David and the Israelites sang and danced enthusiastically as they carried the ark from Kirjath Jearim to its new home in the new City of David. We should not despise people for the way they worship as David’s wife did when David danced before the Lord as the ark was brought into Jerusalem. Instead of praising God with all of Israel, Michal looked on from her window with loathing (1 Chr 15:29). Was there something wrong with David’s worship? Apparently, his wife did not approve. But only God knows the heart and motive of every individual (Jer 17:10).

Having said that, it is appropriate to lament if we see God’s will being ignored (Ez 9:4). There is much that we do not know about David’s dance and music style. What did it look and sound like? We do not know. It has been lost to antiquity.^33,34 This limits how much we can take away from the story to apply to our worship in our time. More importantly, this story is not so much a lesson about worship style as it is a lesson about obedience to God’s will. God taught Abraham and David many lessons while ignoring some of their undesirable practices, such as polygamy. Sometimes we look to godly people, like David, as our example without considering God’s will first. David hated His enemies with ‘perfect hatred’ (Ps 139:22), yet Jesus counselled us to love our enemies (Matt 5:44). Everything we read in the Bible must be viewed in light of God’s will for us – which is determined by diligently studying everything He has taught us and not just bits and pieces.

In his first attempt to move the ark, David got it terribly wrong and, tragically, a joyful celebration ended in the death of Uzzah (1 Chr 13:9-10) and the postponement of the mission to move the ark. As they were carrying the ark, one of the oxen stumbled and Uzzah, one of the men driving the cart, impulsively put his arm out to steady the ark. For this seemingly innocent act, God instantly struck him dead. Immediately before this, the Israelites had been singing, dancing and praising God with all their might. Is sincerity not enough? What went wrong? David was in disbelief that God would do such a thing and was angry with Him (1 Chr 13:11). Upon reflection, however, he realised their mistake:

“…the Lord our God broke out against us, because we did not consult Him about the proper order.” (1 Chr 15:13)

Though David was sincere in his desire to honour God, he was careless in the way he went about it. David and the religious leaders failed to diligently search the Scriptures for divine leading. We must follow divine commands rather than human reasoning. Ignorance is no excuse if there has been no thorough inquiry of God. God is not looking for expediency but loving devotion and faithfulness. He desires us to be in harmony with Him and His law.

On his second attempt, David was careful to move the ark according to the law of Moses. He also made sure the music was conducted with care and orderliness, unlike the first time (1 Chr 15:1-24). The second time round, he got it as right as he knew how according to the light God had revealed to him and only then did God accept his worship.

Praise and worship has to be put into its proper perspective. Primarily, we praise and worship God by our cheerful submission to His will. “Cain brought an offering of the fruit of the ground to the Lord (Gen 4:3).” But God “did not respect Cain and his offering(v5)” because it was not according to God’s instruction. When God sent Saul to attack Amalek, He commanded him to utterly destroy all that they had, without sparing them, including all of their livestock (1 Sam 15:3). “But Saul and the people spared Agag and the best of the sheep, the oxen, the fatlings, the lambs, and all that was good, and were unwilling to utterly destroy them (v9).” When Samuel the prophet arrived, Saul said to him, “I have performed the commandment of the Lord.” But Samuel said “What then is this bleating of the sheep in my ears, and the lowing of the oxen which I hear… Why then did you not obey the voice of the Lord(v14&19)?” Saul argued:

“But I have obeyed the voice of the Lord, and gone on the mission on which the Lord sent me, and brought back Agag king of Amalek; I have utterly destroyed the Amalekites. But the people took of the plunder, sheep and oxen, the best of the things which should have been utterly destroyed, to sacrifice to the Lord your God in Gilgal.” (v20-21)

In reply, Samuel said:

“Has the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed than the fat of rams. For rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness is as iniquity and idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, He also has rejected you from being king.” (v22-23)

Saul reasoned in his own mind what made practical sense and, accordingly, decided to make some alterations to the prophet’s instructions. However, God desires an attitude of complete surrender to Him and complete harmony with His will. We are to take heed to divine commands. In Eden, God gave the command not to eat of the tree in the midst of the Garden, but the serpent questioned Eve’s understanding of this command. God understands our human weaknesses and makes provision for our failures, but when we neglect to make obedience a priority, or if our motive is not genuine, He is displeased.

