MUSIC IN WORSHIP Music and Worship in the Bible The Spiritual Song WHAT COUNTS IN MUSIC Singing the Psalms

1. A STUDY OF WORSHIP PART 3
COMPILED AND EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
F. MUSIC IN WORSHIP
MUSIC IN WORSHIP
The Bible is brimming with music, song, chant, refrains, and
commemoration. The Hebrew poetry of the Prophets and Writings lends
itself to being sung. The Psalms are really worship lyrics. Embedded
in the histories are several songs, including those of Miriam and
Hannah. One of the great heroes of the Jewish tradition is David, who
was not only a King, but a good musician and songwriter (something
said of no other ancient Jewish hero). The most natural setting for
most of these Biblical lyrics is in worship. Also, Paul's letters have
several small liturgical verses in them, which may have been chanted.
The Bible records that God's worshippers stood up in song (2 Chr
20:19), clapped their hands (Ps 47:1), lifted or raised their hands
(Ps 63:4; 134:2; 1 Tm 2:8), and spoke and sung loud praises (Ps 34:1;
103:1; Ac 4:24). There were many different kinds of songs, used for
many different worship purposes (Ep 5:18:19; Col 3:16). A wide array
of musical instruments were used (Ps 150:3-5; Rv 14:2). Indeed, it
appears that Jewish worship in ancient times, and Christian worship to
this day, has been a prime generator of musical styles and forms and
instruments. These new kinds of music worked their way into the world
at large, giving it great joy, expressing deep sadness, touching
people in a way that can only be described as 'spiritual'.
The most common Christian statement of praise is "hallelujah!". It
translates roughly to 'Praise YHWH'. Its Hebrew root word halal is
best caught as 'to resound' or 'to make noise'. A Hebrew word which
more precisely means 'praise' is zamar , which according to the
Writings includes the playing of instruments.
Not all Christians have supported the use of instruments. The early
church leader Clement, in his *Protreptikos*, argued against
instruments and in favor of the use of the human voice, and for the
mystical music of the art of one's living. Philip Pfatteicher
paraphrases Clement, in *The School Of the Church*, p.61 : "The Lord
made humanity a beautiful breathing instrument after his own image,
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2. God's harp by reason of the music, God's pipe by reason of the breath
of the Spirit, God's temple by reason of the Word, so that the music
should resound, the Spirit inspire, and the temple receive its Lord."
In the Reconstructionist tradition of the Churches of Christ, and in
parts of other Southern US traditions, many congregations forbid the
use of instruments and 'fancy' choirs, favoring simplicity and
directness in worship. White Baptist churches often come down harshly
on anything that smacks of a dance rhythm.
I very much love to see instruments in worship music, as a way to
express some things that words don't, to help us remember praises for
God throughout the week, and as a way for artists to offer their arts
before the Lord. But then again, I am a big fan of acappella
<http://www.casa.org/> singing of all kinds. Clement's approach led in
its way to the great Gregorian Chants
<http://silvertone.princeton.edu/chant_html/>, which have a kind of
aural purity that even the totally worldly can get swept into. Some of
the non-instrumental and no-dance churches were big supporters of
sacred small group singing, which itself led to so many of the sacred
and popular music singing groups that nearly all people have come to
enjoy. Some (including myself) would argue that restrictions on
musical styles in worship are wrong. However, the Spirit has never let
these rules stop the music; creative musical or related dramatic forms
of expressing faith in Christ will develop around the edges. In a way,
that's the best proof of all that the Spirit is at work in music to
bear witness to Christ.
Christians can worship using any style of music, but there are still
some limits. Good worship music is not about the worshipper, but about
the Worshipped One. Thus, it is wrong for the music to be done mostly
to entertain those present, or to be saying all the right and expected
things that allow people to stay in spiritual slumber, or to be
tricked-up love songs done in karioke. The lyrics matter, because the
words are the Spirit's normal means of striking that special chord
within us, or teaching us the lesson we need to repeat till it sinks
in.
MUSIC IN WORSHIP "The primary functions of music in worship are to
facilitate the dialogue and to contribute to that dialogue. Though
aesthetic delight, personal enjoyment, and opportunity for a performer
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3. to share a talent may be by-products of the use of music in worship,
none of these should be a primary purpose. Unless music can make a
meaningful contribution to the dialogue of worship, it should be
omitted. It would be better for music to be absent than for it to be
an interruption or distraction." -- Gary A. Furr and Milburn Price in
THE DIALOGUE OF WORSHIP: CREATING SPACE FOR REVELATION AND RESPONSE,
Smyth & Helwys, 1998.
The first and most solid conclusion which (for me) emerges is that
both musical parties, the High Brows and the Low, assume far too
easily the spiritual value of the music they want. Neither the
greatest excellence of a trained performance from the choir, nor the
heartiest and most enthusiastic bellowing from the pews, must be taken
to signify that any specifically religious activity is going on. It
may be so, or it may not. C. S. Lewis, in "On Church Music," from
CHRISTIAN REFLECTIONS, Eerdmans, 1967. ============ [Lewis, a non-
singer, is obviously pushing the point that true worship is from the
heart. See the first chapter of Isaiah to see what God thinks of
religious observance without appropriate heart attitude.
1. MUSIC IN THE BIBLE
Music and Worship in the Bible
by R. C. Leonard
Music has a powerful effect on human experience. Students of
religious phenomena have long recognized that music transcends our
understanding and appeals to our intuitive nature. It is not
surprising, then, that music played an important part in the worship
of biblical communities, as a way of approaching the mystery of God
and of expressing the joy of his presence. This article discusses the
role of music in the worship of Israel and of the early church, by way
of establishing a biblical foundation for music in theChristian
worship of today.
Music in Israelite Worship Israelite prophets were
musicians. During the exodus Miriam the prophetess, taking her
tambourine, led the women in song and dance, celebrating the Lord's
triumph over the Egyptians (Exod. 15:20-21). Saul encountered a band
of sanctuary prophets who prophesied accompanied by instruments (1
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4. Sam. 10:5). Isaiah composed songs, including one celebrating the
Lord's deliverance of those who trust in him (Isa. 26:1-6). The public
regarded Ezekiel as "one who has a beautiful voice and plays well on
an instrument" (33:32). David, a musician as well as a warrior,
established the place of music in the worship of the Lord. Even before
the sacrifices had been moved to Jerusalem, he instructed the
Levitical musicians to celebrate the ark's journey to Zion (1 Chron.
15:16-24), and appointed Asaph as chief musician in charge of
continual thanksgiving and praise (1 Chron. 16:1-7). The description
of this activity (1 Chron. 25:1-7) suggests that these musicians led
in a spontaneous and overwhelming outpouring of worship, especially at
high moments like the dedication of Solomon's temple (2 Chron
5:11-14). This may be the "new song" to which the Psalms refer (33:3,
40:3, 96:1, 144:9, 149:1). Many Psalms perhaps originated in this pre-
temple Davidic worship centering around the ark of the covenant. In
the temple, music functioned as a "sacrifice of praise," an offering
of song to accompany the offering of sacrifice. Under the Judean
rulers, the performance of music became regulated and standardized.
The titles of 55 Psalms refer to the music director, with instructions
for performance on various instruments or using certain tunes. This
psalmody remained a feature of Israelite and Jewish worship. After the
exile, Ezra recruited more than 200 Levites for service in the
sanctuary (Ezra 8:18-20). First-century Jewish sources indicate that
the choir of Herod's temple consisted of at least twelve adult male
singers, with no upper limit. Singers served between the ages of
thirty and fifty, after a five-year training period. The sources also
describe the instruments in use at that time. After the Babylonian
exile, most Jews lived in the Dispersion (areas outside of Palestine)
and could not participate in temple worship. Therefore the synagogue
arose for prayer and the study of the Scriptures. The Psalms continued
to be sung, and other portions of the Scriptures as well as prayers
were chanted according to a developing system of "modes." Such Jewish
music influenced the worship of the early church. Israelite worship
music was both vocal and instrumental; the sanctuary orchestra
contributed to the celebration of Israel's covenant with the Lord. Its
instruments fall into the same general classes with which we are
familiar -- percussion, winds (pipes) and strings. Horns, trumpets,
cymbals, harps and lyres were used when the ark was brought to Mount
Zion, and their continued use is reflected in their mention in the
Psalms. The sanctuary instruments were not solo instruments, but
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5. sounded simultaneously to call the assembly to worship (Ps 98:6).
Strings and pipes, if used, probably played the modalities (tune
elements) in the psalm being sung, with perhaps distinctive patterns
of ornamentation. Horns, trumpets and cymbals added to the festive joy
by creating a larger sound. The selah of the Psalms may have been an
instrumental interlude, or a "lifting up" of sound by both singers and
instrumentalists. Tambourines, usually played by women, are mentioned
in connection with dancing at Israelite festivals (Psa. 68:25), but
were not used in the sanctuary where only men served as priests and
musicians.
What did the music of Israel's worship sound like? While we cannot
know today exactly how it sounded, recent research has confirmed the
similarity between Hebraic music and ancient forms of Christian chant.
Biblical music incorporated several characteristic features:
Monophony, the use of an unharmonized melodic line -- although
ornamentation and instrumental accompaniment could create a primitive
form of harmony. Modality refers to the use of various musical motifs
within a certain scale, each with its own function. Ornamentation,
the use of enhancements suited to the skill of the performer.
Rhythm -- Semitic music does not use the regular beat of modern
Western music but has a more complex pattern of time structuring.
Scale -- Semitic music follows a generally diatonic melody, but with
some use of quarter-tone intervals as well as whole or half tones.
Improvisation, the practice of composing the music in the process of
performing it using skills acquired through a long period of training.
Antiphony -- In antiphonal music, groups of performers answer one
another in statement and response. Examples in biblical worship may be
found in the Psalms (Pss. 24, 118) and the "Holy, holy, holy" of
Isaiah's seraphim (Isa. 6:3), in a vision no doubt influenced in its
expression by the chanting of priestly choirs. This last feature
suggests that the congregation, as well as trained musicians, may have
been involved in the musical responses of the service.
Worship Music in the New Testament The worship of
the emerging Christian movement did not produce new forms of music,
but shared the characteristics described above, many of which are
still found in the music of historic liturgies. Clearly, the worship
life of the early church included psalms and other forms of song. The
New Testament mentions worship music in several places. The gospel
story begins with a hymn of praise on the lips of the heavenly host,
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6. "Glory to God in the highest" (Luke 2:14). Reading the lesson from
Isaiah in the synagogue of Nazareth (Luke 4:16-20), Jesus probably
intoned it according to the custom of the time. The Gospels record
that Jesus and his disciples sang a hymn after the Last Supper (Matt.
26:30; Mark 14:26), probably the "Great Hallel" (Psalms 113-118) of
the Passover tradition. Luke records that Paul and Silas were singing
hymns in prison at Philippi when an earthquake occurred (Acts 16:25).
Paul urges the Christians of Ephesus and Colossae to give thanks to
God in "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16).
Describing the assembly of the church of Corinth, he remarks that
"everyone has a psalm" (1 Cor. 14:26) which must blend with the
contributions of other worshipers in an orderly service. Perhaps
"psalms" were the biblical psalms, while "hymns" could have been
Christian music in praise of Christ and "spiritual songs" more
spontaneous worship expressions. Luke quotes several hymns in the
beginning chapters of his Gospel. In addition to the Gloria in
Excelsis mentioned above, he includes the Magnificat or Song of Mary
(1:46-55), the Benedictus or Song of Zechariah (1:67-79) and the Nunc
Dimittis or Song of Simeon (2:29-32). Although spoken by several
figures in the story of Jesus' birth, these hymns came to be used in
Christian worship at an early period. Paul quotes what may have been
another song, "Awake, O sleeper," in Eph. 5:14. Scholars have
suggested that other passages in Paul's letters are based on primitive
Christian hymns in praise of Christ, such as Philippians 2:6-11,
Colossians 1:15-20 and 1 Timothy 3:16. Such hymns may have been
composed to reinforce Christian teaching about the nature of Jesus'
Messiahship. The Hosanna hymn of the crowds at Jesus' entry into
Jerusalem (Mark 11:9, based on Psa. 118:26) became part of the
historic Christian eucharistic celebration. Musical expression of
Christian worship reaches its New Testament climax in the hymns of the
Revelation to John. In John's vision, acts of praise before God's
throne accompany the dramatic unfolding of events on earth. These
hymns glorify the Creator (4:11), proclaim the worth of the Lamb
(5:9-10; 5:12), extol both the Father and the Son (5:13; 7:10; 7:12),
celebrate God's triumph over the enemies of his people (11:16;
11:17-18; 12:10-12; 19:1-3; 19:6-8), and proclaim his justice (15:3-4;
16:5-7). Additional songs celebrate the defeat of the unfaithful city,
persecutor of the saints (chapter 18). This pageant of praise is
initiated by four living creatures drawn from the vision of Ezekiel,
singing words derived from Isaiah's vision in the temple (Rev. 4:8).
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7. It expands to include the elders of the covenant people, the hosts of
heaven, and eventually every creature. Perhaps these hymns reflect the
actual worship practice of the church near the end of the first
century. If so, the Revelation offers a window not only into the
judgments of God in the earth but also into the development of
Christian liturgy and hymnody. The New Testament does not supply
enough detail to reconstruct the exact musical content of developing
Christian worship. We should avoid the temptation to project the
practices of later centuries back into Bible times. One question is
the degree to which Israelite musical practices, including the use of
instruments, offer a clue to what was thought appropriate in the New
Testament church. Since the Hebrew Scriptures were still the authority
for teaching and practice (1 Tim. 3:16-17), their broad principles
regarding music must have remained the norm. The young church was a
community under persecution, and could not apply the full resources of
biblical celebration to its worship assemblies. Nevertheless, the
evidence shows that music played a vital role in the worship of the
emerging Christian community. ©1997 by Laudemont Ministries
2.CONTEMPORARY MUSIC
Top of Form 1
Bottom of Form 1
A Delirious New Sound
by Clive Price
Their sound is fresh. Their passion for God is raw and vulnerable. The
British band Delirious is setting a new standard for worship in the
future.
When the British rock band Delirious hit the stage recently for a
performance at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, the eagerness
that blanketed the Christian audience was as thick as the humidity in
the subtropical air. Staying cool on this hot September night would be
no option, but that was of little concern to the 250 or so young
people elbowing for position near the stage. For them, "cool" would
come in the form of Delirious themselves, a five-piece Christian band
that's hopping cultures, denominations and international boundaries
with a music and stage presence that communicates unabashed passion
for Jesus.
Lead singer Martin Smith, 29--dressed black-on-black in the esprit de
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8. corps color of cool--paced the stage and took in the scene with a
magnetic gaze. Backed by a shuddering burst of volume, the quintet of
lads from England's south coast plunged into their set with intense
