Why New Testament Worship is Without Instruments

While they shared a common practice of keeping instruments out of the church, their theological reasons, degree of opposition, and historical contexts differed significantly. The aim of the present study is to demonstrate the best of the biblical and theological arguments for understanding New Testament worship as a cappella. However, we first have to answer the immediate objection of the use of instruments in Old Testament worship. Hence, we will first survey worship in the Old Testament and explain why God ordained instruments to be a part of it, followed by a survey of the New Testament.

Instruments in Old Testament Worship

In our survey of Old Testament worship, we must begin with the fundamental principle of worship enshrined in the Ten Commandments. In the first commandment, we are told Whom alone we should worship (Ex. 20:2-3), and in the second, we are told how we should worship (Ex. 20:4-6). In the second commandment, the Lord does not merely forbid worshipping false gods, as it has already been dealt with in the first commandment. Rather, the second commandment also forbids worshipping the true God using unauthorized methods or human inventions. In his exposition of the second commandment, Ligon Duncan says it teaches and forbids three things:

"It teaches us how we are to think about God, it teaches us how we are to worship God, and thirdly it teaches us that how we think about God and how we worship God, these things are very important to God ... It's forbidding three things. It's forbidding us from making images of either false gods or the true God. It's forbidding us human-initiated images in worship. Thirdly, by extension, it is forbidding us to use any other means or media than that which God has appointed us to use in worship." [1]

The basic principle underlying this commandment that God alone has the exclusive right to regulate how He is to be worshipped implies that all human creativity and imagination are explicitly barred from the sphere of corporate worship. The severe warning attached to this commandment that God is zealous and protective of His worship suggests that this is no light matter. We should approach this matter of corporate worship with great fear of the Lord and utmost reverence for His word. In Deuteronomy 12:29-32, the Lord warned the Israelites that they should not imitate the Canaanites in worshipping the Lord. Because the Lord says, "Whatever I command you, you shall be careful to do; you shall not add to nor take away from it." In worship, only that which God's word warrants is permissible; all else is forbidden, no matter how wise, efficient, entertaining, and wonderful it may appear to the human mind, as evident in pagan worship.

The Israelites learned this lesson the hard way, as exemplified in the golden calf incident in Exodus 32 and the strange fire incident as recorded in Leviticus 10. In both incidents, those who thought they could worship the Lord according to their whims and fancies ended up dead. In light of both the precept and history recorded in Scripture, we can say that if God has not issued a command regarding His worship, introducing such things acts as an affront to His sovereignty, implies that His instructions are incomplete, and would bring forth only His displeasure.

During the Reformation, this principle came to be known as the Regulative Principle of Worship. Regulative Principle is the view that only that which is commanded or instituted in Scripture should be included in worship. Today, most Christians argue for the Normative Principle of Worship, which is the view that everything not prohibited in Scripture is permissible. Clearly, the Normative Principle takes advantage of the silence of Scripture to introduce even new elements into worship. Based on what we have seen so far from the Old Testament, the Regulative Principle rightly understands that on this very important issue of worship, if the revelation of God is silent on a matter, we better assume it as forbidden in worship.

Keeping in mind this broader principle of worship according to the word, when we survey the Old Testament history regarding the use of instruments in the corporate worship of Israel, we find the following observations:

