[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRobryliBLQ[/youtube]

Last Sunday, my friend Julie’s mother was sitting in the 8:30 service at our church. She did not know when she sat down to worship the Lord that in a few minutes she would be worshiping Jesus Christ face to face. She collapsed during the service and was instantly transported to that great worship service that will have no end. Today, ironically, was the Sunday during which those saints who have gone on ahead of us are remembered. All Saint’s Sunday is a meaningful time of Scripture readings and hymns that remind us our life here is but a short preparation for eternity. As the bells rang the call to worship today, I realized that Mrs. E. and six others from our church are worshiping the Lamb in glory this year.

Our pastor prayed, “Blessed are they that die in the Lord from now on, for they will rest from their labors, and their deeds will follow them. In joyful expectation for the resurrection to life, we remember before You, O Lord, all those who have gone before us in faith, whom we pause now to name in our hearts  We offer thanksgiving for the gift of faith, and we hold fast to the certainty of Your promises.  May their memory among us be blessed, and may we follow their footsteps of faith to Your eternal presence in the heavenly kingdom. In Jesus’ name. Amen.”

Many of us have family members and brothers and sisters in Christ who have recently gone on before us into eternity. Their passing is a sobering yet joyful reminder that what we go through down here is so trifling when we measure it against the glory that lies ahead for those who know Jesus Christ. Discouragement and a sense of futility is a constant plague here in this life. Christians who have been in the battle a long time can give in to it, but there’s real spiritual danger in doing so. The enemy wants to convince us that nothing makes any sense, that God is not sovereign over all of life, that we are victims of our past tragedies and hurts, and that Jesus Christ is not greater than it all. We need to identify those thoughts and banish them quickly so they don’t take root in our minds and hearts.

We are in a time of great testing among God’s people. Only those who are keeping their eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ and who walk by faith will be able to withstand great temptation. May the Lord help us all to do that. I want to share with you two things from our service today that lifted my heart up from discouragement to the beauty of Christ and the hope we have in Him. The first is the hymn of praise we sing from our liturgy. The choir, organ and brass led us in this song of triumph for Christ’s Church Militant, joining in with the Church Triumphant, as we labor on:

“This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia. Worthy is Christ, the Lamb who was slain, whose blood set us free to be people of God.

Power, riches, wisdom and strength, and honor, blessing, and glory are His. Sing with all the people of God, and join in the hymn of all creation: This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Blessing, honor, glory and might be to God and the Lamb forever. Amen. For the Lamb who was slain has begun His reign. Alleluia. This is the feast of victory for our God. Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia!

Here is our Hymn of the Day from today’s service. The words speak for themselves. On the last verse, the musicians opened up full volume, and I think a little bit of heaven came down.

For all the saints, who from their labors rest,
Who Thee by faith before the world confessed,
Thy Name, O Jesus, be forever blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

Thou wast their Rock, their Fortress and their Might;
Thou, Lord, their Captain in the well fought fight;
Thou, in the darkness drear, their one true Light.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

For the Apostles’ glorious company,
Who bearing forth the Cross o’er land and sea,
Shook all the mighty world, we sing to Thee:
Alleluia, Alleluia!

For the Evangelists, by whose blest word,
Like fourfold streams, the garden of the Lord,
Is fair and fruitful, be Thy Name adored.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

For Martyrs, who with rapture kindled eye,
Saw the bright crown descending from the sky,
And seeing, grasped it, Thee we glorify.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O blest communion, fellowship divine!
We feebly struggle, they in glory shine;
All are one in Thee, for all are Thine.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

O may Thy soldiers, faithful, true and bold,
Fight as the saints who nobly fought of old,
And win with them the victor’s crown of gold.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

And when the strife is fierce, the warfare long,
Steals on the ear the distant triumph song,
And hearts are brave, again, and arms are strong.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

The golden evening brightens in the west;
Soon, soon to faithful warriors comes their rest;
Sweet is the calm of paradise the blessed.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

But lo! there breaks a yet more glorious day;
The saints triumphant rise in bright array;
The King of glory passes on His way.
Alleluia, Alleluia!

From earth’s wide bounds, from ocean’s farthest coast,
Through gates of pearl streams in the countless host,
And singing to Father, Son and Holy Ghost:
Alleluia, Alleluia!

(Tune)

I found this hymn a great blessing and encouragement today. Read all of the wonderful lyrics below–most hymnals contain only an abbreviated version. Our God is truly worthy of praise, his mercies are new every morning. Also included below is a wonderful rendition of this hymn by the St. Olaf Choir. I hope this can lift your heart in praise on this Lord’s day.

