ARE TODAYS MODERN STYLES OF PRAISE DURING CHURCH SERVICES WRONG?
ARE TODAYS MODERN STYLES OF PRAISE DURING CHURCH SERVICES WRONG?
Many people who grew up in the pre-modern traditional Church do not like the modern changes in Church services. They condemn things like the new instruments and songs they sing and their show of emotion that they label “emotionalism”, by lifting up their hands and shouting out while praising God.
Yet the Bible clearly states:
1. To Sing New Songs
Psalm 98
1 Sing to the LORD a new song,
for he has done marvelous things;
his right hand and his holy arm
have worked salvation for him.
Psalm 40:3
3 He put a new song in my mouth,
a hymn of praise to our God.
Many will see and fear the LORD
and put their trust in him.
Psalm 33:3
3 Sing to him a new song;
play skillfully, and shout for joy.
Revelation 5:9
9 And they sang a new song, saying:
“You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased for God
persons from every tribe and language and people and nation.
Revelation 14:3
3 And they sang a new song before the throne and before the four living creatures and the elders. No one could learn the song except the 144,000 who had been redeemed from the earth.
Isaiah 42:10
10 Sing to the LORD a new song,
his praise from the ends of the earth,
you who go down to the sea, and all that is in it,
you islands, and all who live in them.
2. To Sing Hymns And Spiritual Songs
Ephesians 5:19
19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,
Colossians 3:16
16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
3. To Lift Up Holy Hands In Praise During The Assembly
Psalm 63:4
4 I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.
Psalm 134:2
2 Lift up your hands in the sanctuary
and praise the LORD.
Psalm 141:2
2 May my prayer be set before you like incense;
may the lifting up of my hands be like the evening sacrifice.
Nehemiah 8:6
6 Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
Psalm 28:2
2 Hear my cry for mercy
as I call to you for help,
as I lift up my hands
toward your Most Holy Place.
Psalm 119:48
48 I reach out for your commands, which I love,
that I may meditate on your decrees.
Lamentations 3:41
41 Let us lift up our hearts and our hands
to God in heaven, and say:
Psalm 47:1
1 Clap your hands, all you nations;
shout to God with cries of joy.
4. To Shout During The Assembly
Psalm 100:1-2
1 Shout for joy to the LORD, all the earth.
2 Worship the LORD with gladness;
come before him with joyful songs.
Ezra 3:11
11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD:
“He is good;
his love toward Israel endures forever.”
And all the people gave a great shout of praise to the LORD, because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid.
Nehemiah 8:6
6 Ezra praised the LORD, the great God; and all the people lifted their hands and responded, “Amen! Amen!” Then they bowed down and worshiped the LORD with their faces to the ground.
1 Chronicles 16:36
36 Praise be to the LORD, the God of Israel,
from everlasting to everlasting.
Then all the people said “Amen” and “Praise the LORD.”
Revelation 7:10-12
10 And they cried out in a loud voice:
“Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb.”
11 All the angels were standing around the throne and around the elders and the four living creatures. They fell down on their faces before the throne and worshiped God, 12 saying:
“Amen!
Praise and glory
and wisdom and thanks and honor
and power and strength
be to our God for ever and ever.
Amen!”
2 Chronicles 20:19
19 Then some Levites from the Kohathites and Korahites stood up and praised the LORD, the God of Israel, with a very loud voice.
Luke 19:37-40
37 When he came near the place where the road goes down the Mount of Olives, the whole crowd of disciples began joyfully to praise God in loud voices for all the miracles they had seen:
38 “Blessed is the king who comes in the name of the Lord!”[a]
“Peace in heaven and glory in the highest!”
39 Some of the Pharisees in the crowd said to Jesus, “Teacher, rebuke your disciples!”
40 “I tell you,” he replied, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out.”
5. To Use Different Instruments When Praising God
Psalm 150:3-6
3 Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,
4 praise him with timbrel and dancing,
praise him with the strings and pipe,
5 praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.
6 Let everything that has breath praise the Lord.
Praise the Lord.
2 Chronicles 5:13-14
13 The trumpeters and musicians joined in unison to give praise and thanks to the Lord. Accompanied by trumpets, cymbals and other instruments, the singers raised their voices in praise to the Lord and sang:
“He is good;
his love endures forever.”
Then the temple of the Lord was filled with the cloud, 14 and the priests could not perform their service because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the temple of God.
1 Chronicles 23:5
5 Four thousand are to be gatekeepers and four thousand are to praise the Lord with the musical instruments I have provided for that purpose.”
Exodus 15:20-21
20 Then Miriam the prophet, Aaron’s sister, took a timbrel in her hand, and all the women followed her, with timbrels and dancing. 21 Miriam sang to them:
“Sing to the Lord,
for he is highly exalted.
Both horse and driver
he has hurled into the sea.”
1 Samuel 10:5
5 “After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, timbrels, pipes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying.
Ephesians 5:19
19 speaking to one another with psalms (to twang the string), hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord,
Colossians 3:16
16 Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms(to twang the string), hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.