A guest article, written by Hermann.
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“I will sing my Maker’s praises
And in Him most joyful be
For in all things I see traces
Of His tender love to me.”– Evangelical Lutheran Hymn-Book #65, I Will Sing My Maker’s Praises
The Christian in all things is called not to walk as the nations, “in the vanity of their mind” (Ephesians 4:17), but to be “unspotted from the world” (James 1:27). In this age of plenty and carnal indulgence, the songs of the world have only grown in the depravity they reflect. Music, the proper and noble maid of theology and a gift of God for man’s edification, has become a subservient tool of the flesh, the devil, and the world. By devils and demoniacs, it has been a weapon against piety and good order. As the idols of Jacob, such music must be buried and left forgotten (Genesis 35:1-4).
Some, shielding themselves under a banner of Christian liberty, exhort themselves, crying, “Am I not free? May I not do as I please? Shall not what I do be the extent of the law? Saint Paul answers such men, “All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient… I will not be brought under the power of any” (1 Corinthians 6:12). Christian liberty is not a license for self-gratification but the freedom to be a slave of Christ without hindrance (Galatians 5:13).
Moreover, man is more than a mere spirit. He dwells in this life, he answers to neighbor and brother, father and mother, kinsman and sojourner, believer and heathen. He must discipline the body to adhere to the spirit (Romans 7:22-23), keeping it true to the faith (1 Corinthians 9:27), crucifying the flesh (Galatians 5:24), and ensuring he can run the race of endurance to the peace of righteousness (Hebrews 12:1-11). For Christ came to fulfill the law, not abolish it (Matthew 5:17). Indeed, he establishes that the law shall be taught forever in the church (Matthew 22:34-41; That Man May Find Counsel and Help to Come to a Perfect Life: Martin Luther’s Sermon for Trinity 18). Through good works and striving in his vocation, he keeps his body under control (Hebrews 12:11). Though one errs when he believes works justify, one errs likewise when he turns faith into an occasion for the delight of the flesh. Thus, we see that the discipline of our flesh includes every aspect of our lives, including what we allow to shape our heart, mind, and soul.
If then, the Christian must keep watch over his body and soul in all respects, he must also be vigilant regarding what enters through the ear. For music is not idle, but a teacher and a master of the affections. What one permits in the heart through melody soon becomes habit, and what becomes habit shapes the course of life. Therefore, as we bridle the tongue (Psalm 39:1; James 3:2) and restrain the eye (Psalm 101:3; Job 31:1; Luke 6:42), so too must we guard the ear, lest it delight in what God condemns and lead the heart astray. For the discipline of the senses is the marrow of the Christian life The Christian life has never been only about being forgiven and living on. It includes mortifying the flesh, obeying the commandments (John 14:15), ceasing to sin willfully (Kretzmann Rogate Sunday 1956), loving the law (The Disastrous Results of Despising God’s Law”: C. F. W. Walther’s Sermon for Trinity 18), and being doers of the word (James 1:22-27). The doing of the word mixed with the reality of the flesh demonstrates Christ’s command to follow Him and pick up your cross (Matthew 10:38). Such command concerns itself with all things, even our playlists.
Against Worldly Music
“Who improvise to the sound of the harp, and like David have composed songs for themselves… I loathe the arrogance of Jacob, and detest his citadels; Therefore I will deliver up the city and all it contains.”
Here, the Lord, through the prophet Amos, rebukes the corruption of music in Israel. Their prosperity bred the worms of arrogance, and their songs no longer lifted praise to God but glorified their own sensuality. Unlike David, whose psalms magnified the Lord, they composed songs for themselves and their own baseness (Popular Commentary Book 2 Kretzmann, Amos 6:5). Thus, they had turned the gift of music inward, debasing its purpose of glorifying the Lord to the indulgence of the flesh.
This rebuke, proclaimed by a humble herdsman and grower of Sycamore figs (Amos 7:14), remains timely in our day. The instruction is eternal: a day is coming when all our songs of boast will be turned into dirges and lamentation (Amos 8:11). Nations that revel in their prosperity spurn the fear of God and set themselves forth for calamity (Amos 6:6-8). Better then, to tend our ears to the rebuke of the wise, rather than revel in the songs of the fool (Ecclesiastes 7:5).
But what is worldly music? What is music composed for oneself? It is nothing less than music shaped by the spirit of the age (Ephesians 2:2): music that stirs the passions of the flesh, encourages rebellion against divine order, and divorces itself from the fear of God. It mocks chastity, belittles authority, praises self-indulgence, and fills the imagination with images of vanity and idolatry. It is music that “abideth not in the house of the Lord,” but rather sings with the harlot from the streets (Proverbs 7:10–21). Like Satan himself, such music does not create but perverts what God has made good.