Praise to the Lord, the Almighty

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hspm7ckkPCo[/youtube]

Sam Guzman writes:

I have heard quite a bit about Reformed Rap recently, and I have been somewhat confused as many good men have endorsed it. After giving it some thought, I have written down some of my conclusions on the issue, which can be read here at Always Ready.

Last evening we had a full house at the Waukesha Exposition Center for VCY America’s Hymns Triumphant with the Mt. Olive Choir and the Concord Chamber Orchestra. It was a beautiful evening of great hymns and the people loved it. There were young families with children, teenagers, college students and older folk, all of whom loved the great hymns of the faith. At certain points in the presentation, the conductor (the music director from my church, Ralph Kohrs) would turn around and let everyone in the audience sing a stanza, too, turning the auditorium into one giant choir along with the 80 some voices on stage. It was really a joy. I watched one older man with tears on his face mouthing the words of nearly every hymn the choir sang. It was a celebration of the hymns of the Christian faith that really blessed the 900-some people present.

In this sermon, Dr. Jones talks about true melody and music in the church. I hope you enjoy it.

Updated: I have added another video with another trumpet piece from the same day for your enjoyment!

This beautiful Psalm was the inspiration for this joyful piece of music by Marcello, played by Tom. I hope it’s a blessing to you this Lord’s Day.

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun,

Which is as a bridegroom coming out of his chamber, and rejoiceth as a strong man to run a race.

His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof.

The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.

The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.

The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.

More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.

Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

Who can understand his errors? cleanse thou me from secret faults.

Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me: then shall I be upright, and I shall be innocent from the great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.

Today’s false churches can be spotted very easily. Rather than beginning worship with music that exalts Jesus Christ, they will have “openers” that point to anything but. These “openers” lay the foundation for everything else that goes on in the service. So, for example, when a real Christian church begins a worship service and seeks to draw attention to the Savior, they wouldn’t choose something like Hell’s Bells by AC/DC like NewSpring church did recently. That would be for false churches that are in open disobedience to Christ. Likewise, a real Christian church would not begin a “worship” service with “Crazy in Love” by Beyonce, whose original video of this song cannot be linked to on this site because it is pornography. I would highly discourage anyone from going to see what I mean on YouTube due to the sexual nature of the video. This is how Perry Noble’s false church opens its worship. A false church will draw attention to the world and to man(woman). A real church points to the living Christ.

As an additional word relating to Tom’s article below, OldTruth.com has a video posted that begins with clips of the 80’s rock group AC/DC singing Hell’s Bells. The video then seques to a church where the church worship musicians play “Hell’s Bell’s” presumably as a prelude, without the lyrics. I satirically suggested recently that this might be a musical option for cool churches with an 80’s fixation. Once again, I was outdone by reality. There is nothing too filthy, too defiled, too Satanic to be dragged into church for worship. Nobody even knows who God is any more, and worse, they don’t care. This is from Perry Noble’s NewSpring Church. The, uh, sermon, was entitled, “Hell, No”.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5y5OKl5t1c[/youtube]

A reader this week sent me an email in which he quoted a well-known, conservative evangelist as saying that the only thing that matters in worship music are the words being sung. The lyrics are the only thing with a message was his belief. I want to raise a question today. Is that true? Are lyrics the only thing speaking in worship music? Does it even matter?

My husband Tom wrote this piece to challenge the idea that music is really neutral, that music in itself carries no inherent message or instructions to hearers, and that we can call people to worship God with music that lies about His character.

Music Is Never “Neutral”

By Tom Schlueter

For years I have heard the claim that the type of music in corporate worship is irrelevant. It is not the music that matters, but the lyrics. Music is supposedly “neutral,” and the lyrics alone determine the message. There is simply no factual basis for this belief. The propagation of this idea has resulted in much spiritual confusion today where the music used in worship actually wars against the content of the lyrics. I wanted to write a few thoughts on the idea that any kind of music can be dragged into corporate worship without any thought given to what that music is saying.

I’ve been involved with music professionally for 30 years and my degree is in music performance. The perspective I am coming from is not one of ignorance musically but one of personal experience. In those years, I have played my trumpet in virtually every style and in many different venues; anything from swing bands, jazz, touring Broadway shows and musicals, concerts with Chicago, Styx, Moody Blues, John Denver, Glen Campbell, Johnny Mathis, Aretha Franklin, Tony Bennett, the Irish Tenors, Charlotte Church, Sarah Vaughn, Robert Goulet, Frank Sinatra, Jr., and, on the other hand, everything from one of the top symphony orchestras in the country to opera and ballet music, including many types of classical chamber music and many varied experiences in church music. Along with my experience of performing this variety of music has come my observation of the people who are listening to it and the effect music has on them.

