6.7.2026 Habakkuk Lesson 8 Excursus Listen to the Music!

Church Music Today

Most of us would never think of having Church without music

Some of History’s greatest composers worked in Church Music.

Bach

The Precedent is ancient and significant. There are some dangers to consider:

Music is “natural” (a part of the created order)

Music is universal and particular at the same time.

Music is culture bound and tied to time.

Anachronism!

The Ol’ songs.

Scope of the Biblical timeline.

Taste & Preference often more significant than quality and content

 “However, before there were words there was music.”

Just the Basics!

Basic Definition

“an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner”

Basic Description of Music

Universal

Cultural 

Public

Basic “Biblical” Uses of Music

“Secular”

Emotional support

Work

Celebration

Martial 

Religious

Popular

Devotional 

Lamentation

Celebration

Formal/Liturgical

Instruction

Celebration

Cultic 

In the Text

Table of Terms

Place Holder

Kinds of Terms

Instructions to Musicians

Musical “Notation”.

Instrumentation

Setting(s), tunes, tuning, tone.