1. Musical instruments were introduced into the corporate worship of Israel only during the time of temple worship under David (2 Chr. 29:25). Prior to it, there were no musical instruments employed in the tabernacle worship of Israel. Regarding the tabernacle, while God gave detailed instructions to Moses regarding its construction, priestly garments, and sacrificial rituals, musical instruments were conspicuously absent. The only instruments explicitly authorized by God for the tabernacle were two silver trumpets. However, their function was not musical, but to summon the congregation and have their camps set out (Num. 10:1-2). While instruments like lyres, harps, and tambourines existed in ancient Israel, they were strictly confined to civil or national celebrations, not the corporate worship of God in the tabernacle. The introduction of some of these musical instruments into the corporate worship of Israel happened only when David brought the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem and instituted temple worship. So, our first observation is that before the temple, Israel worshipped God without any instruments.
2. David introduced these instruments not out of his personal preference, but as he was commanded by God through the prophets (2 Chr. 29:25). Here we see the regulative principle in action. It was the word of God which warranted this change in the corporate worship of Israel to introduce musical instruments. Just as God gave Moses detailed instructions regarding the tabernacle worship of Israel, He also gave David His express commands regarding His worship in the temple (1 Chr. 28:11-13, 19). So, our second observation is that musical instruments were introduced in the temple worship of Israel only by the direct command of God.
3. Musical instruments were employed in the temple as part of the offering of sacrifices (2 Chr. 29:27-28). In the temple, Levitical singing accompanied by instruments was tied specifically to the offering of sacrifices, especially the daily burnt offerings and the special sacrifices on feast days (2 Chr. 23:18, 1 Chr. 23:30-31). When the offering began, the music began, and when the offering ended, the music also ended (2 Chr. 29:27-28). So, our third observation is that musical instruments were employed in the temple worship of Israel to accompany and signify the offering of sacrifices in the temple.
4. While the corporate worship of God in the temple was restricted to the instruments ordained by God through David, the book of Psalms mentions other instruments too. It is so because the book of Psalms includes psalms that are associated with the broader civil and national life of Israel, not just temple worship. The Psalter captures the complete spectrum of Israel’s historical experience—spanning from the wilderness wanderings to coronation ceremonies and military battles— and so, it naturally weaves in the instruments that marked their broader civil and cultural life, which were not so regulated by the word of God as was the corporate worship of God in the temple. Thus, when Psalm 68:25 describes a massive victory procession with "maidens beating tambourines," it is documenting a historical, national celebration of God's power. Similarly, in Psalm 47:5, which shouts that "God has ascended with a shout, The Lord, with the sound of a trumpet," it is explicitly using the vocabulary of a royal coronation. Such psalms use national, political imagery to poetically declare God as the true King over all the earth. Now, obviously, there are psalms which are specifically dealing with the worship of God and mention instruments not ordained by David, like Psalm 150. But such Psalms (psalms 148-150) are talking about the cosmic worship of God by all creation and include the vast expanse of the sun, the moon, the stars, whales, lightning, and all instruments in their call to worship. So it cannot be considered strictly as applicable to temple worship. Take, for example, Psalm 150:4, where timbrel and dance are both included in the praise of God. However, we have no record of dance being ever permitted or performed in the temple worship of God. If Israel did not understand this verse as warranting dance in her corporate worship, why should we insist it does warrant the use of timbrel? So, our fourth observation is that the inclusion of instruments in the book of Psalms is to be understood carefully in its historical context as inclusive of civil and national celebrations, and not as a blanket permission to introduce all of these instruments in the corporate worship of God.
5. Staying within the period of Old Testament worship but moving into extra-biblical history, we will make our fifth observation. During their times of exile, and especially after the destruction of the temple, Israel worshipped in their local synagogues. Historical records reveal that there was no use of instruments in the synagogue. Even while the temple was present in Jerusalem, those far from Jerusalem gathered in the synagogue and had no musical instruments. The synagogue system operated on a strict a cappella standard because the Jewish people understood that the temple orchestra (the harps, lyres, and cymbals) was tied exclusively to the sacrificial system of worship. Because no animals were sacrificed at a local synagogue, no instruments could be played there. So, our fifth observation is that corporate worship outside the temple, and especially after the destruction of the temple, in the local synagogues, never included musical instruments as the sacrificial system came to a halt.

Instruments in New Testament Worship

In the New Testament, there is generally a deafening silence on this matter of instruments in the public worship of God. Outside of the book of Revelation, there is no mention of instruments in the corporate worship of the church. Now, the New Testament does command the church to sing corporately to God in our worship (Eph. 5:19; Col. 3:16), but it nowhere warrants the use of musical instruments to accompany it.

How then should we understand this silence of the New Testament? In light of all that we have seen so far from the Old Testament, we should understand this silence as God forbidding the use of musical instruments in the corporate worship of the church. Since it is very much possible to worship God in a God-glorifying manner without instruments, as evidenced by the period prior to temple worship, instruments are not substantial to true worship of God. Moreover, they were introduced in the temple only in connection with the sacrificial system of worship. In the New Covenant, with the coming of Christ and His work on the Cross, this sacrificial system has been abrogated. Since the ceremonial law has been fulfilled and done away with in Christ, these instruments which are tied to that sacrificial system of worship have also been done away with in the New Covenant. Now, the New Testament explicitly teaches the abrogation of the ceremonial law (Heb. 7:12; 8:13, 9:8-10; Col. 2:16-17). Anyone who was well-versed in the ceremonial law would know that musical instruments in the temple were part of the sacrificial system, as we also observed earlier from the Old Testament. Hence, when the New Testament teaches the abrogation of the Levitical priesthood and temple sacrifices, it is clear to such minds that the instrumental music that accompanied them is equally abrogated as well. This reasoning alone adequately explains the silence of the New Testament regarding musical instruments in the corporate worship of God. In being silent in issuing a warrant for their use, the New Testament forbids it, and in teaching the abrogation of the sacrificial system, it does not have to make an explicit prohibition of musical instruments in the public worship of God's people.