For this reason, St. Paul exhorts us, “Have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather reprove them” (Ephesians 5:11). Can we, in good conscience, flood our minds with melodies that glorify what God condemns? Can we delight in that which grieves the Holy Spirit (Ephesians 4:30)? Can one feast on what God abhors and remain without defilement? As the old Latin maxim warns, corruptio optimi pessima: “the corruption of the best is the worst.” Therefore, we must not only avoid singing such songs ourselves but also cease from listening to them. As Luther is ascribed to say, “We are what we sing.”
And yet such danger is subtle. Satan needs only to slip his head into the tent; soon the whole snake follows. The devil prowls as a roaring lion ready to devour whom he may (1 Peter 5:8). Such pursuit begins not with outright heresy, but melody. What is welcomed lightly to our ears and heart soon pierces and strikes our convictions. Thus, the Christian must always guard his ears from such harm, as he guards his eye and tongue.
The devil is cunning: he clothes his poison in sweets and dissuades our worry with melody. Much like the theater, which parades itself as art, worldly music masks itself as a harmless pleasure. But its aim is singular, to please. It does not serve as recreation, which renews and prepares the man, but rather amuses him.[3] It pulls man away from contrition and the acknowledgment of sin, gratifying the flesh and distracting him from faith. Thus, even the pretty melodies, pleasant to our ears from artistic musicians, serve as the funeral march to our ruin.
We must therefore weep. We must weep for our youth, who are catechized more by their Spotify playlist than by the Catechism. We must weep for our families, who entertain demons with the music that plays over the dinner table. We must mourn for our land, which no longer sings the praises of God but howls with the wolves of Babylon, drunk upon the songs of pride.
For Godly Music
“Sing to the Lord a new song: his praise is in the assembly of the saints.”
– Psalm 149:1 (Brenton)
Here, the Holy Spirit, through David, ordains what the object and purpose of our songs ought to be. Not the service of the flesh, world, and devil, but the praise in the assembly of His people. Song, rightly ordered, is the possession not of vanity but the body of believers, not to lust but love, not to pride but praise. As St. Basil declares, the Psalms are “a compendium of all theology” (Homiliae in Psalmos) where pure doctrine, praise, and prayer are joined in a harmonious whole.
Moreover, in Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, the Apostle Paul commends the singing of spiritual songs as part of being dear children of Christ (Ephesians 5:1), as one risen by Christ (Colossians 3:1). The Apostle does not treat music as ornamental, but as an essential discipline of the renewed life. Indeed, in Colossians 3:18-22 and Ephesians 5:22-33, we are given instructions on how, chiefly in the marriage estate, and all other estates, should be ordered. That spiritual songs are listed alongside such grave matter shows, dear reader, that this too is no small thing. Therefore, let us put off the old flesh, be renewed in the spirit, and put on the new flesh (Ephesians 4:22-24).
Thus, godly music is, first and foremost, doxological. It directs the soul away from the self and toward the Triune God. In Isaiah’s beatific vision, heaven itself is filled with song: “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory” (Isaiah 6:3). What heaven sings eternally, the church on Earth should echo temporally. For in the divine service, the angels and the church militant themselves join us in worship (1 Corinthians 11:10).[4] As Chemnitz notes in the Examen Concilii Tridentini, in the divine service, music is not an idol ornament but a vehicle of the Word, serving to steer the heart in faith, hope, and love. When the Church sings, she is joined in a heavenly liturgy, confessing her doctrine in melody.
Second, godly music is didactic, that is, for instruction. St. Paul instructs that psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs are one teaching and admonition (Colossians 3:16). Melanchthon and others note that the psalms are the Church’s catechesis. In this way, sacred song is pure doctrine to melody. Luther is right to say in the preface to the Wittenberg Hymnal of 1524 that “next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise” (Luther’s Preface to the Wittenberg Hymnal), for it makes the Word to live in the soul and drives away even the power of the devil (1 Samuel 16:23).
As Scripture demonstrates, music finds its proper place when joined to the true worship of the Lord and the instruction of His people. For when the great reformer King Hezekiah restored the worship of the unleavened bread, scripture notes, “the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with loud instruments unto the Lord. And Hezekiah spake comfortably unto all the Levites that taught the good knowledge of the Lord” (2 Chronicles 30:21-22). Thus, music is joined directly to worship and instruction, serving not as a distraction toward the flesh, but binding itself to teaching and confession before the living God.
