Praise God!
I’ve been surprised with the views some folks have about how we must praise God! Some sound righteous, but are totally unscriptural! Let’s take a peek at this.
Suppose someone told you the sanctuary is only for prayer and preaching? Suppose someone said they don’t want trumpets in church? Suppose they think only piano or organ should be played? What if they said there’s no place for drums, not even hand drums? Maybe they’ve told you praising God with dance is out of line? How about bass guitar? Flutes? Loud noises, like cymbals? What about other sounds and expression? Some say they expect to hear only the old hymns, and never loud. What does God say?
1 Praise Yah! Praise God in his sanctuary! Praise him in his heavens for his acts of power! 2 Praise him for his mighty acts! Praise him according to his excellent greatness! 3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet! Praise him with harp and lyre! 4 Praise him with tambourine and dancing! Praise him with stringed instruments and flute! 5 Praise him with loud cymbals! Praise him with resounding cymbals! 6 Let everything that has breath praise Yah! Praise Yah! Psalms 150
1 Shout for joy to Yahweh, all you lands! 2 Serve Yahweh with gladness. Come before his presence with singing. 3 Know that Yahweh, he is God. It is he who has made us, and we are his. We are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. 4 Enter into his gates with thanksgiving, and into his courts with praise. Give thanks to him, and bless his name. 5 For Yahweh is good. His loving kindness endures forever, his faithfulness to all generations. Psalms 100
The verses of encouragement to sing a new song of praise to God are too numerous to print in full here. You can look some of them up if you like. Here’s a list: Psalms 33:3, 40:3, 96:1, 98:1, 144:9, 149:1, Isaiah 42:10, Rev 5:9, 14:3. Besides these, there are also instances of new songs within the Bible. Some are spontaneous.
Some folks who insist on only the old hymns and organ accompaniment might not realize at least five things: 1) Those old hymns are actually new a relatively short time ago, considering the age of the church. 2) The organ was at one time considered by some to be a bar instrument, not a church instrument. 3) Some of those old hymns contain bar tunes to help folks transition from bar to church. 4) They are excluding their children and grandchildren from contributing to God-praising songs. 5) They might not realize that, in their zeal, they might be playing God a little.
Some folks who want to contribute something new to God-praising songs and dance might not realize at least five things: 1) The need to dress modestly. -You can be new without being lewd. 2) The need to not dance in a seductive fashion. 3) The need to not play in a seductive fashion. 4) The need of the older generation, and actually all of us, to hear quality God-centered lyrics. -And is it clear whether you are singing about God or about your boyfriend or girlfriend? 5) The desire and benefit of the older generation to enjoy a God-honoring song from their era once in a while, and pass it down. Bottom line: What would God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit think of it? Keep singing. May God Bless You!