Is it Wrong to Use Musical Instruments in the Meeting of the Assembly?

Is it wrong, as the "Church of Christ" denomination teaches, to
use musical instruments in the meeting of the church?

"Praise the Lord! Praise God in His sanctuary; Praise Him in His mighty firmament! Praise Him for His mighty acts; Praise Him for His excellent greatness! Praise Him with the sound of the trumpet; Praise Him with the lute and the harp! Praise Him with the timbrel and dance; Praise Him with stringed instruments and flutes! Praise Him with loud cymbals! Praise Him with high sounding cymbals! Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!" PSA 150:1-6

The argument put forward by those who forbear to worship God with musical instruments in the meeting of the assembly is that the New Testament Scriptures are silent concerning the use of musical instruments in assembly meetings. This view is held not only by the Church of Christ Denomination, but also by the brethren who frequent "Gospel Halls" in many cities in the U.S. and Canada. I have heard the full counsel of many of their elders on this belief, and am now prepared to demonstrate that the holding of this belief is not just an area of christian liberty, or the holding of a particular conviction, but the robbery from God of an important element of worship to which He is not only entitled, but which He demands.

Let me preface my remarks with the observation that these folks are absolutely correct and they are to be commended for their assertion that we are not to be inventive in our worship of the Lord. If it were true that instrumental music was never a part of the worship of the New Testament assembly meeting, they would be correct to proscribe its use.

Persons and groups who subscribe to this view, must of necessity dispense with the Old Testament in one way or another, because these books of scripture are replete with instances of worshiping the Lord through songs accompanied by musical instruments and indeed by the playing of musical instruments alone! Paul indeed wrote to the assembly at Colossae,

"And you, being dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He has made alive together with Him, having forgiven you all trespasses, having wiped out the handwriting of requirements that was against us, which was contrary to us. And He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." COL 2:13,14

But does this mean that the whole of the Old Testament has been discarded! I would not call the playing of musical instruments in the worship of the Lord, that which "was against us" or "contrary to us"! In fact, because the Law made us unworthy to worship and Christ's death has made us free of the Law, we now can worship Him "in Spirit, and in Truth." Christ said to the Father in His high-priestly prayer, "Thy Word is Truth". At the time He spoke it, the New Testament had not been written. In fact while the writers of the New Testament were adjuring the reading, teaching, feeding on, and preaching of the Word of God, they were speaking of the Old Testament!
Another of their proofs that the Old Testament has been done away is found in the account of the "Transfiguration". The argument is as follows:
When the Father said from the cloud, "This is my beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased," Moses and Elijah were standing and conversing with Christ on the mount. The Father, then said, "Hear HIM!", referring to Christ. Moses represents the Law,and Elijah is representative of the Prophets. The Church of Christ teaches that what this means is that although in times past one paid heed to the writings of the the Old Testament, known then as the Law and the Prophets one must now abandon Moses and Elijah for Christ, or the Old Testament, for the New Testament. (MAT 17:1-5)
There is no reason not to assume that the opposite is true, that Jesus in the account of the Transfiguration is commended by the presence of the larger than life, Moses and Elijah.

The intelligent way to approach this argument is not to pull some meaning out of this text either way, but to find its meaning in other scripture. The Lord has graciously seen fit to provide us with an explanation of these events through one who was witness to them. Peter (it was Peter, James, and John who accompanied our Lord to the mount,) said in his second letter,

"For we did not follow cunningly devised fables when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but were eyewitnesses of His majesty. For He received from God the Father honor and glory when such a voice came to Him from the Excellent Glory:
'This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.'
And we heard this voice which came from heaven when we were with Him on the holy mountain.
We also have the Prophetic Word made more sure which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts; knowing this first, that no prophecy of scripture is of any isolated interpretation, for prophecy never came by the will of man, but holy men of God spoke as they were moved by the Holy Spirit." 2PE 1:16-21

Peter makes clear that instead of being superseded by new events, the "Prophetic Word" (the Old Testament) has been made "more sure". Instead of telling us to forbear to refer to it, he says

"which you do well to heed... ...Until the day dawns and the Morning Star rises in your hearts."

Far from telling us to abandon the old for the new, he says that we are to heed them until the Morning Star (Christ) returns!

