Music in Worship

By Giles Isaacson

This book will unlock the meaning and pattern of worship, provide a How To for personal and congregational worship, and equip you for greater success in your spiritual battles, most importantly, the study of this book brings you into the presence of the LORD. If you are looking for a deeper walk with God, this book is for you!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Covenant Books, Inc.
• Release date: Aug 2, 2019
• ISBN: 9781645591016

Book preview

Foreword

Since you’ve opened this book, you may be intrigued by the contents. Perhaps you’re wondering why a book titled Music in Worship is necessary. (After all, isn’t worship supposed to be spontaneous and intimate—something you just do when the spirit hits you?) For me, the answer is summed up in a quote by John Piper I’ve had hanging in my home office for a few years, All Theology should produce Doxology.

Theology is the study of God. Doxology means to praise and glorify God. This book will challenge you to study and know the God of Scripture, the Holy Bible, and from that knowledge, to humble yourself in praise and worship before Him. And this book is full of worship expressed with and through music!

Whatever your church background, you’re probably aware that there are a lot of different ways congregations worship, from the traditional three hymns and a sermon, to an hour of contemporary praise and worship and then the sermon. We can be tempted to think that worship is either a ritual or an emotion, unattached to the preaching of God’s Word. Whatever your tradition, this book challenges you to consider worship in its entirety, as a prerequisite and an empowerment for Christian service and success in your daily life and relationships.

This book will unlock the meaning and pattern of worship, provide a How To for personal and congregational worship, and equip you for greater success in your spiritual battles; most importantly, the study of this book brings you into the presence of the Lord. If you’re looking for a deeper walk with God, this book is for you!

Growing up, my dad modeled the contents of this book. From my earliest years, he demonstrated the importance of private worship; I often found him praying on his knees early in the morning. His private time of worship was reflected in all he did, and he has always demonstrated a quiet humility while confidently accomplishing great success in raising his children, in his various business enterprises, and inspiring public worship. My dad led congregations in worship and often taught the fundamentals of worship he shares with us in this book.

It’s an honor to have him ask me to edit these pages, all the more because it has brought me to my knees in worship, in confession, in adoration and praise, increasing within me the desire to pursue God and walk blamelessly with him. Simply by reading the table of contents, you’ll get an idea of the rich content within these pages!

My dad and mom, Giles and Marian Isaacson, had eight children. I’m their second son and fourth child. My parents led me to the Lord at an early age and then imparted in me, and in most of my siblings, a love for singing which has matured to become an essential part of my personal worship of the God who created and redeemed me. My dad has loved ministering in small churches, and I became reacquainted with small congregations when in April 2016, I became the preaching pastor of St. Paul Church in Fairbanks, Alaska. My professional background is in credit and finance, currently in business development, and have held elected offices as a city councilman, mayor, and state legislator. I have an undergraduate degree in linguistics from the University of Washington in Seattle, and a master’s degree in Divinity from Western Seminary, Portland, Oregon.

In October 2016, my dad emailed me his manuscripts with the daunting request that I collaborate with him by editing and polishing the book. As I’ve immersed myself in his writings: Music in Worship, The Worship Leader, The Believer Temple, and his autobiography which he variously names, A Chronicle of Blessing and My Life in Music, (hopefully all of which will be published), I’ve been honored and blessed to get to know my dad so much better. Although he’s always displayed a quick, if somewhat dry humor, he’s not a man of many words until you get him talking about his passion: worshiping the Lord!

Owing to his beautiful singing and music ministry, my dad is shared with, and loved by, thousands of people across the globe. I hope you will feel the same way when you read and study this simple book of profound truth, full of praise to a wonderful God who shares His joy with us as we enter into His courts with thanksgiving and praise.

Before closing this foreword, let me explain several characteristics of this book:

My dad’s use of Scripture is often to let Scripture interpret Scripture, letting it speak for itself. The layout at times is similar to a Topical Bible, like Naves, and can be a great go-to resource for finding Scripture under a particular topic as a resource for individual Bible study. By taking time to really meditate upon and study the verses in their contexts, your heart and mind will become saturated in God’s Word and you’ll develop a mature biblical understanding.

