Music
in the Church
Ephesians
5.18-20
Introduction:
·
Psalm 33.1-5
·
Psalm 63.1-7
·
God’s people sing
·
The character of God and his works call forth for singing
·
Enabled by God’s grace to sing
·
Presence of God calls forth singing
o Example: Angels at Jesus’
birth: “Glory to God in the highest”
·
Ephesians 5 is our starting point for our meditation today
Ephesians 5.18-20: Notice some of the details
here…
1. “filled with the Spirit”: leads to singing in the congregation!
a. Singing is counter-cultural
i. “Do you ever gather with
your friends to sing about what is most deeply meaningful to you?”
2. v. 19: two perspectives on the
same activity
a. “speaking to one another…”
b. “singing and making melody…”
3. Two Audiences
a. “to one another”: horizontal focus
b. “to the Lord”: vertical focus; NOTE: “Lord” = Jesus Christ (see v. 20)
i. NOTE: Go to Colossians 3.16
1. Col 3.16: sing to God
2. Eph 5.19: sing to the Lord
(Jesus Christ)
3. HIGH VIEW OF CHRIST: SAME AS GOD!
4. Two Purposes: linked with two audiences
a. “to one another”: instruct and edify (Col 3.16)
i. Issue of “intelligibility”
again
b. “to the Lord”: praise and thankfulness
from the whole heart
5. Helps explain song choices
sometimes…
a. Some songs are very didactic: full of theology and theological content
b. Other songs: direct address, intimate,
expressive
c. Consider some Psalms…
i. Psalm 70: direct address to the Lord
ii. Psalm 104: Creation
iii. Psalm 105: Deliverance from Egypt to
Promised Land
iv. Psalm 106: Same time frame as Psalm
105; focus on Israel’s rebellion
v. Psalm 117: 2 verses
vi. Psalm 119: 176 verses
vii. Psalm 131: imagery of intimacy
viii.
Psalm 134: Simple
ix. Psalm 136: Repetitive
d. Full range of Songs…
i. Styles
ii. Emotion
iii. Length
iv. Content
v. Focus
1. Psalm 105/106: same time
frame; different focus
2. Consider songs about the cross
of Christ: different emphases
a. victory, pain, shame,
blessing
The same God
who inspired the Epistle to the Romans also penned Psalm 23. If some who relish the sophistication
of Romans would dare to claim that God “dumbed down” the Scriptures when he
inspired the simple Shepherd’s Psalm, they would simply indicate that they had confused excellence with
complexity.
·
Some have been guilty of this… confusing excellence with complexity
Excellence in
all dimensions of worship expression, including music, must not simply be
defined by cultural standards of sophistication, but by the ability of the
expression to strengthen, deepen, and develop faith. We should neither demean songs that a congregation knows and
loves nor allow it never to move from them. Creating uncertain and muted praise by demanding highly
sophisticated expression from an unprepared congregation denies God the
passionate worship he deserves from his people. Yet to allow the congregation to settle for clichéd worship
and unthinking routines does the same.
The healthiest congregations with the most thoughtful worship engage in
an eclectic mix of worship expression that keeps faith fresh, serves multiple
generations, stays rooted in the past, blossoms toward the future, stimulates
childlike love, strives for excellence in presentation, bridges cultural
barriers, and encourages ever-greater understanding.
Bryan
Chapell Christ-Centered Worship, p.
140
Turn back to Ephesians 5.19… 2 audiences and purposes!
6. Psalms, hymns, and spiritual
songs à a few comments…
a. Psalms: not limited to the OT
Psalms but inclusive of it
i. Luke uses the word for the
actual Psalms
1. Luke 20.42; 24.44; Acts
1.20; 13.33
ii. Word used in 1 Cor 14.26: a song of praise; perhaps
inspired by the Spirit
b. Hymns: festive hymn of praise
i. Word: used 2x’s in NT: Eph 5.19;
Col 3.16
ii. Used in Isaiah 42.10 (LXX)
1. “Sing to the Lord a new
song”
2. Context: Future deliverance
centered in the Servant
3. Isaiah 42.1-4: Jesus at Matthew 12.18-21
4. Isaiah 42.6: Paul at Acts 13.47
The song is
new, for it is to celebrate the new things God will accomplish. A wholly, new manifestation of God’s
power and goodness calls forth new, fitting songs. E. J. Young Isaiah
vol. 3, p. 125
·
I don’t believe in Exclusive Psalmody
·
New acts of God call forth for new songs
·
In this regard, is it even
remotely possible that the greatest divine deliverance of all, the redemptive
work of Christ, should not evoke new songs?
John Frame Worship in Spirit and Truth, p. 125
c. Spiritual Songs
i. “spiritual” may cover all
the words: psalms and hymns too
ii. Word (“song”) is used in
Revelation 5.9; 14.3; 15.3
iii. Revelation 15.3
1. Song of Moses and Song of
the Lamb
2. One song…not two
3. Song of Moses (Ex 15)
prefigures the deliverance brought by the Lamb
4. Old songs can be sung in new
ways; with new depth
5. Psalms
a. King: Jesus Christ
b. Zion: Heavenly Zion (cf. Heb.
12.22)
c. Temple: gathered people of God (1
Cor 3; 2 Cor 6)