Third, godly music is consolatory. Such consolation finds its basis not in sentimental ditties, worldly laments, or drivelous repetition but in songs that bring Christ to heart. Consider Paul and Silas in jail; at midnight, in an act of worship, they prayed and sang hymns to God (Acts 16:25). Such chains did not bind their praises, nor did their wounds overcome their joy. Thus, such a Christian burdened by sorrow or sin finds strength in songs that preach Christ crucified and risen again.
Fourth, godly music is communal. It serves not the vanity of a singular performer or to exalt the part over the whole but rather edifies the body. Again, turning to the example provided by King Hezekiah (2 Chronicles 30:21-22), music was bound to teaching, sacrifice, and the public confession. It served as the common song of the redeemed rather than any exaltation of the talented. For such reason, in the Apology of the Augsburg Confession (XXIV.3-4), we rightly defend the use of music and liturgy as fitting and profitable for this purpose, that, “the people also may have something to learn, and by which faith and fear may be called forth.”
Fifth, godly music is sanctifying. Godly music trains the heart to love the good, true, and beautiful in Christ and detest all evil. As the Formula of Concord Epitome (VI.5) declares, the regenerate act not idly, but “live in the Law and walk according to the Law of God.” Sacred song is such a part of the daily regenerate life (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16). Such songs bend man’s natural affections from ungodliness toward godliness, aid in subduing the flesh, and cultivate a desire for heavenly things. Just as worldly music hardens the heart and habituates the soul to sin, so sacred song accustoms the soul to righteousness, making obedience not a grievous thing requiring lashings and punishment, but a joyful thing, flowing from a joyful will (Formula of Concord Epitome VI.6).
Last, godly music is eschatological. It anticipates and prefigures the song of the Lamb, where every nation and tongue shall cry out, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain” (Revelation 5:12). For this reason, each godly hymn sung is a rehearsal for eternity. As Augustine is credited with saying, “He who sings prays twice.” Yet, in Christ, such songs of the Church are more than prayer; it is the participation of the eternal liturgy our High Priest, the Christ, leads (Hebrews 2:12).
Therefore, we see what we are to turn toward as we turn from the howls of Babylon to the Hymns of Zion. Let us sing songs that make melody in our ears and hearts to the Lord. In such music, right doctrine is confessed, the weak are comforted, the young are catechized, the old are encouraged, and the whole Church is knitted together in worship. This is godly music: not the harlot’s song of the streets, but the bride’s eager song for her Bridegroom, the Christ.
As demonstrated by the scriptures, there is a clear demand against worldly music and a stern call for godly music. I now present, from clear reason and nature,[5] why one must be careful to avoid worldly music.
From Nature
“A double minded man is unstable in all his ways.”
– James 1:8 (KJV)
A rule of nature is that which has been set to tune is easy to recall and often comes to mind, no matter whether we have any desire to think of it or not. This presents a great blessing when what we listen to is blessed and true, but in our day, it presents great strife. Often, the tongue we use to sing praises to God also blasphemes and utters great curses in the guise of worldly songs. We know these things ought not to be so (James 3:9-10), but though we wrestle with this, we go all the while happily listening to that which causes sin. Examine yourself and find that this is true. I know it is true for me. Know then, that like the theatre or Colosseum, one cannot go to it in temperance but must cut out sinful songs entirely. Our liberty is not free to enter into sin nor even to come near it. Walther notes on 1 Corinthians 6:18, “For thus, first of all, the holy apostle Paul, in his first epistle to the Corinthians, 6:18, writes, ‘Flee fornication.’ He does not only say: Do not commit fornication! Nor does he merely say: fight against fornication! But he says: ‘Flee it!’” (C.F.W. Walther, Second Lesson on Dance, delivered 10.19.1884, Immanuel Church, Saint Louis, Missouri). Similarly, in Titus 3:22, we are to flee the lusts of youth, that is, we are to afford ourselves no occasion to sin, as the desire to sin is itself sin.
It ought to be noted that Arius sought to grow his heresy with music. He designed hymns and songs that denied the divinity of Christ to strengthen his error. The children of his day proclaimed, “There was a time when the son was naught,” and today equal blasphemies find themselves in music. Today we see this with the false Christian music of companies like Bethel and Hillsong of contemporary fame, of hymns from differing denominations, and those of the Mormon heathenry on their hie to Kolob.
Moreover, even where the music is not blasphemous, being free of curses, slander, devoid of heresy, and sin, we should be selective among this music. The Lord blesses man with the capacity to remember, and how great it is when we recall His word as it is set to song. Music serves as a way to teach the word and meditate on the Lord’s precepts. Contemporary music lacks the edifying lyrics of old, while non-religious music lacks the right focus. Let the reader understand that I am not saying all songs must go, but if he feels so convicted, I commend him for his effort. Forsake the music that causes sin and glorify God in that which attests to Him.