abandon. Smith's signature accent came through cleanly as he belted
out the opening song, "I'm Not Ashamed," an elevating rock anthem of
dedication to Jesus.
"I'm not ashamed of the gospel! / I'm not ashamed of the One I love! /
I'm not ashamed anymore / 'Cause I've felt the oil pour down over me /
And there's a fire that's burning stronger now / It's burning
stronger, much stronger for You / Only for You."
Guitarist Stuart Garrard, 36, hammered the point home with molar-
rattling volume, distortion and reverb. While Smith stomped across the
stage, the rhythm section of drummer Stewart Smith, 32, and bassist
Jon Thatcher, 23, got their money's worth from the P.A. system and
pounded the breath from the collective chest of an engrossed audience.
For the next 50 minutes, it was the kind of night ear plugs were made
for. But it also was a night to glimpse a band that personifies a
sound that is shaking the foundations of worship music in American
churches, redefining the corporate worship experience and turning the
ears of many to the sounds of international revival.
Music to Get Delirious With
Walking a precarious yet artful line between the energy of rock and
the passion of praise, Delirious has a popular appeal that makes it
one of the hottest properties in worldwide Christian music. The U.K.'s
main music and culture magazine, Q, has heralded them as "the hottest
thing in Christian rock" and described their faith as "forceful rather
than force-fed."
When their reflective songs--usually driven by strong hook lines--are
played live, the response is an ocean of arms raised heavenward. On
the heavily electric-guitar numbers, crowds of believers and
unbelievers alike dance with wild abandon. As one non-Christian told
them once: "I'm not into your religion, but I love your music."
Some people claim to have profound spiritual experiences at their
gigs, such as miraculous healings or salvation. In more simple yet
equally profound moments, others find new hope.
"We have letters every week that say, 'You sung one line, a phrase,
and I'd been depressed for ages and contemplated suicide, but your
words changed my life,'" Stewart Smith told Charisma. "We're in faith
for all sorts of things to happen [in concert]," Martin Smith adds.
Perhaps because of their overtly modern sound, worship leaders in
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9. almost every flash point of Western revival--from Great Britain to
Canada to Argentina to the United States--constantly include a handful
of Delirious songs in their repertoires: "Did You Feel the Mountains
Tremble?" "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever," "Deeper," "The Happy
Song" and "Find Me in the River" to name a few. In some circles,
theirs has become the sound of renewal.
The band's diverse musical influences--from heavy, psychedelic, folk
and glam rock to alternative music, disco, electronica and punk--all
bleed through their sound and have excited a popular shift in focus
from status-quo worship music to the sight, sound and spirit of a new
generation of God-lovers.
While they've had a loyal following in England since 1992, only last
year did U.S. fans start playing catch-up after the group's first
three U.K. records released stateside from Sparrow Records. The
grassroots support has hand-delivered to record executives a band that
is more or less prepared already for popular appeal.
Their new experimental album, Mezzamorphis, which released in June,
has been critically accepted, though criticized somewhat by fans who
say it's too different from the first three Delirious records. Still,
Martin Smith calls it a "worship" album. Garrard defends the record
and told Christian Musician magazine that Delirious creates songs that
come "from a place of worship within us."
"We have a vertical relationship with God," he said. "We definitely
think that worship is a lifestyle that affects everything you do,
rather than just a style of music. Obviously some songs are easier to
sing in church, but this album wasn't written to be that way. But on
the other hand, we didn't think people would be singing [older songs]
'Mountains' or 'History Maker' in church--and they are."
This quintet--who started as a worship band in the "Bible belt" of
southern England--say the Holy Spirit is still a full partner as they
continue to move from the safety of church youth groups into the wild
world of pop music. During a trip from the leafy lanes of their home
county, West Sussex, to MTV studios in London for a taping of a
Christian program, Delirious discussed the way they convey timeless
truth amid a music industry that displays a thin veneer of fad and
fashion.
"After being inside studios for a year [to record Mezzamorphis] you
wonder: Have things moved on? Have we lost it? Is anyone actually
going to turn up?" says Thatcher. "But to get on stage again and
realize the X-factor is still there...."
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10. The "X-factor" is what the band calls "that indescribable touch of
God." It showed up at Brixton Academy, a rock venue in London. In true
Delirious fashion, amid raging rock numbers were songs such as "Kiss
Your Feet."
As Smith sang quietly about God, "Isn't He beautiful / Isn't He
beautiful," a hush descended on the crowd. One concertgoer could no
longer hold back and cried out to Jesus. It became a moment of pure
worship.
Delirious views such experiences as "a mark of what we do," says
Garrard.
"I think it's part of the Delirious live experience coming from days
when we would specifically lead congregational worship.
"It's nice to see that still happening. We don't always consciously
try and make it happen. When it does, it's spontaneous, and it's
great. And I think we're still hearing the Holy Spirit and flowing
with Him on that."
Leaving the Cutting Edge
It is the "Delirious live experience"--primarily its worship facet--
that roots the band most closely to its early days. The group started
in 1992 as a youth worship band at Arun Community Church, a
charismatic congregation on England's south coast. In those days their
audiences averaged about 70 in the drama studio of a local high
school.
They called themselves Cutting Edge, a spinoff from the title of a
hard-hitting documentary series on British television at the time. The
name helped to lend a sense of the radical, perhaps even the
controversial, to the group's image.
"Young people in our church were just hungry for worship," says Tim
Jupp, 33, the band's keyboardist and occasional trumpeter. "They were
finding through worship that there was a dramatic way of meeting God.
That's what kicked it all off, and I think that's still fundamental.
"There's a deep root there that runs through all we do," he adds.
"Whether 'anointing' is the word or not, I think it has been on the
songs and is further highlighted when as a team we come together to
play those songs."
Their well-known worship songs, such as "I Could Sing of Your Love
Forever" or "The Happy Song," which now are sung and played in
churches around the world, helped turn Cutting Edge events into a
highly popular Sunday nightspot venue for young people across southern
England. The group's overall compositions, which leaned more toward an
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11. REM songbook than a church hymnal, also helped set the contemporary
worship agenda for much of the 1990s.
"I've Found Jesus" has become a theme song at Teen Mania conferences.
"Did You Feel the Mountains Tremble?" went worldwide after falling
into the spotlight at the Toronto Airport Christian Fellowship, source
of the Toronto Blessing. The song's crescendo-like chorus became a
favorite.
"Did you feel the mountains tremble? / Did you hear the oceans roar/
When the people rose to sing of Jesus Christ, the Risen One? / Did you
feel the people tremble? / Did you hear the singers roar/ When the
lost began to sing of Jesus Christ, the Saving One? / Open up the
doors and let the music play / Let the streets resound with singing /
Songs that bring Your hope / Songs that bring Your joy / Dancers who
dance upon injustice."
When renewal spread from Toronto, masses of British Christian youth
were impacted. Cutting Edge events became a place where they could
worship with abandon as they expressed God's new work in their lives.
As word of these dynamic worship experiences spread, the band found
themselves in increased demand at Christian festivals and conferences
across England. They produced their own low-priced mini-albums so fans
could afford to take something of this new music experience home with
them. The result was the birth of an underground worship movement that
now is being felt in grassroots arenas across the United States.
During the Christian music festivals in the United States this summer,
a greater hunger for worship music surfaced among young people.
Festival director Bill Graening, whose Alive '99 event in Canal
Fulton, Ohio, saw close to a 20 percent attendance increase over 1998,
told The CCM Update that "there was absolutely [a greater emphasis on
praise and worship]."
"This year, we had a worship team in a huge circus-type tent, and that
was packed in the mornings," he said. "I think all the other
festivals, too, are sensing that there is a real call to worship and a
call for serious commitment."
Unconventional Praise
Now that Delirious has become a globe-trotting band whose albums are
carried by Sparrow and Virgin record companies, can the group still be
spontaneous when the songs have to fit in with sophisticated stage
lighting and visual displays? Can they stay true to their calling?
"When we're talking about the flow of the Holy Spirit, we don't want
to be caught in the trap that it's manifested in just being
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12. 'spontaneous,'" says Martin Smith. He believes Delirious can "flow in
the Spirit" while working hard at presenting a good concert complete
with dynamic special effects.
"We believe that technology has just as much a way of evoking a
spiritual reaction and is just as soaked in the Holy Spirit as what we
are doing," Stewart Smith explains. "They're not two separate things.
Hopefully it's all working as one."
However, things work differently for the band when they're in the
United States. Multimedia shows are replaced by more overt displays of
softer music and passionate worship accompanied by spiritual gifts.
"I think that's a reflection on culture and also where we are," Martin
Smith says. "We want to give the audiences something of what we've
experienced here in England, and we don't just go in with a full-on
rock thing.
"But I think it's a little bit more relaxed in the U.S. There's no
interference from the mainstream media, and it just feels like a bit
more of a safer environment. Here in Britain you could give a word of
knowledge at Brixton, and it might be misconstrued when the media gets
hold of it. But in America you can do different things in different
arenas."
In some ways, however, they have found it challenging to worship
freely in U.S. churches.
"There's a lot of dualism in the United States, and a lot of
religion," Martin Smith adds. "It's OK to go mad at a football game,
but there's not a lot of emotion allowed in church. So I think that
we've maybe provided an environment where kids can worship. This is an
all-consuming experience, and I think maybe we've opened the door for
that in the States and given people permission to enjoy themselves in
church."
Thatcher notes a "great divide" between secular and church cultures in
America.
"That's one big difference between England and America," he says. "In
England, Christians are trying to blend the lines by getting DJs
playing in church and all that kind of thing.
"But in America, DJs are for clubs. The attitude is, 'That's where
they should stay; we've been saved from that.' Yet in England we're
trying to get them back into our churches."
Thatcher believes Christians need to be "influencing the influencers,"
which for them now means daring to take on the secular music industry.
Other believers have tried the same. When Christian rock pioneer Larry
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13. Norman tried it, he ended up being labeled "too rock 'n' roll for the
religious people; too religious for the rock 'n' roll people."
Delirious faces similar criticism. But amid cries of "selling out" the
band stays focused on their strategy.
"We've received a lot of letters lately criticizing where we're going
or why there isn't so much 'anointing' around," says Martin Smith.
"But we believe we're in the right place. And we believe that when you
come to see us, it's still the same thing flowing that flowed on day
one.
"I think there's always going to be a scenario--because of our
history--where people don't think there's enough of what they used to
feel.
"But I think they're looking at it in the wrong frame of mind. They're
seeing it from only one aspect. What we're trying to do is create a
more holistic view of it. We can almost create church without people
knowing it."
The Plot Hasn't Changed
For those who know them, Delirious remains just a band of regular guys
who, with energetic devotion, are raising the bar of worship music to
a new level while taking the gospel to a generation hungry for the
power of God. Whether they are soft-rocking a church sanctuary with
familiar forms of praise music or pile-driving an outdoor amphitheater
at Walt Disney World with all the machinery of rock music, they say
they are conveying the gospel message in the same way that ignited the
fire in British youth seven years ago.
"We're all trying to walk the Christian life as passionately as we
know how, with as much integrity as we know how. I think we're still
that little worship band that we were seven years ago," Martin Smith
reflects. "When we're in private we're still talking about those very
same things that motivated us back then.
"What we're about is the challenge to communicate that in a way that
does truly communicate to folk outside of the church. To get it across
in a way that isn't just limited to language. I think we're getting
there." *
Clive Price is the U.K. correspondent for Charisma and regularly
contributes to Christian magazines in Great Britain. He has followed
the career and ministry of Delirious from the start. Managing editor
Jimmy Stewart did additional reporting for this story.
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14. By Melissa Riddle There is a vast ocean, people say, between the music of the
church and the music of Christian youth. Much of what sails up the charts in
contemporary Christian music has little in common with music for worship. And
much of the music for worship is so far removed from the language and culture of
youth that they cannot find ownership in it. It doesn't express what they feel about
God.
Two weeks before this issue of Worship Leader was going to press, we received the
news of Rich Mullins' tragic death in a car accident. Out of a life of worship, Mullins,
whose song "Awesome God" has become one of the most popular worship choruses
in America today, gave voice to a generation of kids who had not yet found a song
of their own. He painted them a picture of God's infinite bigness, the frailty of
humanness, and the "reckless, raging fury" of God's love.
I never really knew Rich personally, but I'll never forget the moment when I knew
just how important his music was and would be for the church. I was teaching an art
class at a summer day camp, surrounded by 15 4-year-olds, stringing brightly
colored beads for a bracelet. I did my best to wax eloquently about God's gift of
color and nature, but they were otherwise preoccupied, too engrossed in the
stringing to hear me.
A few seconds after I gave up, it started. One little girl, joyfully oblivious to the fact
that she was alone in a group of her peers, began singing. Then one voice at a time
joined in until all of them were singing as only 4-year-olds can-"Our God is an
awesome God / He reigns from heaven above / with wisdom, power and love / Our
God is an awesome God." I tried not to breathe too hard, fearing they would stop.
They sang it loud and long, eventually looking around with eyes that asked, "Isn't
this the coolest song you ever heard?" When the singing finally turned to giggles, I
found a scrap of paper and scribbled in green crayon, "There is hope for the
church."
It was the most beautiful thing I had ever heard.
Two years ago at the Gospel Music Association's convention opening service, I
heard that song again. Many big names in contemporary Christian music industry
were at the Ryman to present an evening of worship. One by one, as the lights
came up, they came out dressed in black, offering their best. But then, much to the
lighting guys' surprise, Rich Mullins began to play the prelude to what has become
his signature song. The choir behind him seemed a little confused that he had
started so soon. Wearing scruffy old jeans, a flannel shirt and a way past five
o'clock shadow, Mullins was alone with his God in that room full of people. He rarely
looked up from the piano, and as far as I could tell, he never opened his eyes. And I
heard "Awesome God" sung with all the intimacy that penned it. Then he slipped off
the stage and out of sight. I remember thinking later that night, "There is hope for
14

