Many times in my life, I’ve known Christians (both leaders and lay) to teach or act as if music (and/or the other Arts) were unimportant or peripheral to the real issues of the Faith, viewing it as a pleasant but unessential part of the life of a follower of Christ (and sometimes even condemning it because of the pleasure it brings). Is this what God thinks?  What does the Bible say concerning the place of music in our lives?

Let us look at the first explicit mention of music in Scripture.  Genesis 4:20-22 reads, “And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.  And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and flute.  And Zillah, she also bare Tubal-cain, an instructor of every craftsman in brass and iron…”. This is very early in mankind’s history, and here we see God providing the beginnings of livestock-raising (through Jabal), technology (through Tubal-cain), and music as a craft (through Jubal) all at the same time, and this bears eloquent importance to mankind.  Men need not only to eat and to have tools, but to take part in artistic expression through music, as well.

This truth is borne out in the rest of God’s Word, since huge portions of the Divinely-inspired and inerrant Scriptures (2 Tim 3:16; 2 Pet 1:20-21) are songs, testifying that God prepared musicians among His people so that He might utilize their talents to reveal Himself to us.  Consider these examples (and their authors): The Psalms (David, Asaph, and Solomon); the Song of Moses (Ex 15:1-21); and of Deborah and Barak (Jdg 5:1-31); portions of the Prophets Great and Minor; in the New Testament, the worship in Revelation is replete with songs of praise; many scholars believe (with excellent reason) that John 1:1-18; Eph 5:14; and Phil 2:6-11 are quotations by John and Paul of hymns or chants of the Earliest Church (there are others, too).

Paul and Silas, in prison at Philippi, spent the night hours “praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25).  Paul accepts the right of each worshipper to propose a hymn (1 Cor 14:13-17, 26) and sang both with his spirit and his mind (1 Cor 14:15).  Very importantly, Jesus sang with His disciples at the Last Supper (Mt 26:30; Mk 14:26).  Finally, we are commanded by God to sing; it is a Christian duty (Ps. 81:1, 95:1; Eph 5:19; Col 3:16; Jas 5:13; and many others).

Rather than peripheral or unimportant to the Faith of Jesus, it seems to me that Scripture shows music (and thus musicians) as vital to the well-being of the world (since the world’s only hope is the Gospel preached by the Church to Christ’s Glory).  There must be songs of worship and praise, testimony and evangelism, and even songs that set forth the true Glory of God in love relationships, politics, etc., for the Church (and through Her, the world) to be fulfilled.  Let us arise, then, fellow sons and daughters of Jubal, and make music to God’s Glory.