I have seen the power of music. Probably 95% of music I have performed is strictly instrumental. Before I had any Christian convictions about the matter, I played as much in dance bands as I did for orchestras. Whatever the venue, we could yield much power over the listener and there were many times when we could literally engage in “crowd control”. For example, in a dance setting our big band could play a slow, ballad-type number and everyone immediately responded in the obvious way directed by the music. Contrast that with the reaction when we played something like Buddy Morrow’s Night Train which, without verbal prompting, would encourage some people to do a quasi-strip dance. In fact, to further enhance the shock value, the band leader would announce the number as a “Mozart string quartet” and then start the pounding rhythms of Night Train. The music did not require words with instructions about what to do. The music alone carried the message.

By way of illustration, listen to the difference in the message that the same instruments can carry in these two clips. First, listen to the message of our trumpets and the drums at the front end of our band’s version of Sing, Sing, Sing. The trumpets led the brass in a clear call to listeners: get up and dance. Now listen to the message of the brass instruments and percussion in this clip at the beginning of the hymn, Christ is Made the Sure Foundation. What are the instructions of the instruments here? What are they calling listeners to do? Come and worship God. The brass tell us there is royalty present. The percussion at the end of the fanfare speaks not of dance and flesh, but of honor and respect and reverence. What a difference. Same instruments. Different message entirely.

The smallest children do not need instructions for what to do when they hear certain kinds of music. Every one of us consciously and often subconsciously experiences the power of music nearly every day when we watch TV programs, see commercials, hear music in the grocery store. Music in these venues is done with an agenda to move people in a specific way. I once read an interview with John Williams that celebrated his contributions to movie music. He was talking about how crucial it was to get movie music correct to enhance a scene. He said that a music can make or break a scene, and the complete absence of music can also make or break a scene. You add the right kind of music to a scene and it becomes magical or terrifying, depending on the mood you want to create. One thing he said was, “The mood in a scene is created more by the music than by the actors.”

The power of music is so obvious, I do not know why there is even a need for a debate about it. This same simple idea is the reason why the Brahms Requiem was played at the memorial concert for 9-11 victims instead of a concert of Broadway show tunes. All this being said, it seems obvious when you are going to link words and music, they should comport with/compliment each other. It doesn’t make sense to put serious words with circus-style music, and it doesn’t make sense to have lyrics that speak of the majesty and glory of Christ put to sounds that speak of the streets, anger and resentment as we have with rap. Yet that is often what happens in corporate Christian worship today. The music part, supposedly, is saying nothing.

A few years ago, a CD came out of supposedly “sacred” swing music. Someone had taken hymn lyrics and attached them to swing band music. The results were musically and theologically absurd. Take our band’s recording of Take the A Train. Now picture that music with words about the Lord’s Supper. That is what the “sacred swing” CD tried to do. It was a nauseating combination but, nonetheless, called “praise music.” The music was conjuring up a dance floor scene, but the lyrics were speaking of the Lord’s Supper and Christ’s bleeding sacrifice on the cross. Do we think the Lord is pleased by this confusion?

In corporate worship, the music chosen makes a statement about our view of God. Our music reveals if that view is a high and biblical view, or a low and man-made view. If the music clip above from Sing, Sing, Sing would be the call to worship in a church, what exactly would that say about God and His character? What would it say to worshipers? Get up and dance? Women should start flaunting their stuff in front of men on the dance floor? This would not be worship at all, but rather a gross insult to the Almighty.

The bottom line is that music is never neutral. It is always saying something. The question is, does it contradict or confuse or even cancel out the message of the lyrics used in worship? If we are in the flesh, we cannot please God no matter how much we call what we are doing “praise and worship.” When we study and know God’s character in the Word, we realize that whatever we are offering up as worship needs to be worthy of Him. It needs to speak of Him honestly. Much music in church today lies about God. It says He is cheap and easy and just like us. In short, it shows no respect for the God who is described by St. Paul in the Bible as a “consuming fire.”