15. this industry."
It was the most powerful thing I had ever heard.
Like the psalmist David, Mullins didn't write songs for the church. He didn't write
songs hoping for a hit. He wrote the truth out of his hunger to know God. And
everywhere he went - in youth camps, in churches, or on a Navajo reservation in
Arizona - he lived the ragamuffin gospel and sang to those who needed to be sung
to.
Rich Mullins' gift to the church goes beyond the greatness of one song. In fact,
"Awesome God" was only the giftcard. His true gift was his example of the faith.
The hope and the impact of both lives on, as does he.
Melissa Riddle is Editor of Worship Leader.
The Irony of the Divine Name
by Ron Allen
In my last two columns, I wrote about the ways in which the musicians
of ancient Israel used and adapted musical instruments and musical
forms of their neighbors for the sublime purpose of bringing praise to
the Lord (Yahweh) in temple worship in Jerusalem.
These ideas may be disturbing to some readers. Many Christians have
been led to believe, or have simply assumed, that since there is
something so distinct in the content and purpose of sacred music, it
must also be distinct in form and manner from other music as well.
Yet, as the Christian who writes edifying books draws from the same
broad word stock and uses the same grammatical conventions as the
writer of "worldly" literature, and as the Christian who paints
religious themes draws from the same knowledge of form and texture and
uses the same media as the painter of "secular" themes, so the
Christian who composes spiritual music does not first have to invent
"Christian instruments" or develop a "Christian theory of musical
scales and harmonies."
Since this seems to be self-evident, why do so many "older" Christians
(i.e., people my age and upward!) tend to have a resistance to
contemporary Christian music?
I think that one reason has to do with associations we may have made
in our growing up. When I was a boy growing up in the 1950's, there
was very little that compares to the making of contemporary Christian
music as we experience it today. If songs of faith in God were to be
given much play on the radio, they might have had to be fairly bland
15

