What the God of Abraham Says About Singing
Lewis A. Armstrong
November 30, 2003 (Revised July 29,2005)
If you have questions, please contact a preacher at a church of Christ.

If you believe in the Gospel what you like, and reject what you don't like, it is not the Gospel you believe, but yourself. (Augustine) Reading: 2 Timothy 3:16-17.
“There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.” – Proverbs 16:25
"He has made everything beautiful in its time. Also He has put eternity in their hearts, except that no one can find out the work that God does from beginning to end" - Ecclesiastes 3:11

Verses for Establishing and Following God's Direction

2 Peter 2:10  They are presumptuous, self willed.

Rev. 22:18  If anyone adds to these things, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book.

Be mindful of this fact.  When instruments were used in worship in the Old Testament, it was directed by God.  No where in the New Testament do we find God commanding the use of instruments.  And it was not until the 6th Century that many in the Christian world introduced the instrument in assemblies, doing so as the will of men and not God's will.   So how can anyone believe that we should include the instruments in our assemblies today?   Especially if God made the Old Testament obsolute as stated in Hebrews 8:13.

What is Said About Singing
If we are Christians - being "Christ-like" lets do what Jesus did, he is our Great Example..  Also, those who wear a WWJD bracelet, what he did was sing a hymn.  
Matthew 26:30  And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives;

We believe so much about what Paul wrote, but see what he did.
Acts 16:25  But at midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God;

Paul told us that he would confess Christ and Sing to His name.
Romans 15:9  For this reason I will confess you among the Gentiles, and sing to your name;

Instruments cannot do the things that we do.
1 Corinthians 14:15  I will sing with the spirit, and I will also sing with the understanding;

When assembled, the saints sang to one another.
Ephesians 5:19  Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

Songs have a purpose and are to stir us to great spirituality.
Colossians 3:16  Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord;

Nothing sweeter to the Lord than singing praises to Him.
Hebrews 2:12   In the midst of the assembly I will sing praise to You;

The only sacrifice to God is the fruit of our lips.
Hebrews 13:15  Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name;

It becames a cheerful situation to sing hymns.
James 5:13  Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing psalms.

All without exception specify only singing. Mechanical instruments of music in the worship of the church are not mentioned in the above scriptures or anywhere else in the New Testament because God has not authorized or commanded them to be used as he did on some occasions in the Old Testament.  Yet for centuries before Christ, people used instruments for all types of activities, so they would have been readily available.   It was that in the 6th Century AD that instruments were introduced.  God has commanded us to sing. That means each one of us. When people just sit through the song service and never attempt to sing they are not obeying God. Or when people just sit and listen to a choir, quartet, or praise team sing they are not obeying God’s command to sing. They are not "offering the fruit of our lips". Can someone else worship for us?  I think not.  There is no Biblical authority for a choir or a praise team/quartet. Congregational A’Capella singing is the only kind of music divinely authorized by the Lord for the assembly of the saints to worship God..

What was said after the 1st Century
Source: http://www.bible.ca/H-music.htm (09-03-04)
AUGUSTINE 354 A.D "musical instruments were not used. The pipe, tabret, and harp here associate so intimately with the sensual heathen cults, as well as with the wild revelries and shameless performances of the degenerate theater and circus, it is easy to understand the prejudices against their use in the worship." (Augustine 354 A.D., describing the singing at Alexandria under Athanasius)

AUGUSTINE 354 A.D  "If you believe what you like in the gospel, and reject what you don't like, it is not the gospel you believe, but yourself."

CHRYSOSTOM 381-398 A.D  "David formerly sang songs, also today we sing hymns. He had a lyre with lifeless strings, the church has a lyre with living strings. Our tongues are the strings of the lyre with a different tone indeed but much more in accordance with piety. Here there is no need for the cithara, or for stretched strings, or for the plectrum, or for art, or for any instrument; but, if you like, you may yourself become a cithara, mortifying the members of the flesh and making a full harmony of mind and body. For when the flesh no longer lusts against the Spirit, but has submitted to its orders and has been led at length into the best and most admirable path, then will you create a spiritual melody." (Chrysostom, 347-407, Exposition of Psalms 41, (381-398 A.D.) Source Readings in Music History, ed. O. Strunk, W. W. Norton and Co.: New York, 1950, pg. 70.)