Because many people lead busy lives and don’t have a lot of time to devote to extended reading, you’ll find most of the sections are short, serving the reader bite-size pieces, like a daily devotional, that can be quickly read yet lingered over in meditation or study.

One final, important convention. You’ll see the name, Lord capitalized throughout this book. Why? Because my dad is using it in the way many translations of the Bible use it: to describe the covenant name God gave Moses. It was through that covenant name God distinguished Himself from all other so-called gods in the world. It was in the name of the Lord Moses did exploits and delivered the enslaved nation from bondage in Egypt to the doorsteps of the Land God had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob—to Israel. Ancient Hebrew didn’t include vowels, the reader was expected to know what vowels to use by the context of the word. So the word translated Lord means "I Am and has been passed down in English as Jehovah and Yahweh," the latter being considered the more accurate translation.¹

My prayer is that you’ll enjoy the richness of my dad’s voice and reflections. Music has been a fruit of his private worship, a way my dad has effectively shared his prayer life with so many. May your life become rich as you are challenged by Scripture and the insights in these chapters; may you know more fully and more thoroughly worship the Almighty in your private and public worship services.

Doug Isaacson

North Pole, Alaska, USA

December 2017

Introduction

The sweet psalmist of Israel,² King David, in his awesome prayer of dedication in 1 Chronicles 29:11–13 proclaimed,

Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power and the glory, the victory and the majesty; For all that is in heaven and in earth is Yours; Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and You are exalted as head over all. Both riches and honor come from You and You reign over all. In Your hand is power and might; In Your hand it is to make great and to give strength to all. Now therefore, our God, we thank You and praise Your glorious Name.

From the days when young David was a simple shepherd, and during his days as a warrior when he was on the run avoiding death from a jealous king after his slaying of the giant, Goliath, to the days after he had brought peace to the consolidated kingdoms of Judah and Israel, David spent many, many hours in the presence of the Lord getting to know Him intimately and proving Him over and over again in his life experiences. He knew firsthand the wonder, the glory, and the power of his God. And his heart burned with the desire to sing praises to his Lord and to teach Israel to do the same.

This study, Music in Worship, is written first to help believers have a greater love and appreciation for our wonderful Lord, and to help believers gain a better knowledge, understanding, and appreciation for the ministry of music in personal and in congregational worship. Hopefully, you, the reader, will come to appreciate all the various forms of worship practiced by divergent groups. I want to give you tools to evaluate whether the many practices of worship are indeed grounded in Scripture and are employed to bring glory to the Lord.

Music In Worship is written to help you, the believer, develop a clearer understanding of what worship is, a greater insight as to how to worship Him in Spirit and in truth (John 4:24),³ and in the beauty of holiness (Psalm 96:9),⁴ and to reinforce what the Bible teaches regarding the vital part music has in the service of worship.

I don’t have a seminary degree, so this work is written from a layman’s perspective after countless hours in prayer, Bible study, private worship, leading public worship and conducting many worship seminars in the United States and abroad. It is my prayer that through this teaching, you, the searcher, will see more clearly the wonder of our awesome God, and that you will long to know Him more intimately, even as David did, and begin to learn how to more effectively worship Him and to sing praises to Him in the beauty of holiness (Psalm 96:9).

Giles James Isaacson

Moses Lake, Washington, USA

May 2016

Part 1

Wired to Worship

Everyone worships something. To the observer, it may seem that through the ages many people worship images or statues of presumed deities; it may be the luxuries of wealth, the power of fame, the passions of pleasures; it may be that some worship the god within, or an impersonal yet encompassing universal force, the forces and objects of nature, or Mother Nature herself. It’s as if we’re wired to worship.

The point has been famously made that there is a God-shaped vacuum within each of us, and unless we seek after the God who created us, who reveals His existence in the works of nature, and communicates who He is and how we can know Him within the pages of the Holy Bible, that God-shaped vacuum remains.