16. and sweetly sentimental. In those days, songs of faith had to compete
for airtime on the same programs that played the records of Nat "King"
Cole and Johnny Ray. To be successful, they had to compete with other
songs on the "Hit Parade." My own father, Barclay Allen (whose story I
tell in my book "Lord of Song: The Messiah Revealed in the Psalms"
(Multnomah, 1985), had to fight to keep the name Jesus in his
testimony song, "I Found a Friend" (written in 1953, and still sung in
every Billy Graham crusade by George Beverly Shea!).
More common in those days were songs like "I Believe," which suggested
a vague faith in God, but did so in the context of sentimentality
(faith that a flower grows for every rain drop that falls). Such songs
led a generation of spiritually minded people to speak disparagingly
of popular contemporary Christian music as compromising and inane.
Those were the days when John Peterson's songs were "on the edge" and
when Ralph Carmichael's work was "beyond the pale." (Only worldly
music has the stress on the second and fourth beat, a friend
reported.) Such a thing as "Christian rock" was still a long ways off,
but would be indescribably shocking to many when it would appear.
Sadly, many who formed the sacred opinions in the 1950's "slept
through the revolution" in popular Christian music.
And many who hold these opinions are the pastors and the "main guard"
in older, established churches. For them, all new music is suspect.
It appears to me that the best approach for all of us is to focus a
new on the music. To paraphrase an ad for an old-time breakfast
cereal, we need to hear it again, for the first time.
When we listen, we should listen not just to the (passing) convention
of musical expression, but to the words, to their meaning, and their
significance.
Are the words significant, or mere sentimentality? Are the words
biblical or banal? Does the message of the song speak clearly a needed
and necessary truth about the Triune God of Scripture, about
ourselves, or our relationships and duties as believing people?
Then we may also ask questions concerning suitability and purpose.
Music that appeals to today's teenagers may not work for Sunday
morning worship services in a retirement community. But deeply
spiritual young people may also have something to say about some of
the songs their parents and grandparents like. Frankly, some of "our"
music may only be comfortable, yet not deeply significant. There is a
lot of "I Believe"-type music that still is regarded as the "real
thing" by folks who have not examined the texts as rigorously as they
16

17. might.
One thing we do know from the psalms of Israel. Whatever the music
forms of a given age may be (and they continue to change), there may
be something in music that is offered in integrity as true worship to
the Lord that is more than just a pleasing thing to a passing
generation. The true music of the worship of God is regarded by Him as
good, pleasant, and beautiful.
Praise the Lord!
For it is good to sing praises to our God;
For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful."
--Psalm 147:1 (NKJV)
In the best sense, our music to the Lord is not so much an issue of
human sentimentality, as it is a matter of divine sentiment.
RONALD B. ALLEN is professor of Hebrew Scripture at Western Baptist
Seminary, Portland, Oregon. This article was originally published in
Worship Leader magazine. Copyright 1992 by CCM Communications,
Nashville, Tenn., U.S.A. All rights reserved.
THE DEVIL'S INSTRUMENTS HAVE A LONG HISTORY OF
SACRED USAGE
by Ron Allen
The player was youngish. His hair was a little long, and there seemed
to be something shiny hanging from one of his ear lobes. He was about
to play an offertory on his tenor saxophone. Just as he raised his
instrument to his lips, several people heard a woman whisper a bit too
loudly from her pew, "That's the devil's instrument."
It doesn't have to be a saxophone or a young man with an earring to
elicit this response. For many well-intentioned Christians in
"traditional churches" (however that phrase may be defined!), there is
the sense that some musical instruments do not belong in the church,
because they belong to the devil.
But here is an interesting question: "What is a 'Christian'--that is,
an appropriate--instrument?"
Before you answer too quickly with "the organ," let me make an
observation from the Book of Psalms. So far as we are able to
17

18. determine, the instruments that the priests and musicians of ancient
Israel used in their worship of God were not instruments of their own
invention. None of their instruments was.
THE NAME GAME
Have you ever noticed that there is something unusual about the names
of musical instruments? They usually retain the names they had in
their cultures of origin. The Italians have given us many modern
instruments, as well as their names: the piano (forte) and the
celesta, as well as the strings: the violin, the viola, the cello,
etc. The sitar is east Indian, and the names of many drums (bongos,
timbales) show their origin and development in the Latin (Hispanic)
cultures of South America. Ah, yes, the Saxophone and the Sousaphone
are American instruments whose names betray their creators.
Similarly, the instruments of the Bible have their names, and these
often betray their origin. Perhaps the sh'phar, or ram's horn, is the
most well-known instrument associated with ancient Israel. Scholars
have traced the Hebrew name for this instrument back to an Akkadian
word (the language of ancient Babylon), and in turn to an even more
ancient Sumerian word (the non-Semitic precursors to the Semites in
Mesopotamia). Animal horns have been played by many peoples in
islands, jungles, and other regions the world over. This was an
instrument that Israel also learned to play, and it became associated
with the holiest convocation of all, the Day of Atonement (Yom
Kippur). Here was a "devil's instrument" that was used in the most
holy worship of Yahweh.
Another instrument that is associated with David is the lyre or harp
(Hebrew kinn'kinn™rr). But here again, this is not an invention of Israel. The
word kinn'r (or forms of it) have been found in texts from the mid-third millennium
B.C. at ancient Ebla, as well as among the Canaanites (attested at Ugarit) and the
Babylonians (Akkadian again). "David's harp" has a long history of (mis)use in
pagan circles before it became so dearly associated with the making of music to the
Lord in ancient Israel.
Similarly, the Hebrew words for cymbals and tambourines, for drums and flutes,
for oboes and clarinets, are found in literatures (and in some cases in illustrations)
in nations from Egypt to Ethiopia, from Nubia to Greece. Each of these became "the
Lord's instruments" as they were used by the people of God in His holy worship.
My point is that Israel was not an innovator in the fashioning of instruments, nor,
necessarily, have been the musicians of the church. They, and we, do not need to be
the inventors of an instrument to make it a "sacred horn." It is the use to which the
instrument is placed that marks it out. The same model of saxophone that is played
in a jazz band, a sleazy strip joint, or a symphony orchestra may also be used in the
worship of God.
18

19. We may paraphrase a well-known saying that has been attributed to the great
theologian and musician Martin Luther. He (or someone) is reported to have
argued, when challenged on certain types of music used in the worship of God,
"Why should the devil have all the good tunes?" We may add, "Why should the
devil have all the good instruments?"
So what makes an instrument an instrument of the devil? The fact that a Christian
has not yet learned to play it in praise of God! So, to the lady in the pew, forget the
shiny thing in the young man's ear and the unusual curve of the instrument in his
hands. Listen to the fellow play. Then ask, Was it for the Lord? If so, the devil has
lost another horn!
Praise the LORD with the harp;
Make melody to Him with a saxophone!
--Psalm 33:2 (amended)
3. THE SPIRITUAL SONG.
The Spiritual Song: It's
Biblical Foundation and Practical
Application by Robert A. Johnson
One of the signs of renewal evidenced in congregational worship
is the occurrence of some type of extemporaneous congregational
song. This music is often unaccompanied, but sometimes it will
be accompanied by anything from a single guitar or piano up to a
"full orchestra", and occasionally a single singer will be heard
lifting their voice in a spontaneous song. These improvised
songs of praise have often been called "singing in the spirit",
citing St. Paul's exhortation to the Corinthian church to sing
with the spirit as well as with the mind (1 Cor. 14.15). Since
this passage deals specifically with speaking and singing in
tongues, it can be used to explain a part of what we experience
during these times of extemporaneous worship, but is not a broad
enough term to encompass all music in our services which is
"improvised" under the anointing of the Holy Spirit.It is clear
19

20. from both scripture and history that there has been a tradition
of ecstatic music within both Jewish and Christian worship. The
spontaneous songs of praise that we hear springing from the
renewed church today are a part of this ancient
tradition.Several terms have been used to describe this type of
music. In addition to "Singing in the Spirit", the phrases
"Prophetic Song", "New Song", "Song of the Lord" and "Free
Worship" are popularly used to label this type of expression.
The New Testament term "Spiritual Song" is not heard used as
often to describe this type of worship, but I believe it is a
good one, since it is generic enough to encompass singing in the
vernacular as well as tongues, as well as different types of
lyrics (to God, to each other, from God) and varying performing
forces (vocal, instrumental, solo, group and corporate).In
addition, Paul's use of the phrase "Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual
Songs" tells us that the spiritual song is as much a part of
normal, New Testament worship as our prepared psalms and hymns.
If the spiritual song is to become a regular part of our worship
services, then the same attention needs to be given to
developing it that we give to preparing our hymns, choruses,
canticles and anthems. There is a great need within our worship
for that which is fresh and spontaneous, and the spiritual song
fills a part of that need. However, if worship leaders and
congregations do not develop both spiritually and musically in
the spiritual song, this part of the service can become even
more predictable and redundant than the rest of the service once
the novelty of it's "newness" fades.In order to avoid getting
into a musical and spiritual "rut" with the spiritual song, it
will be helpful to examine some scriptures that deal with this
type of expression in both the Old and New Testaments.
I. Spiritual Songs, along with Psalms and Hymns, are
the normal expressions of a congregation filled with
the Spirit and the Word of God.
"...be filled with the Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms,
hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to
the Lord, always giving thanks to God the Father for everything,
in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. Ephesians 5.18-20 "Let the
word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and counsel one
another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and
20

21. spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God."
Colossians 3.16
A. Be filled with the Spirit
B. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly
C. Sing and make music in your heart to the LordSing...with gratitude
in your hearts to God
D. Speak to one another...Teach and counsel one another
E. Definitions
1. Psalms - Greek: PSALMOS - primarily denoting a
striking or twitching with the fingers (on musical
strings); then, a sacred song, sung to musical
accompaniment, a psalm.
2. Hymns - Greek: HUMNOS - denotes a song of praise addressed to God
.3. Spiritual Songs - Greek: ODES PNEUMATIKOS - ODES is the generic
word for an ode or song; PNEUMATIKOS is an expansion of the word for
spirit, PNEUMA, which primarily denotes the wind; also breath; then,
especially the spirit, which like the wind is invisible, immaterial
and powerful.
(Definitions taken from Vine's Expository Dictionary of
Old and New Testament Words)F. As is true with many of the
elements of early Christian worship, the Spiritual Song is
a continuation of a practice that has its roots in Jewish
worship.
A Paradigm for the Church of the Future by Gerrit Gustafson All of us have
personal preferences. Some prefer blue over green. Some prefer a trip to the beach
over a trip to the mountains. Some favor grits over hash browns, country music
over rock, and almost everyone favors the home team over the visitors.
But whereas we smile at some of our preferences, our religious preferences are
often quite a different matter. For some reason, our own special religious traditions
and experiences tend to concretize our ideas of what God's preferences are and
aren't. Nowhere is this more true than in the area of worship styles. How quickly our
preferences become biases. And how easily our biases become walls which keep us
from the larger Body of Christ and from fuller expressions of worship.
The sum total of these distinctives and preferences is termed culture. Every
individual and group is part of a culture. Worship and culture are very closely
related. It is interesting that the root word for culture is cult, which is simply a
system of worship or devotion. You could say our culture reflects our worship. We
should neither despise nor deny our culture for it helps to give us the initial
parameters for personal identity, but we must thoughtfully evaluate all our ways in
21

22. light of God's ways. When God says that His ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah
55:9), He is saying that His divine culture is higher than our human culture. The
Lausanne Covenant of 1974 appeals for churches to be "deeply rooted in Christ
and closely related to their culture. Culture must always be tested and judged by
Scripture.... The gospel does not presuppose the superiority of any culture to
another, but evaluates all cultures according to its own criteria of truth and
righteousness.... Churches have sometimes been in bondage to culture rather than
to the Scripture."
Denominations within the church are usually cultural divisions before they are
theological. They have to do with conflicting folkways. A Presbyterian pastor made
this observation: "Part of the problem in coming into unity is that we have recruited
people into the personality distinctives of our own congregations and traditions,
rather than into Christ. As a result, their loyalties are more to these distinctives
than to Christ's Kingdom." In the spirit of Lausanne, we need to evaluate our
traditions of worship - whether historic traditions or more recent renewal
traditions - in light of Scripture to see if we are adherents of an approach to Christ
or of Christ himself.
Toward Understanding Divine Preferences
Music powerfully communicates culture. That's why the church's music is so vital in
communicating its life. Even the effects of a vibrant sermon can be canceled out by
lifeless music. Some would observe that the music more accurately reflects the life
of the congregation than the words spoken.
What are we communicating culturally? Are our cultural preferences the same as
God's? What kinds of songs should we be singing? Does God even care what we do
musically in the church? If so, what are the parameters of Biblical worship? Do our
biases keep us from a fuller expression of worship? The easy answer to these kinds
of questions is incomplete: God is only concerned with the attitude of our hearts,
not the forms of our expressions. Granted, the heart's disposition is primary, but
should we not allow God to transform and enlarge our forms as well as our hearts?
It's not that our worship traditions are intrinsically wrong, just incomplete.
Consider these three statements as beginning points in this discussion of Biblical
patterns of worship:
True worship is both spiritual and intellectual. True worshipers will worship the
Father in spirit and truth (John 4:24).
Heavenly worshipers worship the God of the past, present and future. Day and night
they never stop saying: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is,
and is to come (Rev. 4:8; see also Rev. 1:4,8).
In the New Testament, God endorses three primary song forms: psalms, hymns and
spiritual songs. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you sing psalms, hymns
and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God (Col. 3:16; see also Eph.
22

23. 5:19, 20).
Spiritual and Intellectual
Today some segments of the church specialize primarily in Spirit. Favorite teaching
topics in the Spirit churches are "Hearing God" and "Being Led by the Spirit."
Leaders encourage followers to develop intuitive skills. Worship is generally
spontaneous and Spirit-led.
Other segments of the church specialize primarily in truth. Among these groups,
Biblical scholarship and critical thinking are held in high esteem. Here worship is
more orderly and structured.
Each tradition is suspicious of the other and often reinforces its own uniquenesses
to justify its existence. Facing these tendencies are very difficult but very
necessary.
Jesus said that true worshipers must worship in spirit and truth, not one or the
other. If we love to "flow in the Spirit" but are impatient with the process of making
careful observations, we are not yet the kind of worshipers God is looking for. If we
are diligent students and yet we can't make room for someone to base a claim on
revelation, we are not yet worshipers that please God.
If the worship in our congregation only attracts the critical thinkers, it's time to do
some critical thinking about our own cultural preferences. If our congregation is
attracting only the intuiters or feelers, it's time to ask the Spirit to lead us into all
truth. Biblical worship is to be spiritual and thoughtful.1
Past, Present and Future
Some of us are more familiar with what God is saying than what God has said, to
the point that we disdain any reference to history. I have heard this referred to as
the Cult of Contemporaneity. Someone asked me to evaluate a prophecy born out
of a time of prayer. One part of it quoted God as saying that He was not the God of
the past, but rather the God of the now. I suggested that maybe God was saying He
was not only the God of the past, but the God of the present as well. After all, if
God is not the God of the past, who is?
Others are well-versed in what has gone on before us and yet out of touch with
what is going on now. One pastor confidently told me that nothing of any
significance has happened in the church in the last 250 years. Most likely the
church he pastors will be populated with those who are friendly to that point of
view.
A third sub-standard alternative is to be so future-oriented that we fail to worship
the God of the past and the present. We must not try to confine God's kingdom
exclusively to past, present or future reality. Each are only partial containers of
God's magnificent glory.
Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs
Some charismatic churches tend to sing choruses to the exclusion of hymns. Some
23

24. traditional churches sing hymns to the exclusion of choruses. And a very small
percentage of churches have any significant experience with spiritual songs. In
contrast God's Word invites us all to express our gratitude through all three song
forms.
To sing a psalm is not necessarily the equivalent of singing from the book of Psalms.
A psalm is a song. The term psalm, like song, can be used in a general or a specific
sense. In the general usage it could include hymns, just as there are hymns included
in the book of Psalms. A hymn is certainly a song.
In the specific sense however, a psalm would contrast with a hymn. Similar to what
we today call choruses, a psalm, or song, is generally simpler, shorter, more
testimonial and less theological than a hymn. A hymn would usually carry a greater
sense of history; a psalm, or chorus, would be more personal. The psalm is also
more contemporary and has a shorter life span. The spiritual song is even more a
song-of-the-moment than a psalm. The spiritual song, which consists of
spontaneous melodies and words, inspired by the Holy Spirit and sung around a
chord or slowly moving chord progression, has been referred to as the song of
angels because of its mystical, other-worldly quality.2 Even as the Spirit is the
believer's down payment of the future age,3 the spiritual song must be a foretaste
of heavenly worship itself.
The genius of these three song forms is that each is uniquely appropriate to
express a dimension of God's nature, and each will speak for a different kind of
personality, as well as to the different facets of the individual. The hymn will satisfy
our hunger for truth and depth of understanding; the psalm will speak to our need
for encounter and experience; and the spiritual song will stimulate the visionary in
us.
The command to employ psalms, hymns and spiritual songs requires a greater
cultural flexibility than we have had so we can enjoy the variety of worship
expressions. For instance, the youth of the church will probably prefer a more
contemporary style of worship than the older ones. The common solution to this
cultural problem is to segregate the youth church from the adult church. The
psalms-hymns-and-spiritual-songs paradigm begs for a different solution: unity
within diversity. This new paradigm allows the contemporary and the historic to
stand side by side and challenges our hearts to greater love. We don't have to
choose between being reverent or celebrative. Be reverent and celebrative! Be
objective and subjective! Structured and spontaneous! Testimonial and theological!
Instead of affirming our own strengths and acknowledging the limitations of other
traditions, we must begin to recognize the limitations of our own traditions and
affirm the strengths of the others. The result will be that our own preferences will
be enjoyed by others, as well as enlarged by others. Like an onion in the stew, we
will both flavor the other ingredients and be flavored by them. All the while, we
24

25. remain an onion.
Paradigm for the Future
The church of the future must become transcultural. The evangelical church must
learn to sing spiritual songs; the charismatic church must rediscover hymns; and the
traditional church must begin to sing a new psalm. The young church must respect
the older church and vice versa. Bridges of cooperation and counsel must be built
between the black and white churches. The stagnating pools of our cultural
prejudices must be flooded by the river of His divine purposes. Accepting and
practicing God's standard of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs in our worship is a
simple but challenging exercise designed to break us loose from our idols of
ethnocentrism. Where will all of this lead us? To the most exciting celebration
imaginable: the international, interdenominational, multilingual, multiethnic
celebration of Christ Jesus, the Son of God!
After this I looked and there before me was a great multitude that no one could
count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and
in front of the Lamb. Revelation 7:9.
Dare we look upon what John saw: representatives from every nation, tribe, people
and language, declaring their praises together with a loud voice... overwhelmed with
gratitude for this majestic King who had made them into a united kingdom!4 If we
can see that, we can see our destination. The heavenly vision is that of worshipers
of many different stripes who are more conscious of the greatness of Christ Jesus
than of their cultural distinctions.
If worship styles have been the source of divisions among us, let's turn the tables
and allow God's design for worship to be a source of unity among us. Let's pray that
heaven's worship will overtake earth's as we sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.
Notes
These two components are implied in Romans 12:1 in the phrase "logikos
latreia," which is translated in the NIV as either "spiritual act of worship" or
(in the margin) "reasonable act of worship."
Although spiritual songs are generally not written down, some have suggested that
the Gregorian chant is a codification of early spiritual songs.
II Corinthians 1:22 and Hebrews 6:4,5.
Revelation 5:9,10.
Gerrit Gustafson is the founder and president of WholeHearted Worship in Mobile,
Alabama.
4. MUSIC IN REVIVAL.
NEW SONG: THE SOUND OF SPIRITUAL
25