CLEMENT 190 AD "Leave the pipe to the shepherd, the flute to the men who are in fear of gods and intent on their idol worshipping. Such musical instruments must be excluded from our wingless feasts, for they arc more suited for beasts and for the class of men that is least capable of reason than for men. The Spirit, to purify the divine liturgy from any such unrestrained revelry chants: 'Praise Him with sound of trumpet," for, in fact, at the sound of the trumpet the dead will rise again; praise Him with harp,' for the tongue is a harp of the Lord; 'and with the lute. praise Him.' understanding the mouth as a lute moved by the Spirit as the lute is by the plectrum; 'praise Him with timbal and choir,' that is, the Church awaiting the resurrection of the body in the flesh which is its echo; 'praise Him with strings and organ,' calling our bodies an organ and its sinews strings, for front them the body derives its Coordinated movement, and when touched by the Spirit, gives forth human sounds; 'praise Him on high-sounding cymbals,' which mean the tongue of the mouth which with the movement of the lips, produces words. Then to all mankind He calls out, 'Let every spirit praise the Lord,' because He rules over every spirit He has made. In reality, man is an instrument arc for peace, but these other things, if anyone concerns himself overmuch with them, become instruments of conflict, for inflame the passions. The Etruscans, for example, use the trumpet for war; the Arcadians, the horn; the Sicels, the flute; the Cretans, the lyre; the Lacedemonians, the pipe; the Thracians, the bugle; the Egyptians, the drum; and the Arabs, the cymbal. But as for us, we make use of one instrument alone: only the Word of peace by whom we a homage to God, no longer with ancient harp or trumpet or drum or flute which those trained for war employ." (Clement of Alexandria, 190 AD The instructor, Fathers of the church, p. 130)

It is also noteworthy to understand the mind of Godly men during the reformation period and the centuries that followed.
John Wesley, founder of the Methodist church...I have no objection to instruments of music in our chapels, provided they are neither heard or seen. (Clark's Commentary, Vol. 4, p. 684
Adam Clarke, a Methodist commentator...I farther believe that the use of such instruments of music in the Christian church is without the sanction and against the will of God; that they are subversive of the spirit of true devotion and that they are sinful. If there was a woe then for them who invented instruments of music, as did David under the law, is there no woe, no curse to them who invent them and introduce them into the worship of God in the Christian church? (Clark's commentary, Vol. 4, p. 684)  Also, I have never known instrumental music be productive of any good in the worship of God and I have reason to believe that is has been productive of much evil.  Music as a science I esteem and admire, but instruments of  music in the house of God I abominate and abhor.  This is the abuse of music and I here register my protest against all such corruption in the worship of that Infinate Spirit who requires his followers to worship 'him in spirit and in truth.'  (Commentary on Amos  6:5)
Charles Spurgeon, a prominent Baptist...What a degradation to supplant the intelligent song of the whole congregation by the theatrical prettiness of a quartet, bellows, and pipes! We might as well pray by machinery as praise by it… (Spurgeon Commentary on Psa. 42)
James Hasting, Encyclopedia of Religion & Ethics...Pope Vitalian introduced an organ in the church in the 7th century to aid the singing but it was opposed and was removed.
Martin Luther, from whom the Lutheran Church sprang...The organ in the worship is an insignia of Baal.
Joseph Bingham, of the church of England...Music in churches is as ancient as the apostles, but instrumental music is not.
The Council of Trent met in 1545. This indicates that the introduction of instrumental music was one of the latter inventions of the Catholic church. Even among Catholics, around 800 years passed before the instruments were widely accepted.
John Calvin, the founder of the Presbyterian church...Musical instruments in celebrating the praises of God would be no more suitable than the burning of incense, the lighting of lamps, and the restoration of the other shadows of the law…  The Papists, therefore, have foolishly borrowed this, as well as many other things, from the Jews.  Men who are fond of outward pomp may delight in that  noise; but the simplicity which God recommends to us by the apostle is far more  pleasing to him.  (Calvin commentary on Psa. 33 & 1 Sam. 18:1-9)

