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Writer's pictureBible Brian

If God speaks positively about music, why speak negatively of it?


Music is a wonderful thing! It can express a wide variety of emotions, and the Bible tells us we can use it to praise God.


Sadly, many in the Church today argue that there are strict rules governing the use of music. They suck the joy out of praise by making it less about using our individual talents to praise the God who gave them to us for His glory and more about the music itself. Various excuses are given to justify this extreme legalism. "This instrument was used in this religion." "That genre promotes this sin." "That instrument was invented by this culture." "I was unhappy when I heard this song played in church." (Yes, that last one is a genuine reason some people use). There are a variety of excuses cited for condemning many forms of music, but not one of these can be found in the Bible.


Instead, the Bible has a lot to say about music, and literally none of it is bad. Rather, while the Bible speaks often about instruments in a positive light, I cannot find a single condemnation of any. The most disarming example I know of is in 2 Samuel 6:5, where David uses a sistrum to praise God. If God was ever going to condemn any instruments, this is where He would do it. Here's David, playing a pagan instrument used in the worship of an Egyptian goddess. The Lord can say "stop right there, David! Never shall a pagan instrument be used to worship me!" This condemnation is never found in the Bible.


Neither is the piano, the only instrument that seems to be universally accepted among those who oppose Christians using other forms of music. Of course, this is not surprising. The piano would not be invented until long after the closing of the canon, and it's a wonderful instrument, so it need not be mentioned in a negative way either. Yet, somehow, there are those who consider it a Holy instrument. The only instrument God permits to be used in worship of Him. You're Satanic if you dare beat a drum. How dare you strum a guitar? That trumpet is an instrument of war! God forbid you should bring judgement upon yourself with that flute! Come on guys, we're worshiping God here!


Yes, we are worshiping God. And we are doing so with the instruments we have been blessed with. The piano and the drum. The organ and the guitar. Cymbals, flutes, trumpets, if you are blessed with the ability to play a sistrum, the Lord accepts it as an offering to Him. Those who condemn music do so not out of knowledge and zeal, but out of ignorance or pride. We serve a musical God. It is a disservice to Him and His Church to limit the ways we do this.

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