In chapter 13 of Matthew's gospel, Christ concludes His parabolic discourse with one final parable. He then concludes with the meaning of the parable,

"Therefore every scribe instructed concerning the kingdom of heaven is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and old." MAT 13:52

The only things done away with in the Old Testament are those things which were "contrary to us" and which were "against us". Those in the Church of Christ would do well to heed their own teachings on the silence of scripture in regard to making broad unscriptural judgements in dismissing the greater part of the Bible!

Many of those who hold to the erroneous view that musical instruments are not to be used in the assembly meeting believe that it is alright to use musical instruments outside the assembly meeting, but never in the meeting itself. They very often point to Paul's letter to Ephesus to prove that the only instrument to be used in making music, is the heart.

"And do not be drunk with wine in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord..." EPH 5:18,19

What is very interesting is that the assembly meeting is found nowhere near these words of Paul! The context has to do with going about one's daily life and not behavior in an assembly meeting. If they wish to make use of this passage to support their view, they must also cease the use of instruments outside the assembly meeting!

Contrary to the teaching of these individuals, the New Testament is not silent on the issue of whether or not to use musical instruments in the assembly.

The New Testament was originally written entirely in "Koine" (or marketplace) Greek. It was not written in "Classical" Greek as you might anticipate, but God chose to make his word available in the current language of the people, and with very limited vocabulary as well. (Contrast this with the desires of the Roman Catholic church which for many years burned any at the stake who dared translate the Latin Vulgate [translated from the Greek into Latin by Jerome] into the "vulgar tongue". Indeed there are many in protestant circles today who contrary to common sense insist that only the "King James Bible" written in 1611 "Elizabethan English", -- a language no longer spoken today -- is the only one authorized by God!)

By referring to the original greek text, we are able to find out the exact meaning of the words used in the New Testament. To begin with, there are only three words used in the New Testament which speak of making music. These are:

WORDS USED IN THESE PASSAGES
"Ado" EPH 5:19, COL 3:16, REV 5:9, 14:3, 15:3
"Psallo" ROM 15:9, 1CO 14:15, EPH 5:19, JAM 5:13
"Hymneo" MAT 26:30, MAR 14:26, ACT 16:25, HEB 2:12
Let's take a few moments to look at the true meaning of one of these words, "PSALLO".
Here are some definitions and descriptions of this word from several "non-sectarian" word study resources:

NEW ENGLISHMAN'S GREEK CONCORDANCE

Psallo - Fr. "Psao" - to pluck a lyre

VINE'S EXPOSITORY DICTIONARY
Psallo - Primarily to twitch, to twang, then to play a stringed instrument with the fingers, and hence in the Septuagint - to sing with a harp.
(Also in VINE'S under "Hymnos" the noun form of the verb "Hymneo", the following is said concerning the difference between the word "Psalmos" (the noun form of "Psallo") and "Hymneo" is that
"The Psalmos denoted that which had musical accompaniment..."

STRONG'S EXHAUSTIVE CONCORDANCE
5567 Psallo - probably strengthened from "psao" - to rub or touch the surface, (compare with 5597 "Psocho" - to rub out kernels from husks with fingers or hand-rub.) to twitch or twang, ie. to play on a stringed instrument, (celebrate the divine worship with music and accompanying odes: - make melody, sing songs.)
5568 - Psalmos - Psalm. A set piece of music ie. a sacred ode accompanied with the voice, harp, or other instrument.

The Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew. The apostles and Christ, however, did not read from the Hebrew bible. Instead, they read from a version of the Greek Old Testament known as "The Septuagint". The Septuagint had been translated from the Hebrew about 300 years before the time of Christ. We have this bible available to us today, and it is a wonderful resource to even better find the meaning of New Testament Koine Greek terms as we can see what words were used to translate Old Testament Hebrew words.

The word "Psallo" was used to translate the Hebrew word, "Zamar". To better understand why the translators chose the word "Psallo" as being the best greek translation of this word, let's look at the critically acclaimed two volume "Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament" for help in determining the meaning of the word, "Zamar".

THE THEOLOGICAL WORDBOOK OF THE OLD TESTAMENT
Vol. 1, pg. 245, #558. on the word "Zamar".
"It is cognate to Akkadian "Zamaru" - to sing, play an instrument."
"Sometimes Zamar is directly linked with a musical instrument as is "Zimra". The lyre, PS 71:22, the ten stringed lyre, Ps. 33:2, 144:9, the harp, Ps. 98:5, and the tambourine, Ps. 149:3, are all used to "make music" in praising the Lord. The parallel line in Ps. 149:3 speaks about praising the Lord with dancing. In light of these references, singing may not always be implied when Zamar or its cognates occur."