References:
Acappella Worship Leader, http://www.aworshipleader.com/
A Study of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, http://www.careydillinger.com/hymns/phssind.htm 
Does Sing Mean to Play, http://www.christianhomesite.com/belfast/text/PsaMassey2.htm  NEW!!  
Dwight A. Hogland Music Site, http://www.dwighthogland.com/
Foundation School of Church Music, http://www.foundmusic.org/
Four States Singing School, http://www.fourstates.org/
Instrumental Music in the Worship, http://www.christianhomesite.com/belfast/text/Instrumental.htm
Instrumental Music in Worship, http://www.gospelway.com/church/instrumental%20music.htm
Instrumental Music in Worship: Sing or Play Instruments, http://www.biblestudylessons.com/cgi-bin/gospel_way/instrumental_music.php
Instruments of Music in Worship to God, http://www.piney.com/MuAnon.html    
Music In Worship, http://users.aol.com/OpenBible/302.html      
Musical Instruments in Worship, http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Cottage/9735/Music.html
Presentations of Praise, http://www.presentationsofpraise.com/  
Singing School, http://www.singingschool.net/
Singing School, Alva, OK, http://www.alvaok.net/collegehill/Singing%20School.htm
Singing School at Abilene Christian, http://www.singingschool.org/
Song Copyright Information, http://www.ccli.com/UnitedStates.cfm
Songleading, http://clcoc.org/presentations/songleading/songleading1.htm
A Study of Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, http://www.careydillinger.com/hymns/phssind.htm
What did Early Christians Believe about Using Instruments in Worship, http://www.bible.ca/H-music.htm
When did Churches start using instrumental music? Are there churches today that still only use a capella music? http://www.christianitytoday.com/history/features/ask/2001/nov30.html (9-6-03)
Why Don't We Use Musical Instruments in Worship? http://www.westarkchurchofchrist.org/library/music.htm (9-6-03)
Why Don't You Have Musical Instruments in Your Services? http://www.westarkchurchofchrist.org/faq/music.htm   (9-6-03)
Why Don't You Have Musical Instruments in Your Church? http://www.hugsr.edu/hicks/Instrumental%20Music.htm

