AT I O N A L S O N G

1. The rhymed meter of most songs makes it easy to

remember and separates it from other kinds of verbal
communication.

2. Tune adds impact. Music governs tempo and

establishes and intensifies a mood.

3. Creates community. Words flow from measured pace

from many lips, all receive meaning to feel and ponder.
V I TA L I M P O R TA N C E O F
C O N G R E G AT I O N A L S O N G

4. As a part of religious ritual, congregational song

appears in a context of high significance to the
participants. This makes our songs appear in high
significance. Our songs become endeared to us.

5. Repetition stores and focuses emotional experience.

This experience stands ready to be tapped, changed,
and enriched by the next repetition.
“The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who
saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no
longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

– ZEPHANIAH 3:17
“THE EXHIBITION”

“The music is most charming,

the song is ever new,
The choir will all be able
to sound the notes most true;
The whole will be directed
by nature's great I AM -
It is a sacred drama,
the Marriage of the Lamb.”

Review & Herald, March 20, 1855, 198.

A P O S T L E PA U L O N M U S I C

“Walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself
up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant
aroma. . . . So then do not be foolish, but understand what
the will of the Lord is. And do not get drunk with wine, for
that is dissipation, but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to
one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs,
singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord;
always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord
Jesus Christ to God, even the Father; and be subject to one
another in the fear of Christ.” Ephesians 5:1,17-22
A P O S T L E PA U L O N M U S I C

“sacrifice & fragrant aroma” — Sanctuary language

“understand what the will of the Lord is” — cognition

“Filled with the Spirit” — ruach ve debar

“speaking to one another” — horizontal nature of music

A P O S T L E PA U L O N M U S I C

“psalms, hymns, songs”

- Definitions debated by scholars

Psalms: from psaltery, a stringed instrument

“accompanied music”

The biblical psalms?

David (and others) experience?

A P O S T L E PA U L O N M U S I C

“psalms, hymns, songs”

Hymns: “songs of praise.”

“A hymn is a song containing praise of God. If you

praise God, but without song, you do not have a
hymn. If you praise anything, which does not pertain to
the glory of God, even if you sing it, you do not have a
hymn. Hence, a hymn contains the three elements:
song and praise of God.” — Augustine (354–430)
A P O S T L E PA U L O N M U S I C

“psalms, hymns, songs”

Spiritual songs:

“Spontaneously created song” or a “song in the

Spirit”?

Improvised music?
A P O S T L E PA U L O N M U S I C

“singing and making melody with your heart” —

includes both action and attitude of the heart

“to the Lord” — God focused worship

“Giving thanks” — gratitude for God and His acts

“In Christ, to . . . the Father” — mediated by High Priest

“subject to one another” — motivated by love

A P O S T L E PA U L O N M U S I C

“Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep

seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the
right hand of God. . . . and . . . put on the new self who is
being renewed to a true knowledge according to the
image of the One who created him. . . . put on a heart of
compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;
bearing with one another, and forgiving each other . . .
just as the Lord forgave you. . . .
A P O S T L E PA U L O N M U S I C

“Beyond all these things put on love, which is the perfect

bond of unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts,
to which indeed you were called in one body; and be
thankful.
A P O S T L E PA U L O N M U S I C

“Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you, with all
wisdom teaching and admonishing one another with
psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
thankfulness in your hearts to God. Whatever you do in
word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,
giving thanks through Him to God the Father.”
Colossians 3:1, 10-17.
“I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the
understanding also.”

– 1 CORINTHIANS 14:15 KJV

PURPOSE OF MUSIC

1. God-centered: “I will sing and make music to the

Lord” — Psalm 27:6

2. God-pleasing: “I will sing to the Lord all my life. . . .

May my meditation be pleasing to him.” — Psalm
104:33-34

3. Joy and reverence: “Let us sing for joy. . . . Let us

worship and down down.” — Psalm 95:1, 6
CHARACTERISTICS OF MUSICIAN

Filled “with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and

knowledge in all kinds of crafts” (Exodus 35:31).