26. AWAKENING
by Chuck Fromm
A Study of Music in Revival
Paper Presented to the Oxford Reading & Research Conference
July 1983
PART 1--INTRODUCTION/NEW SONG FOUNDATIONS
I waited patiently for the Lord
And He inclined to me,
And heard my cry.
He also brought me out of a horrible pit,
Out of miry clay
And set my feet upon a rock
And established my steps.
He has put a new song in my mouth.
Praise to our God;
Many will see it and fear,
And will trust in the Lord. (Psalm 40:1-3)
Throughout history, music has been a primary means of expression for
people whose lives have been touched and changed at the deepest
levels. Its astonishing power as a tool for teaching, testifying and,
most importantly, transformation, resists all efforts to
institutionalize and codify. Despite the best efforts of theologians
and musicologists, the enduring power of music remains largely a
mystery. Its role in revival is indispensable and, in any true
spiritual awakening, evidence of what King David in Psalm 40 called
the "New Song" will be found.
New Song may be calm or ecstatic, shouted or spoken in the silence of
the heart, but it will always convey a potent spiritual vitality,
always create for itself new forms of relevant expression.
In Psalm 40, as elsewhere in scripture, we see a distinct pattern for
the New Song emerge--a biblical prototype that repeats itself
throughout history. The spirit responds to an encounter with God; man
is delivered, renewed and set on a high place. A fresh expression of
spontaneous praise and worship celebrates the deliverance. The
experience of salvation becomes the substance of song. God is
glorified, faith is revitalized, and the community is blessed.
The purpose of our study is threefold: first, to survey the
26

27. individuals, movements, and events historically relating to New Song;
second, to examine the influence of and response to New Song; and
third, to study the relationship over the past fifteen years between
New Song and the Jesus Movement.
What, then, is New Song? Where does it come from and what does it
sound like? For the purposes of this paper, we may define New Song as
any music motivated by faith, celebrating the work of God, and often
expressing itself in popular idioms.
A review of the literature related to the role of music in revival
reveals the need for familiarity in several disciplines in order to
fully grasp the breadth of the subject.
Commenting on this dilemma, one scholar stated: For too long church
musicians have failed to admit to the theological presuppositions
which determined their musical practice as they have also failed to
accept the pastoral implications for their musical presuppositions.
(Williamson, 1967, p. 10.)
Although the very nature of our subject defies analysis, interesting
and revealing studies have nevertheless emerged. Many center on the
personalities involved in the music of revival--Calvin, Watts, and
Hastings, to name a few. A dissertation on John Calvin by James
Miller, for example, is particularly illuminating. So also is Paul
Kaatrud's comprehensive work on American revival music from 1830-60,
Revivalism and the Popular Spiritual Song. Francis Williamson's The
Lord's Song and the Church is a definitive theological work on music
ministry. While George Stansbury gives an excellent overview of
music's role in Billy Graham's organization, there is nevertheless a
notable lack of material on contemporary new song, particularly in its
relation to modern communication tools. This study is divided into
three sections. The first is foundational, discussing biblical
references, cultural influences, and the historical record. Section II
explores the role of New Song in specific American awakenings,
highlighting selected events and personalities. Section m examines the
advent of New Song in the Jesus Movement, with our vantage point being
that of a participant/observer from the year 1969 until the present
day.
The role of New Song has special relevance to many of those who trace
their Christian roots to the Jesus Movement. Music generally has
played a more important role in the lives of this generation than
perhaps any other group in history. For Christians, it has served as a
great unifier, being used for exhortation, instruction and evangelism
27

28. and creating a potent and emotional lingua franca for the age.
It is hoped that this paper might clarify the importance and impact of
New Song on spiritual awakening.
This study is divided into three sections. The first is foundational,
discussing biblical references, cultural influences, and the
historical record. Section II explores the role of New Song in
specific American awakenings, highlighting selected events and
personalities. Section m examines the advent of New Song in the Jesus
Movement, with our vantage point being that of a participant/observer
from the year 1969 until the present day.
The role of New Song has special relevance to many of those who trace
their Christian roots to the Jesus Movement. Music generally has
played a more important role in the lives of this generation than
perhaps any other group in history. For Christians, it has served as a
great unifier, being used for exhortation, instruction and evangelism
and creating a potent and emotional lingua franca for the age.
It is hoped that this paper might clarify the importance and impact of
New Song on spiritual awakening.
Music also played a vital role in the development of the New Testament
church. Fragments of first century hymnody are scattered throughout
the letters of Paul, as well as in the works of other church fathers.
Such hymn forms were valuable for evangelistic and didactic purposes
as well as for worship. The Psalms were a rich source of inspiration
for New Testament writers. Of the estimated 287 Old Testament
quotations found in the New Testament, 116 are from the Psalter.
Music was a vital part of the functional life of New Testament
believers. At informal assemblies, the brethren were encouraged to
celebrate in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Pliny the Younger in
the year 112, reports that Christians gathered at dawn to sing "to
Christ as to God." Yet this emerging tradition was not formed wholly
by early Christian practice and Hebraic models. The abstract,
theoretical understanding of the Greeks also played an important role.
Music in Hellenistic culture had developed as an applied science, a
science that has effects how music is played and heard even to this
day. Hellenistic thought informed church leaders as Augustine and
Calvin, creating the foundation for some of the most significant
musical advances of western civilization. At the same time, there was
a tendency among the Greeks to remove music from its place in the
fabric of life, establishing it as art for its own sake. The morality
of music no longer hinged on its reflection of the truth, but on the
28

29. beauty of its execution.
According to Pythagorus, Plato and Aristotle, music unerringly mirrors
the emotional state of men, imparting to the listener its own
emotional complexion. The qualities of gentleness, anger, courage,
passion and their opposites, could all be expressed musically.
Additionally, music had a moral quality in and of itself--a force for
either good or evil effects. Around these doctrines of imitation and
ethos, the early church constructed an entire philosophy of music. Its
power needed to be controlled. Much of the spontaneous nature of the
Hebraic musical model was indeed tamed when from the first to eighth
centuries, oral traditions gave way to written notations. In this and
other ways, the forms and functions of music were tailored to meet the
requirements of a growing church authority. There is, of course, more
to godly music than proper construction and execution. While skillful
playing is encouraged in the Bible, yet scripture constantly centers
on a more significant consideration; the motive of the individual's
heart. As the heterogeneous, democratic framework of the apostolic age
yielded to hierarchical systems headed by western popes and eastern
patriarchs, the didactic function of music quickly became evident.
Some of the earliest examples of Christian hymnody were written to
counteract Gnostic and Arian heresies: Chrysostom sought to overcome
the perverting influence of Arian hymnology with solemn doxologies.
Hilary of Poitiers, the first hymn writer of the Latin church,
composed orthodox hymns to oppose the spread of the popular Arian
hymns.
Ephraim, leader of the Syrian church, introduced to public worship a
body of poetry that countered the heretical poetry of the Gnostic
Bardesanes.
St. Ambrose, the father of Latin church song, who clashed with the
Arians in 386, is quoted as saying, ". . . some claim that I have
ensnared people by the melodies of my hymns. I do not deny it." As the
fourth century Bishop of Milan, Ambrose's compositions, which made use
of popular Greek melodies, facilitated spiritual awakenings, as well
as combating heresy. Augustine recorded that he was deeply moved by
the hymn singing in Milan.
Yet, even in the earliest days of the church, ritualistic tendencies
began to formalize the use of song in worship making little allowance
for creativity and spontaneity. "Besides the appointed singers who
mount the ambo and sing from the book, others shall not sing in the
church," declared the Council of Laodicea in the fourth century.
29

30. In marked contrast to such developing church formalism were the
Montanist, a charismatic movement first noted about the middle of the
second century. Montanus, the founder of the sect, compared a man in
the ecstasy of spiritual prophesy to "a musical instrument on which
the Holy Spirit plays his melodies." The young church's revulsion at
the abysmal public displays in Roman theaters, circuses and arenas
where musical instruments contributed to the general debauchery
resulted in a ban on musical accompaniment. The misuse of musical
instruments has been a source of continuing controversy even to this
day. Eusebius, bishop of Caesar in Palestine, eloquently stated, "Our
instrument is the entire body by whose movement and action the soul
sings a fitting hymn to God . . . Our ten string psaltery is the
veneration of the Holy Spirit by the five senses of the body and the
five virtues of the spirit." Who could argue with that? Certainly not
the common man who by this time was helplessly witnessing the
elevation of sacred song to realms far beyond his understanding. The
congregation found its role shifted from active participant to passive
spectator, ceasing to share in the vital act of worship. Singing
became the domain of choral groups drawn from the clergy and a tightly
prescribed body of cha nts became the liturgical substance of worship
for the next thousand years.
The results were, without question, aesthetically magnificent.
Specialized Christian music was developed around an exclusive vocal
art. Proclaimed as the exemplary ideal of all music, the Gregorian
Chant was based entirely on melody, rejecting totally the alarming
possibility of rhythm to inflame and incite. The Gregorian Chant is
also one of the great treasures of western civilization. It embodies
beautifully the attitude of devotion; the sentiments of humility, awe,
and hope; and the transcendental nature of worship.
The only problem was, the people could not sing it. They were
required, instead, to stand by and listen as the clergy performed
exquisite musical prayers on their behalf. It is little wonder then,
that the meaning of what was being done was quickly lost. A strict
music form had been needed that could be propagated and controlled by
the church with the help of the state. The Gregorian chants
brilliantly fit the need.
It was against this formidable and forbidding backdrop that new forms
of music struggled to express a hunger for God by the religiously
disenfranchised. Throughout the Middle Ages, up to the very threshold
of the reformation, small brushfires of prototype revival flared up
30