Questions
1)  Was God pleased with Cain’s worship, a grain offering  ___ yes  ___ no  (no blood in grain)
2)  (Leviticus 10:1-2) What happened when Nadab and Abihu offered unauthorized fire in worship to God?
___ Nothing.
___ God was well pleased.
___ Fire came down from the Lord and they died.
3)  Nadab and Abihu died because they did not worship God as He directed.  ___ Yes  ___ No
4)  (Leviticus 16:12-13) Where had God commanded Nadab and Abihu to get the coals of fire to burn the daily incense?
___ From their own campfire.
___ From under the altar of burnt offerings.
___ Anywhere they could find them.
5)  God will tolerate our substitutes for His divine will.  ___ Yes  ___ No
6)  (Psalms 19:13) Being presumptuous as far as God is concerned is
___ Sin.
___ All right if we are sincere.
___ Doesn’t really matter.
7)  We are guilty of presumptuous sin when we take upon ourselves without God’s authority things that pertain to worship.   ___ Yes  ___ No
8)  (Revelation 22:18) If anyone adds to God’s word
___ It will be all right if he is sincere.
___ Nothing will ever be done about it.
___ "God will add to him the plagues written in this book."
9)  It is all right if we add to God’s word by doing things we want to do.  ___ Yes  ___ No
10)  (Genesis 6:14, 22) When Noah was commanded of God to build the Ark according to God’s specifications
___ Noah made some of his own modifications.
___ Noah did according to all that God commanded him.
___ Noah used his own plans.
11)  Noah would have obeyed God if he had added pine along with the gopherwood.
___ Yes  ___ No
12)  (Matthew 26:30) What did Christ and His apostles do before they went to the Mount of Olives?
___Went home first.
___ Took a nap.
___ Sung a hymn.
13)  Singing is part of our worship to God.  ___ Yes   ___ No
14)  (Acts 16:25) While Paul and Silas were in jail
___ They prayed and sang hymns to God.
___ They were trying to break out.
___ They were crying.
15) While in jail Paul played the guitar while Silas played the drums as they sang hymns to God.
___ Yes   ___ No
16)  (1 Corinthians 14:15) What are we to sing with?
 ___ A piano.
 ___ The spirit and the understanding.
 ___ An organ.
17)  The above verse tells us we are to sing with a five piece band.  ___ Yes   ___ No
18)  (Galatians 3:24-25) What happened to our tutor, the Old Testament, when faith came?
___ We are no longer under the tutor, the Old Testament.
___ Nothing.
___ We are still under our tutor, the Old Testament.
19)  (Galatians 5:4) If we try to justify ourselves by the Old Testament law
___ We are fallen from grace.
___ We will be saved.
___ God is well pleased.
20)  If we try to justify the use of mechanical instruments of music in worship to God by the Old Testament law, we are fallen from grace.   ___ Yes  ___ No
21)  (Ephesians 5:19) When we sing praises to God, where are we to make the melody?
 ___  On a piano.
 ___  On an organ.
 ___ In our heart.
22)  (Ephesians 5:19, Colossians 3:16) In our singing in our worship service
___ We are to entertain one another.
___ We are to impress others how well we can sing.
___ We are to speak, teach, and admonish one another.
23)  (Colossians 3:16-17) All that we do in worship including our singing
___ Is to be done in the name or by the authority of Christ.
___ Can be done as we choose.
___ Should be entertaining to all.
24)  We are speaking to one another as we sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.  ___ Yes   ___ No
The mechanical instrument of music has a heart on which God wishes the melody to be made.
        ___ Yes   ___ No
25)  (Colossians 3:16) As we sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs we are to sing with what?
___ Grace in our hearts.
___ A guitar.
___ An organ.
26)  A mechanical instrument of music cannot accomplish anything God has commanded when we sing in worship to Him.  ___ Yes   ___ No
27)  We teach and admonish one another as we sing.  ___ Yes   ___ No
(Hebrews 13:15) The sacrifice of praise that we offer to God when we sing to Him
___ Can be performed on a piano.
___ Can be performed when we don’t sing.
___ Is referred to as the fruit of our lips.
28)  The sacrifice of praise we give to God is the fruit of our lips as we sing.  ___ Yes   ___ No
29)  (2 John 9) If we transgress and do not abide in the doctrine of Christ
___ We still have God.
___ We do not have God.
___ We are well pleasing to God.
 

Biblical Situations where Instruments are Used
The Lord directed the use of instruments and singing in the Old Testament, an era of priests and military actions among the people of God.   We don’t have priests today, rather each born again Christian is a priest, a very individual situation.   And nowhere in the New Testament does God instruct the use of instruments as he did in the Old Testament.   It seemed to be a method God used to stir or rally his people into action.  The only command in the New Testament is to sing.

Leviticus 23
22 " 'When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and the alien. I am the LORD your God.' " Feast of Trumpets  23 The LORD said to Moses, 24 "Say to the Israelites: 'On the first day of the seventh month you are to have a day of rest, a sacred assembly commemorated with trumpet blasts.

Numbers 10
The Silver Trumpets   1 The LORD said to Moses: 2 "Make two trumpets of hammered silver, and use them for calling the community together and for having the camps set out. 3 When both are sounded, the whole community is to assemble before you at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.

Numbers 10
6 At the sounding of a second blast, the camps on the south are to set out. The blast will be the signal for setting out. 7 To gather the assembly, blow the trumpets, but not with the same signal.    8 "The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come.

Numbers 10
8 "The sons of Aaron, the priests, are to blow the trumpets. This is to be a lasting ordinance for you and the generations to come. 9 When you go into battle in your own land against an enemy who is oppressing you, sound a blast on the trumpets. Then you will be remembered by the LORD your God and rescued from your enemies. 10 Also at your times of rejoicing-your appointed feasts and New Moon festivals-you are to sound the trumpets over your burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, and they will be a memorial for you before your God. I am the LORD your God."

