Psalms 150-3:6
"Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre.
Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and
pipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals;Praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let
everything that has breath praise the LORD.Praise the LORD!"
Every Sunday we read this Biblical passage. Yet, I have wondered, I neither see
trumpets, nor harp or dancing or clapping in the Holy Qurbana that follows. How
come? Are these empty words we utter?! And why no drums?! Also we may ask - Why
no electric guitar?:)
In conversation with a friend and Seminarian, the topic came up in a different
context and he mentioned "We see loud music used in the worship of the Old
Testament, but never in the New Testament times. Even the Fathers at the
Seminary do not encourage loud music" [I paraphrase]. I did not think much about
this till recently when I started thinking along these lines and the words of
the friend came back to me.
The Psalmist sees a vision of the Yahweh who is worthy of the highest praise. He
exhorts mankind to conduct the worship with all jubilation and utmost joy,
because Yahweh is the Lord who gives victory over enemies, Yahweh, our God is
the Lord Almighty who created the heaven and the earth, who has blessed Israel
his chosen nation.
That was the vision of the Lord of the Old Testament. The new Testament showed
the vision of the Lord who is also Love incarnate; the Lord who gave His only
Son to be a sacrifice on the Cross, the Lord who loves all humanity with a love
unimaginable.
It is this sacrifice that the Holy Qurbana is all about. That explains the
solemn mood as a build up to the Holy Qurbana. In our tradition, (and in most
traditions) we do not use trumpets, dancing and clapping during such solemn
occasions (for example, just to get a context, the funeral of our beloved
departed ones – which is a time of sadness because of the physical separation of
the loved one from our world, but it is also a time of joy because of our faith
that the ones who die in the Lord are closer to Christ and is full of life in
Christ, they just pass on to a better place)
Our worship is our response to our Creator. The music in the Old Testament
worship is a reflection of the revelation till that time. Yet, inspired by the
Holy Spirit, its relevance is never lost, it just finds newer meanings in the
New Testament times.
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord." Col 3:16
We see three kinds of songs in the New Testament times of the Early Church –
psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. The Old Testament psalms were never
forsaken, they were used too, yet armed with the knowledge of a Lord who bore
our sins to the Cross, and of a Lord with whom we have died and risen also, the
usage would have been much mellowed and matured in the traditional sense, yet
more joyous and fullsome, having been liberated by the truth of the Cross.
Thus the New Testament Church is a paradigm shift, in a sense, from the ways of
the Old Testament – in its revelation, in its life and also in its music. The
trumpets, the dancing and the clapping have been replaced by the chiming of the
bells, the fluttering of the Marbasa, the waving of the censor, the smell of the
incense, the waving of the hands by the celebrant, the announcements by the
deacons, the shouting of the crowd in response, the folding of the hands, the
standing in rapt attention, the loud ringing of the church bells – the ecstacy
is still present, only its expression has changed.
But are we fully aware of this change? Only if we do, can we enjoy the fullness
of our worship.
On another count - rock music may be popular in the world today, but I think it
is not in line with the tune of the Church - hence we should be responsible
enough to guide the youth away from these, and into the melodious, joyous and
ecstatic, but orderly form of worship we are already custodians of.
Christ is Risen!
Mathew Samuel
Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/23310
"Praise Him with trumpet sound; Praise Him with harp and lyre.
Praise Him with timbrel and dancing; Praise Him with stringed instruments and
pipe. Praise Him with loud cymbals;Praise Him with resounding cymbals. Let
everything that has breath praise the LORD.Praise the LORD!"
Every Sunday we read this Biblical passage. Yet, I have wondered, I neither see
trumpets, nor harp or dancing or clapping in the Holy Qurbana that follows. How
come? Are these empty words we utter?! And why no drums?! Also we may ask - Why
no electric guitar?:)
In conversation with a friend and Seminarian, the topic came up in a different
context and he mentioned "We see loud music used in the worship of the Old
Testament, but never in the New Testament times. Even the Fathers at the
Seminary do not encourage loud music" [I paraphrase]. I did not think much about
this till recently when I started thinking along these lines and the words of
the friend came back to me.
The Psalmist sees a vision of the Yahweh who is worthy of the highest praise. He
exhorts mankind to conduct the worship with all jubilation and utmost joy,
because Yahweh is the Lord who gives victory over enemies, Yahweh, our God is
the Lord Almighty who created the heaven and the earth, who has blessed Israel
his chosen nation.
That was the vision of the Lord of the Old Testament. The new Testament showed
the vision of the Lord who is also Love incarnate; the Lord who gave His only
Son to be a sacrifice on the Cross, the Lord who loves all humanity with a love
unimaginable.
It is this sacrifice that the Holy Qurbana is all about. That explains the
solemn mood as a build up to the Holy Qurbana. In our tradition, (and in most
traditions) we do not use trumpets, dancing and clapping during such solemn
occasions (for example, just to get a context, the funeral of our beloved
departed ones – which is a time of sadness because of the physical separation of
the loved one from our world, but it is also a time of joy because of our faith
that the ones who die in the Lord are closer to Christ and is full of life in
Christ, they just pass on to a better place)
Our worship is our response to our Creator. The music in the Old Testament
worship is a reflection of the revelation till that time. Yet, inspired by the
Holy Spirit, its relevance is never lost, it just finds newer meanings in the
New Testament times.
"Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and
admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with
grace in your hearts to the Lord." Col 3:16
We see three kinds of songs in the New Testament times of the Early Church –
psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. The Old Testament psalms were never
forsaken, they were used too, yet armed with the knowledge of a Lord who bore
our sins to the Cross, and of a Lord with whom we have died and risen also, the
usage would have been much mellowed and matured in the traditional sense, yet
more joyous and fullsome, having been liberated by the truth of the Cross.
Thus the New Testament Church is a paradigm shift, in a sense, from the ways of
the Old Testament – in its revelation, in its life and also in its music. The
trumpets, the dancing and the clapping have been replaced by the chiming of the
bells, the fluttering of the Marbasa, the waving of the censor, the smell of the
incense, the waving of the hands by the celebrant, the announcements by the
deacons, the shouting of the crowd in response, the folding of the hands, the
standing in rapt attention, the loud ringing of the church bells – the ecstacy
is still present, only its expression has changed.
But are we fully aware of this change? Only if we do, can we enjoy the fullness
of our worship.
On another count - rock music may be popular in the world today, but I think it
is not in line with the tune of the Church - hence we should be responsible
enough to guide the youth away from these, and into the melodious, joyous and
ecstatic, but orderly form of worship we are already custodians of.
Christ is Risen!
Mathew Samuel
Albany, NY
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IndianOrthodox/message/23310
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