While distinguishing private practices of an individual Christian from the public and corporate worship of God which is more tightly regulated by Scripture, Calvin summarizes this truth about the abrogation of musical instruments as follows:

There is a distinction, however, to be observed here, that we may not indiscriminately consider as applicable to ourselves, every thing which was formerly enjoined upon the Jews. I have no doubt that playing upon cymbals, touching the harp and the viol, and all that kind of music, which is so frequently mentioned in the Psalms, was a part of the education; that is to say, the puerile instruction of the law: I speak of the stated service of the temple. For even now, if believers choose to cheer themselves with musical instruments, they should, I think, make it their object not to dissever their cheerfulness from the praises of God. But when they frequent their sacred assemblies, musical instruments in celebrating the praises of God would be no more suitable than the burning of incense, the lighting up of lamps, and the restoration of the other shadows of the law. [2]

Now, what about the book of Revelation? In the book of Revelation, we find instruments being used in the heavenly worship of God (Rev. 5:8, 14:2, 15:2). Two things need to be kept in mind here. First of all, Revelation is a revelation of worship in heaven where saints are in the realm of sight and glory, unlike the local church we attend, which is here on earth and worships God in faith and by the Spirit. The intent of Revelation is not to instruct the church to regulate her worship here on earth. Whereas passages like Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16 has its express purpose to regulate worship here on earth and do not mention the use of any musical instruments. Hence, we should not confuse heavenly and earthly worship. Secondly, the language of Revelation is apocalyptic and steeped in Old Testament symbols. Revelation describes worship happening in a temple with the ark of the covenant (Rev. 11:19), a physical altar (Rev. 6:9), a golden censer (Rev. 8:3), and a sea of glass (Rev. 4:6). If the mention of musical instruments in Revelation warrants their use in the church, we should equally bring all of the above Old Testament temple architecture into the church. However, it is precisely this sacrificial system or ceremonial law that we just observed from the New Testament as having been abrogated in Christ. Therefore, we cannot take the language of Revelation and justify the use of musical instruments in the church.

Finally, in the entirety of the New Testament, we find only one command in relation to the corporate worship of God which has to do with making music with an instrument. It is the word ψάλλω (psallō) found in Ephesians 5:19, where the apostle says, we must make melody with our hearts to the Lord. The word means to play a stringed instrument with the fingers, or to pluck or strum (cf. Ps. 33:2-3). But instead of strumming a harp, we are explicitly told by the apostle to make melody with our hearts. This internalization of worship is in keeping with the overall transition we encounter as we move from the Old Covenant to the New Covenant, where the external religion of rites becomes an internal religion of the heart. It also explains why in the Ephesian epistle Paul issues this command of heartfelt singing in the immediate context of being Spirit-filled (Eph. 5:18). It is a mark of genuine New Testament spirituality in a church that we sing to God with our hearts and not with musical accompaniment.

Conclusion

The biggest external hindrance to Spirit-filled worship in today's churches is, therefore, the use of musical instruments. Historically, despite the availability of instruments, it had been the universal practice of the ancient church up until the 8th century to exclude them in worship. Even then, widespread use of them in the West happened only in the 13th and 15th centuries. Among Protestants, instruments were introduced widely in their worship only by the late 19th century. In the East, the Orthodox churches to this day continue to worship without any instruments. In other words, for much of the church's history in the last two thousand years, she has by and large worshipped without instruments. Singing in the church was so known for its lack of musical instruments that the word 'a cappella' literally means singing 'as they do in the church.'

Among Protestants today, some Presbyterians, the Brethren Assemblies, and the Churches of Christ are generally the only groups which still uphold this ancient practice. In all other groups, to some degree or another, worldly entertainment in the name of music has largely entered the church and, in so many churches, it has even become an idol, replacing the true ministry of the Holy Spirit. Today, multitudes of church youth are thus deceived into confusing the mere emotional high they get from musical accompaniment as the work of the Spirit. The only solution to this crisis is a return to the simplicity of apostolic worship as found in the New Testament, which is a cappella congregational singing.