I hear well-meaning Christians talk as though Satan has affected every area of creation with the exception of the non-verbal language of music. That, they claim, is neutral territory. Satan, in his craftiness, has very skillfully perpetuated this lie and has neutralized and in some cases, made mockery of the worship of our God. The Israelites dancing around the Golden Calf genuinely believed they could worship God through the use of the idol. They were sincere and their religious fervor was so loud that Moses heard it while descending Mt. Sinai. It was not true worship at all, however. God abhorred what they were doing. They were too busy in their so-called worship to notice.

In summary, music always speaks. It always has something to say on its own—free of lyrics. What our worship music says about God must line up with what we are told about God in His Word. We know God two ways: both by His character and by His works as they are recorded in Scripture. Nobody is very interested in knowing the character and works of God today, and that ultimately is the root of the problem. We cannot speak honestly of one we do not know. God is made over into man’s image today, and the music used to worship Him reflects that. A thorough knowledge of God through His Word will have a reformational effect on Christian worship. Only when we know God can we truly worship him in spirit and in truth.

Soli Deo Gloria

Copyright Tom Schlueter, 2008

P.S. Here’s a Crosstalk Show with Dr. Paul Jones on the subject of his book on the theology of worship music. His book, Singing and Making Melody: Issues in Church Music Today, is one of the finest I’ve read on the subject.

A young adult Christian called me this morning to say he’d just returned from a Family Christian Store sick to his stomach. A video monitor was blasting the latest craze among evangelical middle-schoolers and younger. It’s a group called Pure NRG. The group is described this way on their website.

From the rock guitar intro of the title track to the final note, the “NRG” of this young trio is remarkable. Singing positively through pop-driven tunes, they’re the Disneyfied Christian trio that you’d let your kids listen to, dancing along.”

Here’s their video, “Footloose”.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=wuXDoxnddXU[/youtube]

Well, what a surprise. When I was in high school and in rebellion, funny thing was, the same song was hot on MTV. It was no Christian middle school group singing it either. Anybody remember the theme of the movie “Footloose”? I do. The young person who called me did not even know there had been an, er, non-Christian version of the song. I put this up only to demonstrate what the evangelical music industry is copying.

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=nwBbMXYDsXw[/youtube]

One movie site summed the movie up this way.

“It’s loose-limbed and goofy and it lifts you up. It’s set in a high school in a small mid-western town where dancing has been banned…Kevin Bacon is the new kid in town who wants the ban lifted. Indeed, this boy seems to live to dance and he’s immensely likable. He uses his killer smile to great effect. In this movie the dancing is integral to the plot and it evolves from it naturally and, for once, the director Herbert Ross takes things easy. As well as Bacon, the film has Lori Singer, (the obligatory love interest), and John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest as her parents. He’s the bible-thumper who thinks that dancing is sinful and Wiest, with her wan, other-worldly smile, is the wife who doesn’t as well as a very young Chris Penn as the over-weight farm boy Bacon teaches to dance in a wonderful sequence choreographed to Denise Williams’ ‘Let’s hear it for the boy.’”

Ok. So 24 years later, evangelical Christian kids no longer have dancing hang-ups. Fine. Whatever. Just don’t call Footloose “Christian”, OK? Parents who grew up with Kevin Bacon and Kenny Loggin’s version of Footloose can now purchase this “Christian” version for their children at Christian bookstores. This is called “positive” music for 12-14 year old Christian kids. Anyone else feel queasy? Here are the lyrics kids from evangelical homes are going to be singing:

Title: Kenny Loggins - Footloose lyrics

I been working so hard
Keep punching my card
Eight hours, for what?
Oh, tell me what I got
I get this feeling
That time’s just holding me down
I’ll hit the ceiling
Or else I’ll tear up this town
Tonight I gotta cut
(Chorus)
Loose, footloose
Kick off your Sunday shoes
Please, Louise
Pull me offa my knees
Jack, get back
C’mon before we crack
Lose your blues
Everybody cut footloose
You’re playing so cool
Obeying every rule
Dig way down in your heart
You’re yearning, burning for some
Somebody to tell you
That life ain’t passing you by
I’m trying to tell you
It will if you don’t even try
You can fly if you’d only cut
(Chorus)
Loose, footloose
Kick off your Sunday shoes
Oowhee, Marie
Shake it, shake it for me
Whoa, Milo
C’mon, c’mon let go
Lose your blues
Everybody cut footloose
FIRST - we got to turn you around
SECOND - You put your feet on the ground
THIRD - Now take a hold of your soul
FOUR - Whooooooooa, I’m turning it
Loose, FOOTLOOSE

[youtube]http://youtube.com/watch?v=NcyUMT7uhzE[/youtube]

This hymn is a paraphrase of Psalm 100 (Old Hundredth). This hymn in the video was sung at Westminster Abbey at a hastily called service as war clouds gathered just before the first Gulf War. There’s nothing like national or international crisis to focus our minds on what really matters. These words say it all, but how few of us think of God in this way today? I’m talking about Christians in the West. We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know that whatever comes, when we have the Lord Jesus Christ, we can shelter beneath the shadow of His throne.

