In the first two posts, we saw how Satan was not the worship leader in Heaven, and how this was not a job assigned to any angel for that matter. In this week’s post, we’ll go over what a musician playing an instrument has the ability to accomplish and what the Lord expects of them.
I don’t really want to discuss lyrics in any detail, but I don’t want to completely skip over them either. I will say briefly that some popular songs we sing in church do not line up with the Word. Singing things that are against the Bible can cause confusion in your soul or poison your faith. When you’re believing God for something, you don’t want to sing against what you’re standing for in faith. Having contradictions within you can point your feet toward the “double-minded man” path. Here are some lines to a song I mindlessly sang for many years:
Blessed Be Your Name
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
You give and take away
You give and take away
My heart will choose to say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Though there’s pain in the offering
Oh, blessed be Your name
Is the darkness supposed to close in on Christians? Is our response to darkness supposed to be praising the Lord? “Give and take away,” if you read all the lyrics, is referring to Job’s misunderstanding of The Lord (Job 1:21). Where in the Bible is there supposed to be pain in the offering? I only see pain in the offering concerning idol worship. This song will confuse your faith, and I think that Jesus, who died a painful death on the cross for us, isn’t really thrilled about how I was mindlessly singing about pain mixed in my offering to Him. I’ve said and have done so many mindlessly religious things. I always remind myself to be my own bouncer to my own entrances. I check everything at the door! Music can move us forward or backward.
David created almost all the modern instruments that we use today. If it was not David, then it was Solomon. Some old school Christians say that we shouldn’t be using guitars or any other modern instruments because of how the devil used them. Most of that generation has passed, but their attitude has been passed down and remains in some churches today. I assure you the devil has and still does use the piano they feel so safe playing. Through people, the devil has misused bras, books, TV’s, vehicles, and even food. It would be absurd for a pastor to preach how the devil misused these things, and as a result we shouldn’t use them. Handing the drums and guitars over the secular world is like Christians handing over the rainbow to the “Alphabet Community” and saying to them, “OK, now it’s completely yours because ‘it attracts Satan.’” There are still churches today that teach that drums are to be kept out of church because it will attract the devil, yet the congregation walks to the back fellowship hall where numerous people engage in some form of gluttony. I know because I’ve been to some of these churches. Unless you’re prone to sin with guitars, drums, or amplifiers, there’s no need to abstain from musical instruments that were created by God through man. The real issue is the person behind the instrument, not the instrument itself.
1 Chronicles 23:1-5 NKJV
1 So when David was old and full of days, he made his son Solomon king over Israel. 2 And he gathered together all the leaders of Israel, with the priests and the Levites. 3 Now the Levites were numbered from the age of thirty years and above; and the number of individual males was thirty-eight thousand. 4 Of these, twenty-four thousand were to look after the work of the house of the Lord, six thousand were officers and judges, 5 four thousand were gatekeepers, and four thousand praised the Lord with musical instruments, “which I made,” said David, “for giving praise.”
David had 4,000 men playing instruments. They were not singers, they were playing instruments. Think about that for a moment. People get mad at mega-churches for having extensive bands and music, and here we have a band of 4,000 men praising the Lord with instruments. Can you imagine the thunderous sound of praise music going out over the land? Looking again at verse 5, this is an important scripture to meditate on for a while. David made instruments for giving praise to the Lord. This means a drummer, guitarist, bagpipe player, or even that annoying man playing the spoons can praise the Lord with those instruments. Spoons? Yeah, let’s hope I’m wrong and there isn’t a spoon playing section in the Heavenly band.
The word “praise” in our English Bible is very vague and generic. There are eight different Hebrew words that have been translated for us as “praise.” The word praise used by Daniel is “halal,” and it means 3 things:
- “Boast, and rave.” This means there is a way to boast about God by playing an instrument. Raving on an instrument means to plays with enthusiasm or admiration for God.
- “Clamorously foolish.” We don’t really use this type of speech anymore. We might say, “pounding out some tunes.” This definition tells us there is a way to use an instrument to get so excited about the Lord you get a little wild with it.
- “Celebrate, make a show.” In short, this means to party with your instrument before the Lord. Praise and worship should never be robotic. We shouldn’t stand still, stare straight ahead, or even be depressing… unless you’re used to having depressing parties, in which case, I don’t think anyone would show up. The whole idea is to have a good time with the Lord.
