Musical Instruments in Worship: A Critique of the Non-Instrumentalist Position

Musical Instruments in Worship

A Critique of the Non-Instrumentalist Position

Phillip Kayser

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This version was published on 2021-07-20

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Table of Contents

1. God’s Delight In Instrumental Music

2. To mandate a cappella worship is to violate the Regulative Principle of Worship

3. Dealing with a cappella’s first pillar

A summary of the argument: the claim that instrumental music was purely Levitical, ceremonial, and tied to the temple

Problem one – Non-Levites were clearly authorized to play musical instruments in worship

Problem two: David’s booth/tabernacle (a form of synagogue worship that foreshadowed New Covenant worship) had instrumental music without sacrifices or ceremonial law.

Problem three: the only musical instruments that were distinctively Levitical were the two silver trumpets.

Problem four: While some Levitical functions ceased with the death of Christ, it is simply not true that all Levitical functions do.

Problem five – Where does the Bible describe musical instruments as a ceremonial type?

4. Dealing with a cappella’s second pillar

A summary of the argument: the claim that instrumental music cannot be found in the New Testament

Ephesians 5:19: Does it command the use of instruments or forbid the use of instruments?

Other New Testament evidence

5. Dealing with a cappella’s third pillar

A summary of the argument: the claim that instrumental music was not used by the early church and that the early church interpreted the Bible to teach a cessationist perspective on instruments

Preliminary contradiction of the a cappella thesis

Church fathers who either played musical instruments themselves or who (while opposing instruments in their own local churches) admitted that the true church used instruments in worship (AD 70-680)

The real reason that opposition to musical instruments arose in the late third century and following – the Greek philosophy of asceticism

Some of the non-instrumentation citations prove too much

What about the Reformers?

What about the synagogues – Were they instrument free? And does it matter if we hold to RPW?

6. Conclusion

7. About the author

Notes

1. God’s Delight In Instrumental Music

Music has been around since the beginning of creation when the morning stars [i.e., angels] sang together in joyful worship of their Creator (Job. 38:7). Lucifer was one of those singing angels in whom God delighted,¹ and one of God’s purposes for creating Lucifer was to provide musical accompaniment for this worship:

You were in Eden, the garden of God… The workmanship of your tambourines (תֹּף)² and pipes (נֶקֶב)³ was prepared for you on the day you were created. (Ezek. 28:13)

It is clear that God created musical instruments for the worship of heaven from the very beginning of time. Though fallen man also invented musical instruments (see the harp and flute in Gen. 4:21), we should not forget that God created them first, and we should not think of musical instrumentation as being intrinsically evil.⁴ The same God who gloried in the perfection and beauty of angelic music on day one of creation (Job 38:6-7; Ezek. 28:12-15) continues to glory in instrumental music in His heavenly throne room today (Rev. 5:8; 14:2; 15:2; etc.). The instrumental music of heaven is played with harps of God (Rev. 15:2). This either refers to harps owned by God or given to them by God. Either way, it shows divine warrant for the heavenly delight in instrumental music.

God wants us to glory in this same music. He wants us to pray, Thy kingdom come; Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. If heaven is the pattern for everything we do (see Col. 3:1-2), then worship music should be patterned after the worship music of heaven. This involves not only singing new songs (see Rev. 3:8,11; 5:9,12,13; etc.), but also valuing the instrumental music that God loves so much (see Rev. 5:8; 14:2; 15:2).

This is no different than what happened in the Old Testament worship of temple and synagogue.⁵ God showed Moses the pattern for their worship (Ex. 25:40; 26:30; Numb. 8:4; Acts 7:44; Heb. 8:5). It was not enough for heaven to be beautified with such music. God’s heavenly kingdom invaded Earth’s earthly kingdom and enabled David to affirm that the praise of the upright is beautiful (Ps. 33:1) even when it is accompanied by the same kind of instrumental music that characterized heaven (vv. 1-3). Just as there are harps of God in heaven (Rev. 15:2) there are musical instruments of Jehovah on earth (2 Chron. 7:6). We will see in chapter 3 that the Booth of David, which is the paradigm for the New Testament church (cf. Amos 9:11,12; Acts 15:15-17) was filled with glorious instrumental music (1 Chron. 15:16ff).

