Having saved the best for last, I come to the end of my explorations of lessons from music. In the previous two weeks, I've looked at what music teaches us about ourselves and the world and now conclude with how God reveals himself through music.
First and foremost, we learn about God's attributes and proclaim them in worship. Music and worship have always gone hand-in-hand. Every psalm in the entire book of Psalms was originally set to music and sung. Even looking into the future, we see Jesus, the Lamb of God, worshiped through song in Revelation.
People have written a multitude of hymns through the ages, describing every imaginable thing about God, yet never running out of ideas—people continue to write worship songs today. I'm not sure when our culture switched from calling them hymns to calling them worship songs, but as far as I can tell, there's no difference. It's all about bringing glory to God.
There are songs that focus on who God is, such as "O Worship the King". Songs including the likes of "And Can It Be That I Should Gain" bring to light what God has done. Finally, some songs describe our response to God, like "Here I Am to Worship", or express our need for him through prayer, an example being "Lord, I Need You". I've barely scratched the surface of all the different kinds of hymns that are out there, as they go far beyond the brief bit I've mentioned here.
Worship of God through music is not limited to the songs we sing in church (or as we go about everyday life), but extends out into pieces for choir and orchestra, as well as purely instrumental songs. Indeed, many of the great classical composers, including Bach and Mozart, had a deep faith that motivated them throughout their lives.
Right, so you know that there is a lot of music written for the express purpose of glorifying God. But what about secular music?
I firmly believe that music is a gift from God, so I see him reflected across all kinds of music, in the beauty of a melody, the organized rhythms, the creativity of a composer. True, there are plenty of instances in which fallen human nature will take the gift of music and pervert it in a variety of ways, but traces of the great Creator still remain.
These articles of the past few weeks have been by no means a comprehensive discussion of everything you can learn from music. However, I hope that you've been encouraged to think more deeply about the music you listen to, and what it truly represents.
P.S. Credit where credit is due—I cannot repeat often enough how grateful I am for the chapel message given by Corban's band director. It was the inspiration for this series of articles.
