Can purely instrumental music be God glorifying?

Jamdoc said:

Psalm 150


Most of the time, it seems like any Christian oriented music is always very vocal focused and about the lyrics/words, and from some people, anything without words about Jesus is instantly worldly, flesh, of the devil, etc, etc, (especially if it has an electric guitar in it, then it's doubly of the devil of course). Music taste is well, an individual preference, and I usually find most worship music virtually intolerable and bland. So I usually would prefer listen to secular music, and I'm well aware that a lot of it does not glorify God but glorifies sin, so I should avoid it.. but for me, my compromise for music that does not glorify sin, is instrumental music, or even techno. No words, can be interpreted to mean.. anything you want it to mean.

I also think of it in terms of eternity, music is a big part of it, in heaven they are constantly singing. As some of you know, I don't like singing, and it isn't due to just being bad at it (there are many things I'm bad at that I'd like to learn to be good at, singing isn't one of them, playing an instrument on the other hand, is something I'd like to learn to be good at).. I'd rather "Praise Him upon the loud cymbals" (or harp, or timbrel, or organ, or stringed instruments, or how about a trumpet?).

Does the fact that a particular musician isn't Christian affect purely instrumental music, or is it safe to listen to?

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Music is kind of like food, it's personal as to what is okay and what is not.

Different types of musics will trigger each person different ways so there isn't one particular rule regarding it for everyone.

HOws about instrumental metal rock?

Jamdoc said:

Psalm 150


Most of the time, it seems like any Christian oriented music is always very vocal focused and about the lyrics/words, and from some people, anything without words about Jesus is instantly worldly, flesh, of the devil, etc, etc, (especially if it has an electric guitar in it, then it's doubly of the devil of course). Music taste is well, an individual preference, and I usually find most worship music virtually intolerable and bland. So I usually would prefer listen to secular music, and I'm well aware that a lot of it does not glorify God but glorifies sin, so I should avoid it.. but for me, my compromise for music that does not glorify sin, is instrumental music, or even techno. No words, can be interpreted to mean.. anything you want it to mean.

I also think of it in terms of eternity, music is a big part of it, in heaven they are constantly singing. As some of you know, I don't like singing, and it isn't due to just being bad at it (there are many things I'm bad at that I'd like to learn to be good at, singing isn't one of them, playing an instrument on the other hand, is something I'd like to learn to be good at).. I'd rather "Praise Him upon the loud cymbals" (or harp, or timbrel, or organ, or stringed instruments, or how about a trumpet?).

Does the fact that a particular musician isn't Christian affect purely instrumental music, or is it safe to listen to?

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The question is, what effect is it having on your spirit? Are you uplifted and edified? I can listen to Bach and Handel all day. Music has a definite effect on us. It can be good or depressing. I was a fan of Bob Dylan before I was saved. I could not listen after I was saved. It was just depressing.

1 Samuel 16:23 (KJV) 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.

Instrumental music is fine, unless we have an actual, rather than imagined, reason to believe it is not fine.

There is a band I enjoy that is secular that has released instrumental versions of their songs. It enables me to more easily enjoy more of those songs. No bad lyrics, no problem for me.

Also, re: techno - that will be instrumental for a good, long stretch, then there can be samples of very inappropriate vocals or effects out of the blue. Before you introduce a techno mix to mixed company, especially kids, listen to the whole mix first.

Jamdoc said:

Can purely instrumental music be God glorifying?

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You can't make generalized statements about instrumental music. If you feel unsettled by a piece, pray and ask God what He wants you to do about it.

It goes back to the same verse that we keep quoting to you,
"All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful;
all things are lawful for me, but not all things edify." 1 Corinthians 10:23 NKJV
For me, music that originally had edifying or neutral lyrics or never had lyrics at all is the least problematic.

I do not choose to listen to instrumentals which originally had anti-God lyrics or otherwise promoted sin.

There are some instrumental pieces that have bad lyrics but they have never been presented. I don't worry about those unless/until the Holy Spirit gives me a heads-up.

Also in earlier times, some tunes have been recycled for multiple bar songs then later used for hymns. For instance, "My Country 'Tis of Thee" uses the same tune as the British nation anthem, "God Save The Queen." The melody for "Amazing Grace" was called "New Britain" when it was first written.

In those cases, I just go with how the Holy Spirit convicts me.

Go to the store and buy yourself a small keyboard.

Then pray about it every time before you begin to play it, asking God to guide you through the Holy Spirit to Glorify Him.

You don't need to have anything preconceived as to what it might sound like, but if you keep it up God will lead you further and further down that path to pure Glorification of Him through that little Keyboard you sounded like a child playing not long before.

When you begin you will sound terrible and forced, but your not doing this to learn Music and play songs as we know them to be, your doing it to Glorify God, so let Him play through you to Himself what he wants to hear.

That way both God and you become Blessed, you Bless Him He then Blesses you in return by allowing you to hear what you are playing for Him.

When you do this in Faith, you will feel the presence of the Holy Spirit leading you guiding you, and you will know in your spirit that you have Worshiped God from your spirit Praising Him.

Does the music you make have to follow the traditional set forms, NO.
Does anyone else need to like what they hear from you, NO
I don't mean go play where others can hear you.

Why depend on what someone else has written and played on whatever instrument, do the playing and Glorifying out of your own spirit with the guidance of Gods Spirit.

I have done this myself at times and it feels fulfilling as only God can make you feel, and a knowing that He is pleased with your offering to Him.

Be Blessed

Jamdoc said:

I dunno, when I'm just jamming on something energetic, it can feel very triumphant and soaring. Even something like heavy metal that's just an instrumental piece, it can just feel very powerful and with a lot of energy. Or like a techno track can just make you want to dance (in a non sexualized way.. like when I read 2 Samuel 6:14 "And David danced before the Lord with all his might", I'm almost thinking like.. Breakdancing moves, Capoeira, maybe not exactly those moves but just something with a lot of power and acrobatics to it, just leaping and handstands and flips and high kicks, a lot of energy and excitement, I'm a cripple so I can't move like that, but I would love to be able to)
That's actually one of the reasons why most worship music doesn't register with me right. It's so focused on the words and I'm focused on melody, rhythm, tempo, and it's just the most milquetoast, boring, airy, uninspiring music I can think of, because I'm not paying attention so much to the lyrics instead I pay attention to the sound. I can READ worship songs and psalms and be inspired and uplifted, but hearing them sung as music it just engages my brain in a different mode, or I should say it fails to engage my brain.

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I know what you mean. The singing used to be my favourite part of the meeting when I was going to a denominational church. Now I'm surprised and delighted if a song is chosen that I can enter into. Music is wonderful but it has the potential to be dangerous. Exciting the emotions is not the same as inspiring the spirit. I am musical (I play the guitar) and we sing a few songs every evening for praise and worship. We choose them carefully. We don't overdo it.

The best songs have a great melody and meaningful words. A real simple example is "Barocha" by Michael Card. There are a couple of versions on Youtube. It's Aaron's Blessing set to a great tune. There are many others, of course.

God created both, so I'm sure He likes both as long as it's from the heart.

Lyricless music can be glorifying as long as it makes you actually feel a good emotion. This is why I own a ton of video game and movie soundtracks. They don't have lyrics and they make me feel good or remind me of God...etc. Here is one from a movie Sunshine. Hearing this makes me think of what it will be like seeing God for the first time.