1. Filled with the Spirit

2. Skillfulness & Excellence

3. High responsibility (EGW, 1T 497)

ELLEN WHITE
ON MUSIC

• To a Worker of Long
Experience in New York
City —

• Sanitarium, California,
November 3, 1901.
ELLEN WHITE ON MUSIC

• “In their efforts to reach the people, the Lord’s

messengers are not to follow the ways of the world. In
the meetings that are held, they are not to depend on
worldly singers and theatrical display to awaken an
interest. How can those who have no interest in the
word of God, who have never read His word with a
sincere desire to understand its truths, be expected to
sing with the spirit and the understanding? How can
their hearts be in harmony with the words of sacred
song? . . .
ELLEN WHITE ON MUSIC

• “The evil of formal worship cannot be too strongly

depicted, but no words can properly set forth the
deep blessedness of genuine worship. When human
beings sing with the spirit and the understanding,
heavenly musicians take up the strain and join in the
song of thanksgiving.
ELLEN WHITE ON MUSIC

• “He who has bestowed upon us all the gifts that

enable us to be workers together with God, expects
His servants to cultivate their voices so that they can
speak and sing in a way that all can understand.
ELLEN WHITE ON MUSIC

• “It is not loud singing that is needed, but clear

intonation, correct pronunciation, and distinct
utterance. Let all take time to cultivate the voice so
that God’s praise can be sung in clear, soft tones, not
with harshness and shrillness that offend the ear. The
ability to sing is the gift of God; let it be used to His
glory.
ELLEN WHITE ON MUSIC

• “In the meetings held let a number be chosen to take

part in the song service. And let the singing be
accompanied with musical instruments skillfully
handled. We are not to oppose the use of instrumental
music in our work. This part of the service is to be
carefully conducted, for it is the praise of God in song.
ELLEN WHITE
ON MUSIC

• “The singing is not always

to be done by a few. As
often as possible, let the
entire congregation join.”

• Testimonies for the

Church, Vol. 9, 143-144.
ELLEN WHITE ON MUSIC

• Other concepts:

• Divine gift and part of the great controversy:

Creation, incarnation, salvation, crucifixion, and
second coming

• Teaches God’s love: RH, Sept. 8, 1904.

• Christ’s example in resisting temptation: MS 65, 1901

• Part of Christ’s morning devotions: MH, 52.

ELLEN WHITE ON MUSIC

• Long for the Word over music: Manuscript 11, 1899

• Music draws congregation together in one body, and

prepares the heart for the Word: Letter 135, 1905.

• Devotional & Evangelistic: “[Music] is one of the

most effective means of impressing the heart with
spiritual truth.” — Education, 167-168.

• Means to learn God’s Word, a “continual sermon”:

Manuscript 71, 1897.
ELLEN WHITE ON MUSIC

• Song service not a concert: Letter 132, 1898

• Heart service over high service: Ms 123, 1899

• Science of salvation the theme of every song:

Manuscript 107, 1898.

• “There must be a living connection with God in

prayer, a living connection with God in songs of
praise and thanksgiving”: Letter 96, 1898.
ELLEN WHITE ON MUSIC

• “Singing, as part of religious service, is as much an

act of worship as is prayer,” PP 594.

• Music in itself does not constitute true worship: ST,

Sept. 23, 1897.

• Christians must “make the most of this branch of

worship,” 4T 71.
E A R T H LY &
H E A V E N LY

• “God is high and holy; and

to the humble, believing
soul, His house on earth,
the place where His
people meet for worship,
is as the gate of heaven.
E A R T H LY &
H E A V E N LY

• “The song of praise, the

words spoken by Christ’s
ministers, are God’s
appointed agencies to
prepare a people for the
church above, for that
loftier worship.”

My Life Today, 286.

THOUGHT QUESTIONS ON DOUKHAN
SECTION 2

• What key lessons did you learn?

• What did Doukhan’s study of the OT sanctuary and

temple reveal about the role and purpose of music in
worship?

• What types of instruments does the sanctuary/temple

reveal should be used in worship, if at all?

• How did culture play a role in the use of instruments in

the OT sanctuary and temple?