(Ephesians 5:18-21) “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.”
Today within the wider Body of the Messiah there is a lot being said and done in relation to the kind of music that is being played and sung in worship. Sadly much that is purported to be led by the Spirit is in fact a work of the latent power of the fallen human soul (the flesh) which when released, can control and manipulate the emotions of a public gathering and cause the people to act in ways that go beyond what we see written in the Word of God. Many worship services today in the mega-churches that focus on the gifts of the Spirit are more like rock concerts than they are worship meetings. The prevailing trend in these churches is to think that they must have trendy loud and amplified worship songs that appeal to this modern generation.
Now there is nothing wrong with having all kinds of instruments engaged in worship and singers leading the congregation in singing the songs. The down side is that this younger generation of worshippers for the most part are not grounded in the Word of God, hence you have many songs that stimulate the senses and engage the emotions of these young congregations, but the lyrics being sung are questionable in that they tend to emphasize and focus on the desires and feelings of the worshippers rather than on the real character of God as revealed in His Word, the Bible.
Right through the Old Testament we see that there were many times when His people were thronging to the Temple with exuberance, with loud praises and with all kinds of musical instruments being employed in the worship, and songs the resounded even up to the rafters of the temple. We know from the Old Testament Temple worship that there were all kinds of instruments employed in the worship and singers who sang songs to the Lord and about the Lord. The focus was not on them, but on the Lord and what He is and what He does. When you read through the psalms, which are hymns to the Lord, you find that the main thrust of these musical compositions is to uplift God and not the worshippers.
We also know from God’s Word that the Lord inhabits and dwells among the praises of the people. As the psalmist writes; “You are holy, enthroned on the praises of Israel” (Psalm 22:3). Praise is powerful because it brings the power and the presence of God into the worship being offered to Him and into the lives of those gathered in the assembly of worshippers, who through child- like obedience curtail the devils activities and drives him away. As the psalmist writes; “From the mouths of children and infants You have ordained praise on account of Your adversaries, to silence the enemy and avenger” (Psalm 8:2). The Lord delights in the praises of His people and praise is powerful and effective in edifying any assembly where God’s people are gathered together to worship Him in Spirit and in truth, for such people God the Father seeks (John 4:23).
Biblically grounded Praise is pleasing to God. His Word tell us that we should come before Him with gladness of heart, with joyful songs, with thanksgiving and with praise, giving thanks to Him and praising His name for His goodness, His enduring love and His continuous faithfulness (Psalm 100). However, we also know from God’s Word that exuberant praise and emotionally moving songs and hymns do not please the Lord if there is disobedience to His Word or the lyrics of the worship songs lack Biblical truth. The blessed Holy Spirit is the Spirit of truth and not error and will never lead God’s people into false teaching or unbiblical doctrines and experiences either through the preaching or through the music used in worship.
Tragically these days much of what is called worship in the Holy Spirit is nothing more than the latent power of the fallen human soul (the flesh) being released and manifesting itself in meetings that are high in emotional euphoria and heady music but lacking self-control; and restraint of the flesh. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit and we have been given the Spirit of love, power and self-control or of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).
In worship God does not want us to leave our minds out in the church car park when we come into His house to worship and to praise Him. All of us have seen on the internet the meetings where believers, including pastors, have been laughing hysterically, gyrating in and sliding down their seats uncontrollably, while others roll around on the floor, laughing like hyenas and making all kinds of farmyard like noises, and that being egged on by their leaders out at the front and one would think you were looking at a zoo! In the background is loud amplified music that is completely numbing any sensors of spiritual discernment.
Music is a very powerful emotional aphrodisiac that can produce uncontrolled emotional responses and actions such as we see in discotheques, nightclubs and rock concerts and such that inevitably lead to inflamed passions, immoral behaviour, and excessive drinking. We are told in the prophet Ezekiel that Lucifer, before he fell into sin and became Satan, that he had been in the Eden of God and that when he was created God infused into him the tabrets and pipes which were musical instruments. In other words he was in charge of music in the Garden of Eden and in heaven where the myriad of heavenly beings lived in the Holy Mountain of God (Ezekiel 28-13-14). When he fall into sin through pride the musical gift that was part of his created being was also corrupted and now controlled by his sinful nature.