Before Jehovah’s awful throne,
ye nations, bow with sacred joy;
know that the Lord is God alone;
he can create, and he destroy.

His sovereign power, without our aid,
made us of clay, and formed us men;
and when like wandering sheep we strayed,
he brought us to his fold again.

We’ll crowd thy gates with thankful songs,
high as the heavens our voices raise;
and earth, with her ten thousand tongues,
shall fill thy courts with sounding praise.

Wide as the world is thy command,
vast as eternity thy love;
firm as a rock thy truth must stand,
when rolling years shall cease to move.

Amen

The following is a critique of modern rap and hardcore music that is being labeled, “Christian”. The article is written by Dr. Eric Svendsen of New Testament Research Ministries. Here is Part One and this is Part Two. Dr. Svendsen writes:

In my conversation with the youth pastor mentioned above, I initially asked him to convince me why I should accept the notion that these genres of music deserve the label of “Christian.” When he asked for clarification I pointed out that the behavior these groups exhibit is antithetical to the fruits of the Spirit. They exhibit an “in your face” arrogance, haughtiness, rebellion, rage, anger, loudness, boisterousness, and a lack of self control. The Scriptures commend to us “peaceful and quiet lives” (1 Tim 2:2; 1 Thess 4:11), and warn us against haughtiness, pride, arrogance, anger, rage and the like: “Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice” (Eph 4:31). We are to be “self-controlled” (Titus 2:2; particularly relevant for “young men” according to 2:6, and the very quality conspicuously absent in the “hardcore” videos), “dignified” and “worthy of respect” (obnoxiously demanding respect is not the same thing).

This afternoon I had a conversation with a member of Once We Were Buried. He called me because of my earlier post where I described my view that death metal music, whether it’s labeled “Christian” or not, is Satanic. He said the band is not a Christian band at all and that use of the church for their death metal concert was reportedly obtained through a high school student who attends there. I tried to explain to him my views that music has a spirit that accompanies it. Death metal, by definition, is about death, the enemy that Jesus Christ came to destroy. The caller felt there was a neutral spiritual zone where one could play this music and yet not be Satanic or Christian. I shared with him that the Scriptures tell us that none of us are neutral, that we are all born enemies of Christ because we are born into sin. This music, like all of life, is anything but neutral.

This afternoon I have gotten some emails from other fans of this group and band members, some of whom claim to be “devout Christians” in the midst of an obscenity laden email. Not all have been as courteous as the caller. As I listen to these young men talk and hear how they think, it makes me realize the damage done by the counterfeit gospel in America today. There is this idea that all we need to do to be Christian is to add Jesus on to our lives, sort of like a new shirt. The whole teaching of Scripture where Jesus calls us to deny ourselves, take up our crosses, and follow Him, where we are to leave the world and its value system behind, where we are to walk in holiness through the transforming power of the Holy Spirit, (without which holiness we cannot see God, Scripture says), is gone. It’s a horrible tragedy to see so many churches so compromised and polluted that the true Gospel of Christ that calls us to die to ourselves and be risen with Christ never gets shared. Several correspondents expressed disgust with the idea of one way to heaven. There are other ways, they claimed, how dare I say it’s only through Jesus?

I want to ask readers to pray for these sincere young men who need the light of the Gospel and pray that we who know the Gospel would be more careful to be clear about it to those around us.

** It seems Pastor Reed says that they just rent out the building. My response: A Church of Christ rents their building out to Satan? **

January 18th, it looks like things will be rocking in Owosso, Michigan with the Christian death metal band, Once We Were Buried. Pastor Tim Reed’s church apparently will be featuring the band along with a group called, The Yellow Sign. Here’s a look at The Yellow Sign’s interpretation of what a new creature in Christ is all about. (Hint: It involves copious uses of the f-bomb sprinkled with liberal uses of the s-word.) Here is a foretaste of the, um, music, of the once buried boys.

Click on the link to see the web page for The Yellow Sign to get a sense of their spiritual direction. (You will see Owosso Church of Christ listed on their upcoming shows.) Studying the photos on their page, I can truly say I have never seen anything as blatantly satanic in my life. Welcome to the new evangelical churches, friends, where entertainment now resembles a rehearsal for hell. That is, in fact, what it is.