Numbers 29
Feast of Trumpets   1 " 'On the first day of the seventh month hold a sacred assembly and do no regular work. It is a day for you to sound the trumpets. 2 As an aroma pleasing to the LORD , prepare a burnt offering of one young bull, one ram and seven male lambs a year old, all without defect.

Numbers 31
5 So twelve thousand men armed for battle, a thousand from each tribe, were supplied from the clans of Israel. 6 Moses sent them into battle, a thousand from each tribe, along with Phinehas son of Eleazar, the priest, who took with him articles from the sanctuary and the trumpets for signaling.  7 They fought against Midian, as the LORD commanded Moses, and killed every man.

Joshua 6
1 Now Jericho was tightly shut up because of the Israelites. No one went out and no one came in. 2 Then the LORD said to Joshua, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands, along with its king and its fighting men. 3 March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. 4 Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets. 5 When you hear them sound a long blast on the trumpets, have all the people give a loud shout; then the wall of the city will collapse and the people will go up, every man straight in." 6 So Joshua son of Nun called the priests and said to them, "Take up the ark of the covenant of the LORD and have seven priests carry trumpets in front of it." 7 And he ordered the people, "Advance! March around the city, with the armed guard going ahead of the ark of the LORD ."  8 When Joshua had spoken to the people, the seven priests carrying the seven trumpets before the LORD went forward, blowing their trumpets, and the ark of the LORD's covenant followed them. 9 The armed guard marched ahead of the priests who blew the trumpets, and the rear guard followed the ark. All this time the trumpets were sounding.

Joshua 7
15 When Gideon heard the dream and its interpretation, he worshiped God. He returned to the camp of Israel and called out, "Get up! The LORD has given the Midianite camp into your hands." 16 Dividing the three hundred men into three companies, he placed trumpets and empty jars in the hands of all of them, with torches inside. 17 "Watch me," he told them. "Follow my lead. When I get to the edge of the camp, do exactly as I do. 18 When I and all who are with me blow our trumpets, then from all around the camp blow yours and shout, 'For the LORD and for Gideon.' "   19 Gideon and the hundred men with him reached the edge of the camp at the beginning of the middle watch, just after they had changed the guard. They blew their trumpets and broke the jars that were in their hands. 20 The three companies blew the trumpets and smashed the jars. Grasping the torches in their left hands and holding in their right hands the trumpets they were to blow, they shouted, "A sword for the LORD and for Gideon!" 21 While each man held his position around the camp, all the Midianites ran, crying out as they fled.

2 Samuel 6
14 David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might, 15 while he and the entire house of Israel brought up the ark of the LORD with shouts and the sound of trumpets.  16 As the ark of the LORD was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the LORD, she despised him in her heart.

2 Kings 11
13 When Athaliah heard the noise made by the guards and the people, she went to the people at the temple of the LORD . 14 She looked and there was the king, standing by the pillar, as the custom was. The officers and the trumpeters were beside the king, and all the people of the land were rejoicing and blowing trumpets. Then Athaliah tore her robes and called out, "Treason! Treason!"  15 Jehoiada the priest ordered the commanders of units of a hundred, who were in charge of the troops: "Bring her out between the ranks [1] and put to the sword anyone who follows her." For the priest had said, "She must not be put to death in the temple of the LORD ."

2 Kings 12
12 the masons and stonecutters. They purchased timber and dressed stone for the repair of the temple of the LORD , and met all the other expenses of restoring the temple.  13 The money brought into the temple was not spent for making silver basins, wick trimmers, sprinkling bowls, trumpets or any other articles of gold or silver for the temple of the LORD ; 14 it was paid to the workmen, who used it to repair the temple.

1 Chronicles 13
7 They moved the ark of God from Abinadab's house on a new cart, with Uzzah and Ahio guiding it. 8 David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.   9 When they came to the threshing floor of Kidon, Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the ark, because the oxen stumbled.