Love should be our motive, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life (Jn 3:16).” Before we even needed saving, “God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.  Then God blessed them (Gen 1:27-28).” We obey God because He created us and He saved us. That is a double blessing! Therefore, we worship God out of joy. Jesus said that we have joy when we abide in His love and keep His commandments (Jn 15:9-11). We can sing songs of lament for our sins, as David did (Ps 51) and we can sing songs of joy when we are in harmony with our creator and saviour, but fervent singing and dancing does not prove our faithfulness to God, as David discovered. Our music is meaningless to God if we are out of harmony with Him:

“Take away from Me the noise of your songs, for I will not hear the melody of your stringed instruments. But let justice run down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.” (Amos 5:23-24)

Even our music must be in tune with God. But how do we know what music pleases Him? For the first two and a half thousand years of Bible history, God is silent on music. The foundation of many Biblical doctrines was laid down in Genesis, some of which appear even before the fall, such as: creation, the Trinity, marriage between man and woman, the nature of humanity and the Sabbath. However, there is no mention of the use of music in the Garden of Eden or by the patriarchs, though it is almost inconceivable to believe that music would not have been used by God’s people during that time period.

It is not until after the Tabernacle is built in the wilderness that God introduces music to his people, namely, the trumpet (Num 10:1-10). Later on, during the time of David, we learn that God had allowed other instruments to be used along with the trumpet – also in the context of temple ritual (2 Chr 29:25). Again, throughout Jesus’ ministry and the apostolic age, little reference is made to music other than several brief references to singing. There is no ecstatic worship, no trumpets, no tambourines, no shouting and no dancing in the ministry of Jesus and the apostles.

It is not until we get to the book of Revelation that music and instruments suddenly re-emerge as a significant part of the narrative. Why was music, especially the use of instruments, only emphasised in the context of the temple periods and not prior to this or during Jesus’ ministry? How do we explain this apparent dichotomy between temple ritual and Jesus’ ministry? If we are to understand God’s will in this matter, it must be thrashed out until we find a satisfactory answer – until we find harmony in Scripture. A half-hearted effort to know God’s will is not good enough, as David discovered. God is not looking for expediency but obedience. What does God expect of us? Do we honour Him correctly? Is our praise and worship appropriate?

One of the most frequently and hotly debated questions in modern Christianity is whether the style of music is important or only the lyrics accompanying the music. Most Christians sit on one side of the fence or the other on this question. For many, the choice is based on ‘gut feeling’. They may wrestle with the question for a while, eventually making up their mind one way or the other, maybe due to the persuasion of an influential figure and, more often than not, without a thorough searching of Scripture.

Despite the diversity in opinion, practically all Christians would draw the line at voodoo or black metal music being put to Christian lyrics. Voodoo music is traditionally used to bring on a trance state and invoke spirits. Black metal, well, it just sounds so evil. But is it possible for music to be evil? Can it truly invoke demons? Can music, apart from the lyrics, lead us either closer to God or further from him? Can music in itself be immoral or worldly and lead us into deception? We can try to determine the answers to these questions through science and human intuition, which will be discussed throughout the book, but far more important is to consider what God has told us about music.

So, how can we know if we are in harmony with God’s will? There are many different interpretations of the Bible from theologians and Bible scholars. Who do we listen to? Is the predominant view the most accurate? How can we know what is correct? In the end, each of us must make up our own mind. However, we can have much more confidence in a teaching if it is a direct command from God or His prophets. Teachings based on plain language is also more reliable than those based on obscure or metaphorical language. Teachings repeated numerous times throughout the Bible, including the Old and New Testaments, and practised by godly Bible characters is also more reliable. Whereas, if we base our understanding of God’s will on what feels right, on the opinion of others, on isolated verses or on the literal interpretation of poetic language, we are bound to misinterpret Scripture. We must study all of God’s Word carefully, with much sincere prayer and with humility.

Kenneth H. Wood, editor of the Review and Herald from 1966 to 1982, reminds us that careful evaluations in music are as important as they are in doctrine. For every good thing from God, the devil has a counterfeit and right and wrong are not matters of personal taste, he argues. Regarding the issue of music, he advises:

“Those who are truly concerned about pleasing God will not treat them lightly. They will endeavor to see things as God sees them, and hear things as God hears them.”³⁵

Since early times, Christianity has been concerned about the purity of its music and it is one of the most difficult and sensitive tasks to deal with.⁹ This is because music has powerful influence over our mind and body – the science of these effects is fascinating and we will cover some of the interesting facts throughout the book. But first, we need to continue with some groundwork.

Before we move on to the next chapter, it is important to point out that the purpose of this book is not to ridicule any particular individual for their particular practices or choice of music. Having said that, there will be occasions when certain individuals or organisations are said to be at fault. By doing so, it is not suggesting that they are any less important in the sight of God than was King David who had faults but was, nonetheless, loved by God. Likewise, just because faults are suggested in institutions does not mean that every individual in those institutions is at fault. The aim of this book is not to find fault in others, but to have an open and honest discussion so that we may find harmony with our Lord. None of us can claim to be in perfect harmony with God but we can help each other move closer to that aim.