DISCERNING
MUSIC by J. Parnell McCarter
There is sinful music which incites people to sin. As the Westminster Larger Catechism states: “The
sins forbidden in the seventh commandment, besides the neglect of the duties
required, are…lascivious songs, books, pictures, dancings,
stage plays; and all other provocations to, or acts of uncleanness, either
in ourselves or others.” One of the
Biblical prooftexts cited is Isaiah 23:15-17, which
reads: “And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre
shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the
end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.
Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast
been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. And it shall come to pass after the
end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit
fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.”
Matthew Henry’s
commentary on the Isaiah 23:15-17 text reads: “The Tyrians
having returned from their captivity, and those that remained recovering new
spirits thereupon, they shall contrive how to force a trade, shall procure the
best choice of goods, under-sell their neighbours,
and be obliging to all customers; as a harlot that has been forgotten, when she
comes to be spoken of again, recommends herself to company by singing and
playing, takes a harp, goes about the city, perhaps in the
night, serenading, makes sweet melody, and sings many songs. These
are innocent and allowable diversions, if soberly, and moderately, and modestly
used; but those that value themselves upon their virtue should not be over-fond
of them, nor ambitious to excel in them, because, whatever they are now,
anciently they were some of the baits with which harlots used to entice fools. Tyre shall now by degrees come to be the mart of nations
again; she shall return to her hire, to her traffic, and shall
commit fornication (that is, she shall have dealings in trade, for the
prophet carries on the similitude of a harlot) with all the kingdoms
of the world that she had formerly traded with in her prosperity.”
John Calvin’s commentary
on part of the Isaiah 23:15-17 text reads: “Sing many songs. That is, Tyre will add fraud to fraud, and allurements to
allurements, that at length she may attract all to her, may be again remembered
by men, and recover her former celebrity. In short, as an old harlot contrives
methods for regaining the favor of men, and allures them
by painting, and ornaments, and dress, and songs, and musical instruments, so
will Tyre recover her wealth and power by the same
arts with which she formerly succeeded.”
So music can tend to draw people into morally disobedient
behavior, or it can tend to draw people towards morally obedient behavior. We have seen an example of the former in the
Isaiah 23:15-17 passage. An example of
the latter is found in David’s playing to Saul.
We read this about it: “And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that
David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was
well, and the evil spirit departed from him.“ (Samuel 16:23)
Since music can tend to draw us in either a good or bad
direction, it behooves us to be very careful concerning the music we recreate
by, and the extent to which we engage in it.
As Matthew Henry notes, in order for music to be permissible, it must
conform to certain Biblical principles. In
order to be permissible, some necessary characteristics of music include:
1. Sober -
“Therefore let us not sleep, as do others; but let us watch and be sober.”
(I Thes 5:6). It is defined this way: “to be calm and
collected in spirit”.
2. Orderly - “Let all things be done decently and in order.” (I Cor
14:40) As
Matthew Henry comments: “Manifest
indecencies and disorders are to be carefully kept out of all Christian
churches, and every part of divine worship. They should have nothing in them that
is childish, absurd, ridiculous, wild, or tumultuous; but all parts of divine
worship should be carried on in a manly, grave, rational, composed, and orderly
manner. God is not to be dishonoured, nor his worship
disgraced, by our unbecoming and disorderly performance of it and attendance at
it.”
3. Not sexually licentious- “thou shalt
not commit adultery” (Exodus 20:14)
4. Lyrics consistent with Biblical principles and truth (if
there are lyrics at all) – “thou shalt not bear false
witness…” (Exodus 20:16)
5. Avoiding appearance of evil – “Abstain from all appearance of evil.” (I Thes
5:22) As Matthew Henry notes: “We
should therefore abstain from evil, and all appearances of evil, from sin, and
that which looks like sin, leads to it, and borders upon it. He who is not shy
of the appearances of sin, who shuns not the occasions of sin, and who avoids
not the temptations and approaches to sin, will not long abstain from the actual
commission of sin.”
6. Not worldly or conveying worldliness - “For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh,
and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is
of the world. And the world passeth away, and the lust thereof: but he that doeth the
will of God abideth for ever.” (I John
2:16, 17)
If these principles are faithfully and honestly applied,
could much of the music popular in today’s world, including much of the music
that has the label of “Christian” attached to it, pass these criteria? Consider so much of the music that falls
under genres like rock, heavy metal, rap and hip hop, blues, country, and jazz
today. Do these songs meet the Biblical
criteria? Should Christians see how
close to the edge of moral impropriety they can get without falling over into
the most blatantly obvious forms of moral impropriety, or should they rather
exercise caution and carefulness? And what of the witness of the Church, especially its officers? Should they not be careful, lest their
actions should cause stumbling, not to mention the effect upon themselves and
their families? Does not the Church have
a responsibility to draw lines and boundaries, such that lascivious songs be not tolerated as entertainments of their communicant
membership, lest scandal go undisciplined?
May the love of Christ constrain us to discern music and not walk
disorderly in our use of music.