Nothing fills the vacuum except the Almighty God who became incarnate in Jesus Christ. All attempts to worship what is not God, and by that, I mean, anything we covet, crave, long for, strive for, fight for, metaphorically or physically kill for in order to satisfy the insatiable hunger for meaning in our existence, is only a perverse manifestation of true worship and leaves our soul in a state of confusion, pain, and error.

This book is dedicated to exploring true worship, and the object of worship within these pages is the God who has specifically communicated with people since the beginning of the world, who, in the course of about two thousand years, used over forty writers from various walks of life, most of whom didn’t know each other, to tell us who He is, why we exist, and how we can know Him. The Holy Bible is the authority used to enlighten our study and guide our understanding.

Worship is elemental to existence, yet it is not always understood. What is easier to understand is music—we all know what we do and don’t like! Have you ever considered why music is so important to people? Music can be a stimulant, an escape, a calming agent, a tool to explore ideas, and so much more. Music is so powerful, it’s often considered the worship portion in many modern churches.

Have you ever considered what that first stimulus might have been that caused ancient people to make music? I think it happened in the garden of Eden, perhaps a spontaneous expression of praise to the Creator by Adam during his initial assignment to name the animals—or after the creation of Eve! How could Adam not be filled with wonder? The psalmist encourages this type of spontaneity in Psalm 98:1, Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things!

Music is such a personal part of most people’s lives—who hasn’t hummed to themselves, or broken out in loud singing when no one is around and the acoustics are right? Music is a critical component of what it means to be human. I believe God gave it to us as a gift, to express ourselves in a manner words alone can’t express. Music must have been given to us to gain greater depth in life, allowing us to explore the heights of joy, the depths of despair, and everything in between.

I believe music was given to us as part of being wired for worship—music certainly complements worship and is used extensively in the worship recorded in the Bible. For example, while it isn’t expressly stated as a song, it’s quite possible that when Noah built an altar and worshiped God for the deliverance of his family and acknowledgment of the sin that brought the judgment of flood, he creates a song from the words spoken by the Lord. Look at the structure of verse 22:

While the earth remains,

Seedtime and harvest,

Cold and heat,

Winter and summer,

And day and night

Shall not cease.

Looks like a song to me, and I can’t help trying to figure out the soundtrack! The full account is in Genesis 8:15–22. Perhaps you’ll match the lyrics with the music, and we’ll be singing it together in our worship of our wonderful Savior! So let’s dig in and explore music in worship using the words of Scripture.

Music in Worship

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord!

Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation.

Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving;

Let us shout joyfully to Him with psalms.

For the Lord is the great God,

and the great King above all gods.

In His hand are the deep places of the earth;

The heights of the hills are His also.

The sea is His, for He made it;

And His hands formed the dry land.

Oh, come, let us worship and bow down;

Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

For He is our God,

and we are the people of His pasture,

and the sheep of His hand.

(Psalms 95:1–7)

This beautiful expression of praise to our magnificent Lord, who is worthy of our utmost praise, lays the ground work and sets the tone for our study of Music In Worship. At the beginning of our discussion, this hymn of praise exhibits the profound effect that music has in helping us to effectively express praise to our Lord as we come into His presence to worship Him. We begin and end this study with this passage and we will see how these delightful expressions bring all of the elements of worship together to voice exultant praise to our awesome God.

But first, take a moment to reflect on your own experience and think about the effect music has had in your personal times of worship.

In your private time alone with the Lord, do you sing praises to Him?

Does listening to Christian music become a time of worship for you?

One person in our workshop stated, Singing praises to the Lord helps me get my batteries charged. When I am out in the field, I feel pretty close to God and feel free to sing and to worship.

Another person said, When I’m in the factory where it’s loud, I’m separated enough from the other people that I feel free to sing loud and rejoice and to worship as I work.

May the expression of your heart be like that of the psalmist as he joyfully declares,

But as for me, I will sing about your power. I will shout with joy each morning because of your unfailing love. For you have been my refuge, a place of safety in the day of distress. O my Strength, to you I sing praises, for you, O God, are my refuge, the God who shows me unfailing love. (Psalm 59:16–17)

Now, think about the part that music has in the congregational or group worship of your fellowship.