Now, there is obvious music that condemns Christ, which should be the first to go. Music that curses and is vulgar should likewise follow quickly. Then, you must examine for false doctrines: Lies of humanism,[6] judaizing, paganism, revolutionaryism, feminism, et cetera.
Even music that maintains a masquerade as harmless, neutral, or mere entertainment is not exempt from scrutiny. Nature teaches that affections are molded by what delights and frequents the ear. Such delights destroy our will by removing God’s law as the frontlet of our eyes and replacing it with a memory of vapor. A melody that pleases the senses, yet is void of truth, is a sure tutor of error. By repetition, the heart inclines toward vanity, sensualities, pleasure, or idleness, and the soul drifts away from vigilance toward God. This is the horrible and destructive tyranny of ungodly music: it masquerades as harmless recreation, while bending the soul toward the flesh and directing the senses toward the self.
Reason and piety demand the Christian make a choice: either enslave the ear to the world or sanctify it toward the Lord. One cannot sit idly in Satan’s brothel of sin and claim immunity; one cannot incline the heart through the ear toward unrighteousness and proclaim freedom. To permit sin by melody is to invite sin in; it is to invite sin that lieth at the door to our hearts (Genesis 4:7). If the ear is allowed impurity to dine with corruption, the mind shall follow, the heart consent, the flesh will act, and the soul will perish. Christian liberty does not incline itself toward sin, but demands the vigilance to flee wickedness, even in song.
Conclusion
Therefore, let the Christian act decisively. Remove every song that glorifies what God abhors. Destroy that which celebrates pride, lust, rebellion, and blasphemy. Examine your playlists, background music, and even hymns that you allow to enter your home, car, workplace, church; yes, even your very mind. Let no voice sing but the voice of God; let no sound echo but the sound of piety; let not tune play but that which plays for God. Fill the newfound silence once occupied with vanity at best, and outright wickedness at worst, with psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, prayerful meditation, the reading of the word, and the mutual consolation of the brethren. Teach those entrusted to you to sing only that which glorifies God. Instruct your families, your congregation, your neighbors, in discernment and obedience.
Such decisive action finds accord with Luther in his preface to the Wittenberg Hymnal. Luther declares that hymns are necessary so that there would be something “to give the young–who should at any rate be trained in music and other fine arts–something to wean them away from love ballads and carnal songs and to teach them something of value in their place” (Luther’s Preface to the Wittenberg Hymnal). If the Reformer labored to replace the corrupt songs of his age with Christian hymnody, then we, faced with far greater corruption, ought to follow the example of our fathers in far greater zeal. Let every believer cast out the songs of the flesh and put on the songs of Christ, that the law may crush the haughty of heart and the gospel may be heard in the melody that passes our lips.
Do not contend yourself with partial reform or timid avoidance. The ear, like your eye, is a battleground of the soul, and each note advances the kingdom of Christ or of the flesh. Let every house be sanctified by holy sound, every choir a host of the faithful, every ear a willing and ready recipient of the Spirit. Let Zion’s song resounds boldly, teaching the true doctrine, comforting the weary, exhorting the young, encouraging the old, and strengthening the whole Church in holy living.
Let nothing short of vigilance, decisiveness, and an unwavering commitment to the Lord be your task. For obedience in sound, as in all things, glorifies God and is for the nourishment of your soul. Let your ears, memory, and heart fight the battle of the holy war against the attacks of sin, death, and the devil. May every song you hear, sing, and recall be a witness to the glory of Christ, the Lord of music, the Lord of Life, the Lord of your salvation.
Endnotes:
[1] Translation chosen for clarity of point made in this piece.
[2] The recording in Brenton’s Septuagint reads: “who excel in the sound of musical instruments; they have regarded them as abiding, not as fleeting pleasures;… For the Lord has sworn by himself, saying, Because I abhor all the pride of Jacob, I do also hate his countries, and I will cut off his city with all who inhabit it.” Brenton’s rendering provides further notes that while there is joy in music it does not abideth.
[3] For further explanation of this topic see: https://www.covenanter.org/reformed/2015/8/19/fh-newhalls-discourse-on-the-theater-1863
[4] For such reason, though man grow cold or tired of the Lord’s ordinances, even the angels and Church militant weep in agony and are affronted by wickedness when women worship uncovered.
[5] See Job 38-42 and 1 Corinthians 11 for natural law explanations. Moreover, consider how the Christ regularly uses parables, which are without comprehension for those that do not reason.
[6] See C. F. W. Walther: “Slavery, Humanism, and the Bible” published on Old Luth: https://oldluth.com/2023/02/27/c-f-w-walther-slavery-humanism-and-the-bible/