31. across Europe, each with its distinctive use of music.
Little is known of what was occurring beyond church walls in this
period, aside from the certain fact that God acted then, as elsewhere
in history, outside the realms of high culture to move directly among
His people. It seems apparent, from the scant evidence available, that
while priests intoned chants and muttered litanies in Latin for no
one's benefit other than their own, music was serving an important
function in popular religious movements. Medieval monks (the Puritans,
pietists and evangelicals of their day) didn't hesitate to use new
forms of music in their missions. An exemplar of this monastic model
was St. Bernard (1090-1153). He was a hymn writer held in high regard
by Luther, who said of him, "He loved Jesus as much as anyone can." It
was Bernard, founder and abbot of the Convent of Clairveaux, who wrote
the timeless hymn:
Jesus, thou joy of loving hearts
Thou fount of life,
thou light of men
From the best bliss which earth imparts
We turn unfilled to thee again.
St. Bernard is only one example of an early reformer, moving among the
common people, preaching, singing, and performing signs and wonders in
open fields and town squares.
Another light of the age was the German prophetess Hildegard
(1098-1179) who is said to have given concerts in the spirit. A
recognized healer and severe critic of the established church,
Hildegard composed words and music for 63 popular hymns.
Singing was such an important part of the mission of St. Francis of
Assisi (1182-1226) that he once proclaimed himself to be "God's
gleeman." He is known to have improvised many of his hymns of praise
and devotion, which flourished for six hundred years in the informal
religious life of the Italians and formed a foundation for enduring
folk music forms among them. The founder of the Franciscans is perhaps
best known in musical circles for composing the famous "Canticle of
the Sun," but as a revivalist who employed music to spread the gospel,
he was simply one of the few at that time unafraid to use what so well
suited his purpose.
So it was also with John Huss in 1410, founder of a revival movement
known as The Hussites. Meeting in marketplaces, fields, and meadows,
they sang simple hymns with folk characteristics, many written by Huss
in his native Czech to encourage worship in the vernacular. As did
31

32. many of the Bohemian reformers, Huss based his hymnology on the
Psalms, using also ancient Latin hymns, traditional folk songs with
religious content, and melodies derived from both sacred and secular
sources. He and others set about improving existing texts and
establishing new hymns in place of old, doctrinally objectionable
material. When Huss was burned at the stake as a heretic, he sang,
"Christ, thou Son of the Living God, have mercy upon me."
Another revival movement contemporary to the Hussites and which also
fell afoul of the clergy was the Lollards. Poor preachers under the
direction of John Wycliff, they taught and sang the word of God in the
language of the common man throughout Europe.
It was the Flagellants, however, who seemed to make the most extensive
use of music, especially within the context of their penitential
crusades. They are generally credited with having revived the use of
popular religious songs at several distinct points throughout the
Middle Ages, despite relentless persecution by the church. They sang
hymns employing popular melodies, but filled with thoughts of death,
the woes of humanity, and abundant allegorical references to Mary.
Song, for the Flagellants, served many functions, including a means of
unification within the sect, an exercise drill for their bizarre rites
of penitence and a means of teaching doctrine to the benighted,
plague-ridden populace.
The musical legacy of the Middle Ages left the Reformation fathers
with a variety of musical traditions, both ecclesiastical and popular,
from which to work. While the dominant force in church music continued
to be the professional performance of the
Gregorian Chant, hymns of adoration, prophetic and worship music and
spiritual song utilizing secular melodies were all being heard outside
the church. It was inevitable, in this time of extreme religious
polarization, when the rites of the priesthood were so far removed
from the needs of the people, that radical expressions of dissent and
revival were inevitable.
In the great light of the Reformation new potentials for music were
illuminated. One important innovation of the period which aided in
music's dramatic impact on ordinary lives was the printing press.
Gutenbergs gift to humanity created new audiences, as well as new
patrons for the musical art, broadening the traditional support base
for music. As in so many areas of endeavor, the press facilitated
cooperation across political, social, and cultural boundaries.
Composers rapidly absorbed from each others' technical and artistic
32

33. advances. Most importantly, distribution of printed material,
resulting in widespread availability of song and liturgy, increased
the level of involvement in all forms of music among the populace.
A revolution in spiritual song was underway as early as 1501 when the
first Protestant hymn books were printed by the Bohemian brethren. By
re-introducing public worship, the reformers displaced virtually
overnight a thousand years of high church ritual. The Reformation
fathers condemned the Gregorian Chant for some very telling reasons,
revealing along the way their own evolving concepts of music. They
objected to the distractions of elaborate vocal and instrumental
music, the dangers of overly theatrical performances, the unwarranted
expense of elaborate ceremonies and enormous pipe organs and the
uselessness of text unintelligible to the common man.
Contrasting the high church's entrenched musical traditions was the
simple and pragmatic approach of men like Martin Luther. One of
Luther's stated goals was the restoration of true worship. He
understood the tremendous benefit resulting from hearing the word of
God and then uniting as a congregation to offer thanksgiving in song.
This stress on congregational participation in worship became a
lynchpin of the Reformation. In 1523, Thomas Muntzer was the first to
replace the clerical choir with congregational singing, using
virtually the same music. He translated the text into the vernacular--
a true beginning of the restoration of biblical psalm singing among
the people.
It was in Strausburg, however, in 1524 that Bucer instituted the first
singing of hymns, although the text of the material was still
rigorously scriptural. In 1526 congregational hymns appeared as part
of Luther's liturgical innovations, earning for him the title "father
of congregational singing." So effective were Luther's musical reforms
(built in part out of the text of Gregorian Chants, Latin hymns and
secular melodies) that one outraged Jesuit churchman remarked, "The
hymns of Luther have killed more souls than his sermons." Luther's
love of music is evident by its abundance in his own life. As a singer
and lute player, he often participated in musicals held in his home.
Luther said, I am not ashamed to confess publicly that after theology,
there is no art which can equal music."
The musical views of another Reformation giant, John Calvin, were
distinctly different from those of Luther. Calvin is sometimes
portrayed as having a negative influence on church music and accused,
quite unfairly, of throwing out the choir and organ music of his day.
33

34. In fact, the opposite is true. When Calvin first arrived in Geneva in
1536, the first stages of reformation had already been completed under
the auspices of Zwingli, a man whose views on music were so
doctrinaire as to exclude singing or any other forms of external
worship in the church. "Those who praise the singing of the choir so
highly are either foolish or childish," Zwingli flatly stated, no
doubt partly in reaction to the deplorable state of music at the time.
It was against this backdrop that Calvin began to introduce his
concept of psalm singing. He paved the way in practice and theory by
proclaiming, "We desire the psalms to be sung in spirit. We have seen
the example of the ancient church and the witness of St. Paul who
said, 'It is good to sing in a congregation with a mouth and heart'."
Calvin unquestionably possessed both. Calvin was convinced that psalm
singing was of vital importance to the Reformation, a view that put
him at odds with the Genevan church and contributed to his exile from
that city. Upon his return in 1540, one of his first priorities was to
compose the Geneva Psalter, a work that took twenty years to complete.
"It will be a good thing to introduce church song," he said, adding,
on perhaps a wry note, "As a beginning we shall teach the little
children. With time all the church can follow. In his work on the
Psalter, Calvin employed the services of two poets, Theodore Beza an
Clement Marot (who was a popular secular author), as well as the
composer Bourgois who developed simple melodies for the psalms.
Practical, hard-headed and courageous, Calvin held strong views on the
place of music in the spiritual lives of his flock. He was known to
quote Plato's maxim that "there is scarcely anything in this world
which can more powerfully turn or influence the manners of man than
music.'' He wrote that through song a doctrine might be better known
than if it were simply taught, with sound and rhythm aiding the
memory.
Calvin eventually promulgated a complex theory of music that drew
heavily on his concept of the sovereignty of God. At its core was the
certainty that the Almighty can use the inherent power of music to
work His will. What is more than a little surprising, considering the
tenor of the times, was Calvin's belief that the same central truth
applied to dancing. He held that old Testament precedents established
dance as a an acceptable form of worship, so long as it was done in
service to God. He stated, "The Israelites had their dances through
which they used to sing the praises of God; and that was a decent and
chaste rejoicing, indeed, even holy as long as it was part of the
34

35. service of God."
Such ideas affirmed one of the great contributions of Reformation
thought: dancing, singing, instrumental music, and other human
expressions were not evil in themselves, but rather had become tools
of evil through misuse. The pleasures of such good things, according
to Calvin, had to be used to the common benefit of society, tempered
with the fear of God. While he showed a real concern for the ethical
influence of song, recognizing its corrupting power especially among
the young, he nevertheless insisted that the redeemed could reclaim
music as an avenue of fellowship with God by the action of the Holy
Spirit.
The singing of psalms--Calvin's enduring musical legacy--became so
much a part of the work of reform theology that it was eventually to
symbolize the insurrection itself. "To know them (the Psalms) by heart
is among them a mark of their communion," remarked a Jesuit observer,
"to our great shame in those towns where they are in great number, one
hears them resounding from the mouth of the artisans, and in the
country, from the mouth of the laborer, while the Catholics are either
mute or singing some disreputable song." To be a Protestant and to
sing psalms was virtually the same, and many a martyr proved the point
by going to his death singing. The popularity and spiritual efficacy
of this form of worship proved Calvin's contention that psalmody was
an expression and affirmation of the priesthood of all believers. At
the same time, he rejected "hymns of human composure" asserting that
the psalms of David were the perfect models of Christian prayer. His
insistence that the music of wors hip be comprehensible to the
humblest member of the body (that it seek, in essence, the lowest
common denominator) represented a far more radical reformation in
spiritual song than that put forward by Luther and others. The
liberating effect of the Reformation on worship music was accomplished
through the vision, insight and bravery of many men. Each added to the
cumulative understanding that a new song was expressing the dynamic of
revitalization for their age. These men spoke on the subject of music
with an intellectual depth and clarity never heard before or, it could
be argued, since. They dealt with this topic as they did all other
vital issues of the day--seeking biblical underpinnings and practical
applications. In the process, they accomplished the formidable task of
wrenching worship from the hands of the priests and returning it to
the people. This, undoubtedly, was one of the crowning achievements of
the Reformation.
35