The psalmist said, Praise the Lord! Sing to the Lord a new song, and His praise in the assembly of saints. And in Psalm 111:1, he jubilantly declares, Praise the Lord! I will praise the Lord with my whole heart, in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

What is the attitude of the people in the congregation where you worship as they sing?

Is there genuine joy in the congregational singing?

Is there a sense of the awe of God’s presence and of the moving of the Holy Spirit in this group of people as they sing the songs of praise?

Do the words of the songs speak to your heart?

Does this time of worship serve to prepare your heart for the message the Lord has for you from the Word of God?

One of the attendees at our workshop expressed his feelings in this way, We all have childhood memories of favorite songs when we came to church. It puts you in the frame of mind to hear the Word of God. Worship to me is really the key to opening my heart to hear Him, an opportunity to focus on Him.

Yes, indeed! When we truly offer praises to the Lord, our focus is on Him.

You who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God, praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praises to His name, for it is pleasant. (Psalm 135:2–3)

One of our modern-day psalmists, quoting from Psalm 29:2 writes:

Ascribe to the Lord, O mighty ones

Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due His name,

Worship the Lord in the beauty of His holiness.

Come and sing praises to the Rock of all Ages,

Come and sing praises to Jesus, my Lord.

Come and adore Him, bow down before Him,

Come and sing praises to Jesus, our Lord.

These beautiful thoughts demonstrate the act of worship; they tell us how to worship. And yet, to gain a greater comprehension of what worship is all about, let’s go deeper and ask the question, What is worship?

---

¹ To prevent breaking the Commandment, "You shall not take the name of the 

Lord

 your God in vain, for the 

Lord

 will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain, sometime before Christ, Hebrew tradition stopped speaking the covenant name of God. Whenever they would see the printed name YHWH, they would, and still do, say, Hashem—The Name, or ADONAI—

Lord

."

² 2 Samuel 23:1

³ John 4:24

⁴ Psalm 96:9

What Is Worship?

To better understand the importance of music in the service of worship, it would be well to have a good perception of what worship is. One Scriptural definition of worship is found in Psalm 95:6, Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.

This is awesome! Here the writer is expressing humble acknowledgment of the supremacy of his Lord and maker and the proper attitude that is required of us as we come into His presence. Worship is coming into the presence of God humbly, reverently. In fact, in the passage just quoted, worship involves kneeling, whether as a supplicant to a sovereign, or in awe, as did the wise men who worshiped the long-awaited Messiah. The Magi knew that worship is recognizing deity—even though the Sovereign of the Universe had just become a simple baby and was swaddled in a simple blanket and laid in some dirty cattle feeding trough. Emmanuel, God with us, indeed! O come let us adore Him, on bended knees!

When was the last time you found yourself so in awe, or so in need of mercy, you dropped to your knees?

If you are a married man, it’s possible you dropped to your knees when you proposed marriage to the girl of your dreams. Why? You were demonstrating humility, you—so strong and mighty—wanted, no, needed her in your life. You honored her by bending your knees as a supplicant who was very much in love.

That’s a portrait of worship: we bend our knees before God, aware of our desperate need of Him who has purchased us with His blood, by His mercy and grace, and we reciprocate the love He shows us and honor Him because we have fallen very much in love with our Savior!

The best definition of worship that I know of, outside of Scripture, is found in the old Webster’s dictionary. This is an excellent definition and basically expands on what the psalmist tells us.

Daniel Webster, who was a true follower of the Lord Jesus, defines worship in his dictionary as:

"1. To adore; to pay divine honors to; to reverence with supreme respect and veneration; as to worship God. 2. To respect; to honor; to treat with civil deference. 3. To honor with extravagant love and extreme submission as a lover; to idolize; to perform acts of adoration; specifically, to perform a religious service."

I like that phrase, To perform acts of adoration! Yet what does it mean?

Worship Is Adoration

Let’s explore what it