1 Chronicles 15
23 Berekiah and Elkanah were to be doorkeepers for the ark. 24 Shebaniah, Joshaphat, Nethanel, Amasai, Zechariah, Benaiah and Eliezer the priests were to blow trumpets before the ark of God. Obed-Edom and Jehiah were also to be doorkeepers for the ark.  25 So David and the elders of Israel and the commanders of units of a thousand went to bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the house of Obed-Edom, with rejoicing.

1 Chronicles 16
5 Asaph was the chief, Zechariah second, then Jeiel, Shemiramoth, Jehiel, Mattithiah, Eliab, Benaiah, Obed-Edom and Jeiel. They were to play the lyres and harps, Asaph was to sound the cymbals, 6 and Benaiah and Jahaziel the priests were to blow the trumpets regularly before the ark of the covenant of God.

1 Chronicles 16
41 With them were Heman and Jeduthun and the rest of those chosen and designated by name to give thanks to the LORD , "for his love endures forever." 42 Heman and Jeduthun were responsible for the sounding of the trumpets and cymbals and for the playing of the other instruments for sacred song. The sons of Jeduthun were stationed at the gate.  43 Then all the people left, each for his own home, and David returned home to bless his family.

2 Chronicles 7
5 And King Solomon offered a sacrifice of twenty-two thousand head of cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. So the king and all the people dedicated the temple of God. 6 The priests took their positions, as did the Levites with the LORD's musical instruments, which King David had made for praising the LORD and which were used when he gave thanks, saying, "His love endures forever." Opposite the Levites, the priests blew their trumpets, and all the Israelites were standing.   7 Solomon consecrated the middle part of the courtyard in front of the temple of the LORD , and there he offered burnt offerings and the fat of the fellowship offerings,  because the bronze altar he had made could not hold the burnt offerings, the grain offerings and the fat portions.

2 Chronicles
14 Judah turned and saw that they were being attacked at both front and rear. Then they cried out to the LORD . The priests blew their trumpets 15 and the men of Judah raised the battle cry. At the sound of their battle cry, God routed Jeroboam and all Israel before Abijah and Judah.

2 Chronicles 20
27 Then, led by Jehoshaphat, all the men of Judah and Jerusalem returned joyfully to Jerusalem, for the LORD had given them cause to rejoice over their enemies. 28 They entered Jerusalem and went to the temple of the LORD with harps and lutes and trumpets.  29 The fear of God came upon all the kingdoms of the countries when they heard how the LORD had fought against the enemies of Israel.

Ezra 3
9 Jeshua and his sons and brothers and Kadmiel and his sons (descendants of Hodaviah ) and the sons of Henadad and their sons and brothers-all Levites-joined together in supervising those working on the house of God.   10 When the builders laid the foundation of the temple of the LORD , the priests in their vestments and with trumpets, and the Levites (the sons of Asaph) with cymbals, took their places to praise the LORD , as prescribed by David king of Israel. 11 With praise and thanksgiving they sang to the LORD

Nehemiah 12
40 The two choirs that gave thanks then took their places in the house of God; so did I, together with half the officials, 41 as well as the priests-Eliakim, Maaseiah, Miniamin, Micaiah, Elioenai, Zechariah and Hananiah with their trumpets- 42 and also Maaseiah, Shemaiah, Eleazar, Uzzi, Jehohanan, Malkijah, Elam and Ezer. The choirs sang under the direction of Jezrahiah.
 

The reference to instruments in Revelation had nothing to do with our worship of the Lord in our assemblies.

Revelation 8
1 The Seventh Seal and the Golden Censer   1When he opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour.  2 And I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and to them were given seven trumpets.  3 Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar before the throne.

Revelation 8
5 Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and hurled it on the earth; and there came peals of thunder, rumblings, flashes of lightning and an earthquake. The Trumpets  6 Then the seven angels who had the seven trumpets prepared to sound them.  7 The first angel sounded his trumpet, and there came hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was hurled down upon the earth. A third of the earth was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

Conclusion!!!
The silence of the scriptures is compelling evidence that singing to God is the fruit of our lips and we can rest assured that such singing pleases God.  We absolutely do not have any assurance that using some form of accompaniment with mechanical instruments pleases God.   For they have been added by men.

If you have questions, please contact a preacher at a church of Christ.

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