The bottom line is that God loves music and He moves His people to delight in music. David says, "He put a new song in my mouth – praise to our God" (Ps. 40:3). It was God who moved David’s music, and through David God continues to call His people to sing to Him a new song with a ten stringed instrument and to play skillfully with a shout of joy (Ps. 33:1-3). It is not enough for heaven to be beautified with such music – earth too must be made beautiful by music (Ps. 33:1; Ps. 147:1).

Indeed, God commands the use of musical instruments in worship over and over again. Both grace and law join hands in beautifying worship with instrumentation. Scripture says, Sing to the LORD with the harp, with the harp and the sound of a psalm, with trumpets and the sound of a horn (Ps. 98:5-6). Sing praises on the harp to our God (Ps. 147:7); Let them sing praises to Him with the timbrel and harp (Ps. 149:3); play skillfully (Ps. 33:3); Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; praise Him with the lute and harps! Praise Him with the timbrel… Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals; praise Him with clashing cymbals! (Ps. 150:1-6).⁶

Every time God commands us to sing a psalm He is commanding us to appreciate the accompaniment of musical instruments since both the Hebrew⁷ and the Greek⁸ terms for psalm refer to a song accompanied by musical instruments. Even the term Selah, which occurs 74 times in the Old Testament,⁹ is an instruction to use musical instruments since it refers to a forte (or very loud) antiphonal response of trumpets to the other musicians.¹⁰ If the Psalms are for today, can we ignore these oft-repeated Selahs? What about the instruction, Higgaion (cf. Psalm 9:16 with 92:3)? That is an instruction to use quieter music.¹¹ It is hard to spiritualize such instructions that God has preserved for us.

Even the inspired titles of the Psalms show us that God loves musical instruments. Can we really forbid stringed instruments while singing Psalm 3 when the inspired title calls us to sing it with stringed instruments? Can we really forbid wind instruments when Psalm 5 calls us to sing those words with flutes? Can we really object to variety in musical instruments when God’s instructions range from an eight-stringed harp (Ps. 6,12; etc.), to an instrument of Gath (Ps. 8,81; etc.), to a neginoth or generic musical instrument (Ps. 54,55; etc.), or when God left the instrumentation up to the judgment of the chief musician (Ps. 4,5; etc.)? Certainly David modeled the use of all kinds of instruments (2 Sam. 6:5) and authorized the use of all kinds in Psalm 150.

God loves variety. Suzanne Haik-Vantoura¹² has demonstrated how the diacritical marks above and below the Hebrew text of the Old Testament have given the church the foundations for Western music. The exquisite nature of this original music exhibits variety in voice and instrument, melody and harmony, modality and rhythm. The fact that the same words are sung to one tune and instrument in one psalm and to another tune and instrument in another psalm shows God’s flexibility. His Biblical guidelines for music are not inhibiting but spur us to reverent creativity. God loves music and He wants us to love music.

Some have had their consciences troubled by the belief that musical instruments were exclusively tied to the ceremonial sacrifices and were only authorized for temple Levites to play. I will deal with this objection in much more detail later, but here it is sufficient to note that God allowed Levites (1 Chron. 15:16; 2 Chron. 7:6) and non-Levitical prophets (1 Sam. 10:5), kings (2 Sam. 6:4; Is. 38:20) and ordinary citizens (Ps. 33:1-3; 2 Sam. 6:5), males (1 Chron. 13:8; 15:16) and females (Ex. 15:20; Ps. 68:25) to worship God with musical instruments if they were adequately skilled¹³ and if they had the character qualifications that are laid out in Scripture.¹⁴ The instrumental worship that God speaks against is that which comes from a bad heart (Eph. 5:19) or that which is produced by those with a lawless life (Amos 5:23).