Satan uses music to unleash the fallen passions and desires of the fallen human nature or the soul of the unsaved. They are his. However, the ones he wants to spiritually derail are you and I as believers, especially through the power of music. We have seen from secular music the power it has to sway the emotions, to impact the will, and to unleash ungodly passions, desires, words and actions. This is why we must be circumspect about the songs we sing in our assemblies. In worship we can employ all kinds of musical instruments and various styles of singing but we must also know our Bibles and be aware that our emotions can easily be hijacked by the rhythm or the beat or by the over amplified music with repetitious lyrics that can be questionable when viewed in the light of God’s Word.
Today there are a lot of songs being generated from the wider Body of the Messiah which from the standpoint of their lyrics are questionable. When we review the songs we are to sing in worship we need to look at the source of the church from which it has come. If the church is heretical and unbiblical in its doctrines and practices then whatever they produce, as appealing to the five sense gates of the flesh as it might be, we are to lay it aside. You know when a fish has died it starts to rot from the head first. If the doctrine of the pastor and leaders is spiritually corrupted then the corruption will taint everything that is produced. A bad tree at its roots can only produce bad fruit. A good tree at its roots can only produce good nutritious fruit. There is no mixture as God hates the mixture (Deuteronomy 22:10-11) (Leviticus 19:19).
Spirit-filled worship will be spontaneous and edifying and at times exuberant and emotionally uplifting and that draws the worshippers to centre on God and His attributes and character and what He is as well as for what He does. Much of the modern worship songs are focused on us, me, my and what one needs from God rather than what one can do for Him and offer to Him. We live is a very self-centred, me, and my wants and needs mindset today, and it has infiltrated the wider Body of the Messiah mainly through music laced with false teaching. The focus in worship in many mega-churches is more to do with us and our needs rather than to do with God Himself and trusting Him even when our prayers and requests go unanswered.
God is not at our disposal and He is not a spiritual dispensing machine! Many assemblies no longer appreciate that God is a sovereign God and that He does what He wants, in the way He wants, when He wants, and with whomsoever He wants and asks no man’s permission. He does love us you know, and has everything planned for our mental, emotional, our physical and our spiritual wellbeing. He is not against modern musical instruments and exuberant singing and unbridled praise in worship. He likes all kinds of musical instruments and voices raised in praise of Him and that reflect His unchanging Word and His character.
And so Paul writes that God’s will is that we do not act like drunks but instead be filled with the Spirit, to be continuously being controlled by Him in all that we think, say and do. To seek to edify each other by addressing each other with psalms, hymns and songs created by the Spirit of God, singing and making harmonious melody to the Lord from hearts that are made pure by the blood of the Messiah and controlled by the Spirit. To have grateful and thankful hearts for everything that happens to us, whether good or not so good, when we come into worship Him, and that in the name of our Lord Jesus the Messiah, the blessed Holy Spirit will empower us to submit to each other when engaged in worship out of our reverence and respect for our Lord Jesus the Messiah.
When you look at the worship meetings of the early Methodists under John and Charles Wesley musically they were lively and edifying and when one walked into their meetings they were uplifted in worship and sometimes also convicted of their sin and need to get right with God. In worship there will be times of reflection and solitude and even times of quietness and brevity among the assembly gathered and the music used will reflect the spiritual climate of the meeting. However, any meeting where the believers are being filled with the Spirit will be alive and spiritually edifying. In the early days of the Salvation Army they employed all kinds of instruments and exuberant singing and sang the hymns with brightness and with gusto at times. There was never a dull moment in the Salvation Army Citadels.
Today by and large you have two extremes with the music. There are assemblies where you would think you were at a funeral when you hear those singing hymns in worship even though the songs and hymns they are singing may be Biblically sound but lacking the power of the Spirit. On the other hand there are assemblies that are over the top with their worship songs that are often laced with unbiblical theology and even though the praise and emotional response goes up to the rafters it is a trampling in the courts of the Lord.
The balance is that there will be songs in worship tending at times to lean towards a sense of true spiritual brevity and that make one reflect on their walk with God. At other times there will be exuberance and unbridled praise and worship that ascend to the very throne room of God Himself. Sometimes in a Spirit filled worship time, especially where music is concerned, there will be both brevity and exuberance, yet it will be all controlled by the Spirit of love, power and self-control and that of a sound mind and added to this where the gifts of the Spirit will flow as the local body of the Messiah edifies itself in love as every member exercises its appointed part in worship! The message must always be in the music when we engage in worship. So when we come to worship is it primarily for the music or the message?