There is only one scripture which remotely hints at music during an assembly meeting, and that is found in Paul's first letter to the assembly at Corinth.
"How is it then, brethren? Whenever you come together, each of you has a psalm, has a teaching, has a tongue, has a revelation, has an interpretation." 1CO 14:26

Paul was clearly speaking of the special meeting of the assembly as he used the words he always used when speaking of that meeting, "Come together". In 1CO 11, He used this term to speak of their gathering for the Lord's Supper. In ACT 20:7, they "came together" to break bread. There are many other instances where the term "come together" is seen as referring to the special first day meeting of the church when the Lord's Supper was celebrated.

In teaching how they were to behave in this meeting, Paul used the words "each of you has a psalm." (Gr. Psalmos - Music sung with instrumental accompaniment)
As we have seen from our word study, the word "psalm" (greek "psalmos") speaks of music which is either accompanied by musical instruments, or the playing of musical instruments alone!

The scripture is NOT silent on the use of instruments in the New Testament assembly meeting!

Worship is the reason for which Christ gave Himself for us. God desired those who would worship Him "in Spirit and in Truth". To accomplish this, worshippers had to be made clean. Satan knows that the elect of God will be saved. He cannot interfere with God's bringing those He has chosen to Himself. Satan's only hope with interfering with God's plan is to compromise christians in the area for which they were brought to God by Christ -- worship. The forbearance of some to praise the Lord with instruments is just one more evidence of Satan's tireless efforts in thwarting God's will in the assembly.

His victories are manifold. The purpose of meeting of the assembly has been changed from meeting on the first day of the week to break bread in the Lord's Supper, (ACT 2:42,46, ACT 20:7, 1CO 11:20) to the usurping of Christ's title "Chief Shepherd" by one individual to monopolize the meeting with his own views to the exclusion of all others in direct disobedience of 1CO 14:26-40. While Paul said in his letters that it was "shameful" for women to speak in the assembly, (1CO 14:33b-35) women are now being made "pastors", and in disobedience to his 7 reasons they were to wear coverings on their heads, (1CO 11:2-16), women, symbolizing the glory of man, display their glory, their hair, in stiffnecked, brazen defiance to their Lord, robbing Him of an opportunity to receive the praise of angels who are witness to the disobedience or obedience of the assembly. (EPH 3:10, 1CO 11:10, 1PE 1:12, EXO 25:20)

In addition to the evidences of apostasy given above, the Church of Christ, has been easily used by Satan to cause the elect of God to cease worshiping God in the manner He has revealed. They are those of whom Paul disapproved in his first letter to Corinth when he said many carnal believers made the claim "I'm of Christ", 1CO 1:12.

How interesting that these make the claim that musical instruments were acceptable to God in the Old Testament and that they will also be acceptable in the Last Day. (REV 5:8, 14:2, 15:2-3) Are we to believe that during this "parenthesis in time", that God is not pleased with the worship offered using musical instruments?

In Ezekiel 28, the account is given about the origins of Satan. He was "the anointed cherub which covers". He was the angel in charge of guarding the glory of God. He was given musical instruments on the day he was created. Some scholars believe the implication is that they were part of his anatomy!

"The workmanship of your timbrels and pipes was prepared for you on the day you were created" EZE 28:13b

God prepared the angel in charge of His glory with musical instruments. This is another clear indication that God is not only pleased with them, but that he created a special being with them -- not for Satan's own entertainment -- but to enable him to provide worship for his Lord.
The Lord desires to be worshiped with musical instruments. To deprive Him of this is the worst kind of sin against Him!

Take heed to the final words of the entire book of Psalms.

"Love of the Truth Ministries" seeks in the spirit of the New Testament letters to Preach the Word and to correct, rebuke and encourage, with patience and careful instruction, the assemblies gathered to Jesus Christ. It ignores denominational divisions and reaches out to all who have ears to hear in these last days. Please do not ask for a doctrinal statement. We have none as we are constantly changing our understanding as we bring ourselves continuously into conformity to what we are learning from God's Word. To conserve resources, we do not distribute hard copies of these articles but make them available on the world wide web. You may download, create and distribute our articles in printed form. We ask that you let us know how you are using them so that we may determine the wisdom and /or effectiveness of continuing this ministry.

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