I will have more to say about the wide variety of instruments that David played by God’s authorization in a later chapter, but this chapter is simply trying to demonstrate that God loves music and wants us to love it. We may find ourselves criticized for our music just as Michal criticized David, but if we are solidly grounded in the Scripture, we can respond with the confidence of David, who, knowing that God delights in music said, I will play music before the LORD (2 Sam. 6:21). God vindicated David and disapproved of Michal (2 Sam. 6:23), not because there was no room for disagreements on this subject, but because she despised him in her heart (2 Sam. 6:16). I do not despise my brothers and sisters who defend a cappella worship, and it is my hope that they will not despise me. This book is simply my response to those who claim that we have no Biblical basis for musical instruments and who assert that we are violating the Regulative Principle of Worship. It is my hope that I have fairly represented their position on the subject and that I have adequately answered their objections. It is also my hope that the church will at some point be united in giving God the kind of music that He loves.

David by inspiration commanded the use of all kinds of musical instruments in order to raise sounds of joy (1 Chron. 15:16). Can this become fake and fleshly joy? Yes, but the solution is not to get rid of music, but to sing and play music from the heart to the Lord (Eph. 5:19). Can instruments inappropriately overwhelm the words? Yes, but the solution is not to get rid of the instruments, but to make sure that the song to the LORD is "accompanied by the instruments" (2 Chron. 29:27), not replaced by instruments.¹⁵

Any number of reasons can be introduced as to why musical instruments should be minimized or eradicated. This book will attempt to deal with the three most compelling arguments for a cappella singing. Though some of the argumentation in the following chapters is of necessity detailed and heavy (because it is responding to detailed and heavy a cappella arguments), it is my hope that the reader will be freed by this information to sing with joy to the glory of God and not have conscience-issues with musical accompaniment. Ultimately, it is my hope that this book will glorify God and bring Him great joy.

2. To mandate a cappella worship is to violate the Regulative Principle of Worship

You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way; …whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.

– Deuteronomy 12:32-33

Rejoice in the LORD, O you righteous! For praise from the upright is beautiful. Praise the LORD with the harp; Make melody to Him with an instrument of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.

– Psalm 33:1-3

In 1983, Crown & Covenant Publications published a brochure by Robert B. McCracken – What About Instruments In Worship? What Place, If Any, Do Musical Instruments Have In The Worship of God? This well-written tract has had a great deal of influence in convincing people that it is a sin¹⁶ to accompany singing in worship with any musical instrument. While I myself once held to that position in my early twenties, and while this position has had a long and distinguished history,¹⁷ I have come to the conclusion that this viewpoint is unbiblical. Indeed, imposing his thesis upon the church would not only involve the church in legalism (adding to God’s law the mandate of a cappella singing – a commandment nowhere to be found in Scripture¹⁸), but it would also involve the church in antinomianism (disobeying many direct commands from God to use musical instruments¹⁹). History tells us that any time we subtract from God’s law (antinomianism) we will inevitably add man-made laws (legalism).²⁰ The two are not opposites; they necessitate each other. It is in the interest of preserving the church from both legalism and antinomianism that this book has been written.

I should point out that both McCracken and I believe in the Regulative Principle of Worship.²¹ This principle correctly teaches that we may not introduce anything into worship that is not explicitly authorized in the Bible. Deuteronomy 12:31-32 summarizes the Regulative Principle of Worship quite well when it says,

You shall not worship the LORD your God in that way…Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.

It is important to realize that both sides of that commandment are equally important – it is just as sinful to take away from God’s commands relative to worship as it is to add to God’s commands. Thus, the Regulative Principle of Worship should cause us to avoid both a minimalistic approach to worship (failing to implement all God’s commands) as well as a lax approach to worship (adding novel elements to worship that are not found in the Bible). It is my contention that McCracken and all others who speak of the use of instrumentation in worship as sin are in reality the violators of both sides of the Regulative Principle of Worship.

Nevertheless, because many men whom I respect have held to this position, and because this is a sincerely held conscience issue for many people, I want to give a Biblical response. Though the literature already cited contains many subsidiary arguments against instruments, they can all be boiled down to three main arguments:

The use of instrumental music was strictly Levitical in the Old Testament, tied to the temple, and passed away with the rest of the ceremonial law.

The use of instruments in worship is foreign to New Testament church worship.

Since neither synagogue nor early church used musical instruments, any other understanding of the Biblical material is impossible.

If these three