36. PART 2--NEW SONG IN AMERICAN REVIVALS
In the Great Awakening of 1740 it was inevitable that a New Song would
have to emerge as fresh spiritual impulses began to be felt. Such
impulses were given voice in the work of a remarkable English poet and
congregational minister, Isaac Watts, who stands alone in his
contributions to the field of hymnology. It was Watts who bridged the
gap between the stale, song service of his time and the exuberant hymn
singing of the Awakening.
Watts, an accomplished man in a great many disciplines, knew exactly
what he wanted to achieve in his hymnody and psalm writing. "There are
times and seasons when we should abstain from liberty," he said,
echoing the sentiments of John Calvin in his desire that worship music
be made accessible to the common man. Sinking his art, as Watts termed
it, was a strategy that acknowledged the need for singing with
understanding and for a uniformity of interpretation within the
congregation. "Songs are generally expressions of our own experience,"
observed the author of such standards as "Joy to the World" and "When
I Survey the Wondrous Cross." Watts continues, "There ought to be some
terms of expression that make it look at least like (our) own
(present) meditation." Watts' compositions (collected in two books
entitled Psalms and Hymns and Spiritual Songs) were widely in use
throughout the Great Awakening of 1740.3 Prior to that time, a stern
musical tradition held sway, focusing on the psalms of Calvin.
Downey, writing on the music of American revivalism, summarizes the
musical heritage brought to New England by the Puritans: "Calvanistic
in nature, with little scope for development beyond a methodical
vocalization of the Psalms; there was little evidence of free
expression ...evangelical hymnody had to wait for a theological re-
orientation.[4]
Worship had become a duty, rarely a joy. It was the forceful preaching
of the Awakening leaders, typified by George Whitefield, that brought
new life to the act of worship in mid-eighteenth century. Whitefield,
an Anglican priest, was the most enthusiastic promoter of Watts in the
colonies. For his part, Watts reserved judgment. In an account of a
meeting between the two, shortly before Whitefield left on his second
voyage to Americas, Watts is quoted as saying, "I...warned him of the
danger of delusion, irregularity and imprudence that youth and zeal
might lead him into." Apparently Watts was more than a little
concerned about the enthusiastic methods of the American revival,
36

37. especially as pertaining to the evangelistic use of his music.
As early as 1713, however, Watts' influence was being felt in the
colonies. In that year, Cotton Mather completed a sermon by driving
his point home with a hymn by Watts. It is really meaningful," wrote
another of the revival's leading figures, Jonathan Edwards, in 1742,
"that we should have some other songs besides the psalms of David." In
marked contrast to the conservative musical tradition of colonial
urban centers, a whole host of traveling exhorters, Baptist
farmer/preachers roamed the countryside, utilizing revival music in a
variety of ways, including singing in the streets. By encouraging the
recently saved to express their new found assurance in song, they
helped to crystallize the opposition of anti-revivalist parties, such
as the venerable Reverend Ebenesar Turell who condemned the singing of
hymns of human composure in the streets and on ferry boats late at
night. Would the reverend prefer to hear the cursing and profane songs
normally emanating from such places, queried a spokesman for the
revivalists? Lower class contingents of the awakening, such as the
Separatists, would help to usher in a golden age of new folk hymnody,
eloquently expressing the exuberance and fervor of the renewal. James
Downey stated, "The most vigorous musical activity resulting from the
revival of 1740 existed among the Separatists and Baptists.'' The folk
hymn forms of this period (marked by repetition in text and musical
improvisation) surfaced again, sixty years later, in the popular camp
meeting movement of the early nineteenth century.
The rising spiritual tide at the end of the eighteenth century, dubbed
the Second Awakening, was marked in 1792 by "a revival of great power"
according to Edward Griffen, reporting from his church in New Salem,
Massachusetts. Again we see the tremendous creative potential of
revival being realized in a proliferation of fresh and innovative
music, such as the pocket hymnals of the Methodist circuit riders,
circa 1788. Alongside such startling advances was the distinct
polarization of urban and rural factions, with credit for spontaneity
and informality going distinctly to the countryfolk. In 1799 the all-
sufficiency of Watts was being supplanted by such urban innovations as
The Hartford Selection, a hymnal developed outside ecclesiastical
sanction. By the early nineteenth century, it was clear that the hymns
of Watts had failed to weather the shifting theological currents of
revival. His rigorously Calvinistic thought, centered on awe and
devotion and reflected in the content of his hymns, could not meet the
needs of the Second Awakening. The expressive, emotive and
37

38. evangelistic hymnody of Charles Wesley (fitting the emerging Armenian
thought of the time) did, however.
Wesley's music had been forged in the early Methodist revivals of the
mideighteenth century. Over the course of the next seventy-five years,
the musical contributions of Wesley, combined with established
American folk hymnody (exemplified in the camp meeting phenomenon),
resulted in the birth of a hybrid musical form, the gospel song. In
successive revivals throughout the era, this form underwent a number
of marked stages, each keyed to meet the individual needs of specific
awakenings.
In the aforementioned camp meeting movement, which was initiated in
1800, spontaneous, improvised music played a vital role. Camp meetings
spread rapidly across the expanding western frontier and were marked
by emotionalism, powerful preaching, and days filled with song.
Worship songs better suited to the style of urban believers were first
collected by such compilers as Ashel Nettleton, an early professional
evangelist in New England. His popular hymnal Village Hymns contained
songs reflecting the new spirit of evangelical hymnody.
Timothy Dwight, leader of the Yale revival, assembled over 200 hymns
under the title Psalms of David. Such efforts reflected a keen
interest among revival leaders in the music of their time. While
acknowledging that many revival tunes were irregular and grotesque,
Congregationalist Pastor Lyman Beecher, exalted them because they
appealed to the imagination of the common people. Beecher's music
director was Lowell Mason who worked closely with another urban
musical progressive, Thomas Hastings, to produce Spiritual Songs for
Social Worship.
Hastings was, in turn, associated with evangelist Charles Finney, who
promoted Spiritual Songs for Social Worship at his meetings. Finny
took a conservative view of music, observing that "a singing revival
could never amount to much, because singing dissipated a deep feeling
that was necessary for conversion." Rejoicing in song with young
converts," he remarked, "often consumed too much time in prayer
meetings."
The millennial concerns of Mason and Hastings were reflected in their
advanced musical tastes. They viewed the music of rural revival as
distinctly inferior, insisting on original and scientifically accurate
music with no unholy associations. They condemned the use in revival
of the "refuse of secular music which even the devil had abandoned,"
characterizing it as "being whistled by every chimney sweep and roared
38

39. by every drunken sailor as he reeled home from the circus or brothel."
Despite such prejudices, Mason and Hastings made immeasurable
contributions to American revival hymnody. Their association with the
evangelistic leaders of their time helped to spread those
contributions. In direct contrast to the progressivism of Mason and
Hastings was the pragmatic Joshua Leavitt who compiled the popular
hymnal The Christian Lyre. Leavitt, who was not a professional
musician, greatly admired Charles Finney and produced his hymnal to
meet the needs of Finneys revival.
Finney, however, did not reciprocate, choosing instead the
Mason/Hastings compilation. Leavitt spoke for the common people in
their disregard for those "music masters, writers and organists who
denounced revival music as unscientific." Widening schisms between the
established church and the revival community were evidenced in musical
spheres. Joshua Leavitt stated, "Every person conversant with revivals
must have observed that whenever meetings for prayers and conference
consume a special interest there is a desire for hymns and music of a
different character from those ordinarily heard in church." In other
words, the shift in the function of spiritual song during the
nineteenth century reflected the revivalists' emphasis on an appeal,
to the heart of the common man, accentuating that quality of God which
invited fellowship as opposed to that of an Almighty judge, breathing
fire and brimstone.
This point of reference emphasis was enriched by the work of a whole
crop of American and English writers. Kaatrud quotes William Hunter, a
Methodist hymn writer, as saying, "Popular hearts at religious
meetings need texts that are warm, animated, energetic, stirring,
sentimental, thrilling and filled with enlivening fervor." And that,
from all available evidence, is exactly what they got in secular tunes
that were known by all classes of people and sparked by potent new
spiritual texts. "Any popular song or negro melody," asserted William
Bradbury, nineteenth century leader in the reformation of Sunday
School music, "may be introduced into the Sabbath school and, house of
prayer even with perfect propriety by merely substituting sacred
words...." One scholar has observed that music during this period
served a number of functions: it aroused Christian workers, inspired
holiness, created intimacy within the religious community, aroused
interest and excitement at mass meetings and was used as a persuasive
tool of conversion. It was an era marked both by the contributions of
many outstanding individuals (such as the blind poetess Fanny Crosby
39

40. who wrote over 8,000 hymns and lived among the poor of New York City)
and the rise of commercialism in gospel song.
Revivals created an appetite for published songs, with composers and
compilers rushing to meet the need. One man who resisted the tempting
commercial lure of the day was pioneer gospel soloist Philip P. Bliss
who would accept no money for his contributions to the popular hymnal
Gospel Hymns and Spiritual Songs. It was the interdenominational
prayer meetings of 1857-58 that marked the beginning of the Fourth
Awakening. Commenting on the prayer meetings, George S. Stevens,
Methodist minister and historian, said, "the singing was so spirited
as to have banished the idea that organs and choirs were
indispensable." The prayer meetings were to lead to the international
evangelistic ministry of D. L. Moody and Ira Sankey. Ira Sankey
provided a musical model adopted by hundreds of imitators in the
coming century. "Sankey's songs are true folk music of the people,"
remarked one observer. By 1899, Sankey had sold over twenty million
copies of his hymn books, with all profits and royalties funneled to
religious programs and not a penny going to the composer. It was a
practice future musical ministers might have done well to follow. The
Moody/Sankey model set the stage for subsequent editions of the
preacher/music minister teams that peppered American revival history,
including Rubin Torry/Charles Alexander, Billy Sunday/Homer
Rhodeheaver and Billy Graham/Cliff Barrows. The twentieth century
inherited the well-oiled religious machinery of revival constructed by
the preceding generations. Rubin Torry was among the earliest of the
classic American evangelists to follow Moody, leading his first
worldwide crusade in 1901. Charlie Alexander was Torry's musical man
of the hour. An innovator who introduced the piano to revival meeting,
Alexander acted as the crusade's master of ceremonies with all the
vivaciousness of a community song-fest leader. Apparently less than
discreet in his business affairs, which included the administration of
substantial publishing interests, Alexander earned Torry's ire when he
hired his own personal publicist for their crusades. Alexander, in
turn, served as a model for Billy Sunday's chorister, Homer
Rodeheaver, who carried the show business potential of revivalism to
its extreme. Joining Billy Sunday in 1910, Rodeheaver like Alexander
before him formed his own publishing firm, The Rodeheaver Company,
which became one of the largest gospel music enterprises in America.
Rodeheaver's crowd pleasing warmed up revival gatherings. He urged the
eager congregation to compete with the choir for spectacular musical
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