As we can see from just this one-word, “halal,” the secular world has the right idea of what we’re supposed to be doing with instruments more than most of the churches do. That’s a sad but true thought. We just really don’t know! People go to a secular concert to see the musicians play with enthusiasm, get wild, and put on a show. The crowd gets into the music by singing, jumping, and sometimes dancing. This scene of praise is what we’re supposed to have in church. Why, that’s a wild thought for me to even type is because of my religious upbringing in conjunction with what I’m accustomed to experiencing in a church service! We must do everything in order, right? Three fast songs, two slow songs, announcements, and offering with a happy offering song. Done. Halal on instruments most often isn’t really welcome because we don’t see this in our English language. Neither the Lord nor David told musicians to take an instrument, make a somber face, and play while trying not to move too much. In our modern-day world, if musicians treat instruments anything close with true halal, they’re labeled a “seeker-friendly church” that has a “concert” instead of “true” (boring) worship. If a drummer goes halal it’s referred to as a “drum solo” and it could be viewed as prideful and unnecessary. Halal is shunned by many Christians because we have not yet learned what true halal means. In our day, it feels like uncharted territory. It feels backwards to think that they partied for The Lord much better than we do!
I think we should change the song “1999” to, ”1000!” So, tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1000 BC. WOOO! I don’t know the words to that song, but I think I might be onto something here.
Halal is used in the Bible 165 times according to Strong’s Concordance. When the word “praise” is used, it’s most often referring to this bold form of worship. You might be wondering why you haven’t heard of this word before, but you have! Halal is the root word for Hallelu, the beginning part of Hallelujah. Hallelu is praise in the imperative form, “you [must] praise.” Jah, or Yah is the shorten name of Yahweh. “Imperative” sounds a little rough, but the way it was explained to me is that “Hallelu” is a corporate call to praise Yah, or Yahweh. The next time you sing Hallelujah, remember to “get your bold praise on” with your instrument, or your voice.
You might be sitting there thinking, “The Bible says that we’re to worship in spirit and in truth, not do whatever we want.” To that, I say that the Old Testament was a shadow of the good things to come (Hebrews 10:1). If they partied better than us, then we should definitely make some changes. Why shouldn’t we think the Holy Spirit would like to cut a rug too? Hehe! I don’t think most modern Christians, me included, have explored true halal enough to fully understand what worshiping in Spirit can be, and what it can produce. The Lord began to teach me things, but I know I need to learn so much more. What’s stirring in my heart is how the army of Israel sent praise and worshippers out in battle before of their army. Shouldn’t our New Testament style praise and worship do even more than that?
2 Chronicles 20:21 NKJV
And when he had consulted with the people, he appointed those who should sing to the LORD, and who should HALAL the beauty of holiness, as they went out before the army and were saying: “Praise (“yada,” meaning “giving thanks”) the LORD, For His mercy endures forever.”
Moreover David and the captains of the army separated for the service some of the sons of Asaph, of Heman, and of Jeduthun, who should prophesy with harps, stringed instruments, and cymbals.
That scripture is worth repeating! “Prophesy with harps, stringed instruments, and cymbals.” Musicians can prophesy without lyrics. Some people say, “prophesy is done away with!” That is a lengthy discussion for another time. There is absolutely no scripture supporting that as a fact. Believing that “it has been done away with” causes a controversial issue in scripture. There will be two witnesses prophesying in the end times. We can’t say, “Look, it’s gone because the Bible is here. Hey, look it’s randomly back over here in Revelations.” It’s either gone or it’s not gone. God is either the same yesterday, today, and forever, or He’s not. Saying it’s gone means they had better worship music in the Old Testament than we do today. Lucifer was prophesying with music before any human or covenant. This issue is way beyond the Old Testament and New Testament, that’s why we looked at Lucifer first.
Let’s stop for a moment and define prophecy so that we’re all on the same page. Paul describes prophecy in 1 Corinthians 14:3 NKJV
But he who prophesies speaks edification and exhortation and comfort to men.
Edification means improvement. Exhortation means to urge someone to act. Comfort means the easing or elimination of bad feelings. Revelational prophecy would be speaking future events, which seems to upset people. Prophesying into the future requires prophecy plus a gift from the Holy Spirit such as a word of knowledge, a word of wisdom, or the gift of prophecy. I am not saying that you can’t futuristically prophesy on instruments. I’m just saying let’s not roll everything into one lump and throw it into the trash. I would suggest seeking edification, exhortation, and comfort first. No Christian should be arguing that those three have been done away with for us today, or that we cannot receive prophecy through music. If you’ve been upset and received comfort through Christian music, then you’ve been prophesied to through an instrument. Praise the Lord! If the unsaved, non-anointed, Old Testament musicians had that ability, then how much more do the Spirit-filled Christians of today?
This music series is a lot to absorb. For me this study was mind blowing and I needed time for everything to sink in. Thank you for continuing this study with me. The next post will be about what Spirit-filled music without lyrics can do to you while you’re listening.
Lord of Heaven bless you as He unravels this mystery of music to you, and gives us all a deeper understanding of music, halal, and worship.
Christi
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