Here is a YouTube video of Yellow Sign’s Christ-honoring song, “I am Malice”. Please note the content of the comments beneath it. I am understanding Pastor Reed’s malice towards Christian discernment sites better every day when I see what he is setting in front of his sheep.

Regarding “Christian” death metal:

“…all they that hate me love death.”

Proverbs 8:36

The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy: I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.

John 10:10

In the way of righteousness is life: and in the pathway thereof there is no death.

Proverbs 12:28

For to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace.

Romans 8:6

I was listening to a St. Olaf Christmas Festival CD today, and they ended their concert with this hymn, not always used at Christmas. I can’t think of anything more appropriate. The babe in the manger was the King of all the ages, and some day we will cast our crowns at His feet for He alone is worthy to be crowned.

(This is the Ralph Vaughn Williams version of the hymn which has a slightly different ending of each stanza than the one commonly found in hymnals.)

All hail the power of Jesus’ name;
Let angels prostrate fall;
Bring forth the royal diadem
To Crown crown Him, crown Him,
Crown Him Lord of all.

Crown Him, ye martyrs of your God,
Who from his altar call;
Praise Him whose way of pain ye trod;
And crown Him, Crown Him, crown Him,
crown Him Lord of all.

Ye seed of Israel’s chosen race,
Ye ransomed of the fall,
Hail Him who saves you by His grace,
And crown Him, crown Him, crown Him,
Lord of all.

Hail Him, ye heirs of David’s line,
Whom David Lord did call;
The God incarnate, Man Divine,
And crown Him, crown Him, crown Him,
Crown Him Lord of all.

Let ev’ry tribe and ev’ry tongue
To Him their hearts enthrall,
Lift high the everlasting song
And crown Him, crown Him, crown Him,
Crown Him, Lord of all.

This piece from WorldnetDaily needs very little by way of commentary or introduction, but that’s never stopped me in the past. Anyone who has ever listened to Bach’s St. Matthew Passion or his Christmas Oratorio will not forget it soon. I have a special love for the St. Matthew. The precious words of the Passion, straight from the Scriptural account, are set to the magnificent music of this godly composer—a composer who began all of his manuscripts with the initials J.J. (Jesu Juva, Latin for Help me, Jesus) and who concluded his works with the letters, S.D.G. (Latin for Soli Deo Gloria, to God alone be glory!) Click here to read the history and text of the St. Matthew Passion. It is little wonder secularists wanted Bach’s music buried. The Lord used Felix Mendelssohn to bring this music back to God’s people.

Bach knew that his genius came from the hand of God himself. It is no surprise that he is generally considered to be the greatest composer who ever lived. Our church organist uses much Bach organ music and each time I hear it, I am reminded of the dedication to Christ of Bach’s music, the power of which speaks to the might and the depth of our sovereign God. When the church pews shake and all the stops are pulled out in praise, I think of Psalm 148, especially verses 7-8.

Praise ye the LORD. Praise ye the LORD from the heavens: praise him in the heights.

Praise ye him, all his angels: praise ye him, all his hosts.

Praise ye him, sun and moon: praise him, all ye stars of light.

Praise him, ye heavens of heavens, and ye waters that be above the heavens.

Let them praise the name of the LORD: for he commanded, and they were created.

He hath also stablished them for ever and ever: he hath made a decree which shall not pass.

Praise the LORD from the earth, ye dragons, and all deeps:

Fire, and hail; snow, and vapours; stormy wind fulfilling his word:

Mountains, and all hills; fruitful trees, and all cedars:

Beasts, and all cattle; creeping things, and flying fowl:

Kings of the earth, and all people; princes, and all judges of the earth:

Both young men, and maidens; old men, and children:

Let them praise the name of the LORD: for his name alone is excellent; his glory is above the earth and heaven.

He also exalteth the horn of his people, the praise of all his saints; even of the children of Israel, a people near unto him. Praise ye the LORD.

P.S. Even non-believers in the music world have stood in awe of the way Bach presented the passion of Christ on the cross.

Suddenly the chorus breaks into two antiphonal choruses. ‘See him!’ cries the first one. ‘Whom?’ asks the second. And the first answers: ‘The Bridegroom see. See Him!’ ‘How?’ ‘So like a Lamb.’ And then over and against all this questioning and answering and throbbing, the voices of a boy’s choir sing out the chorale tune, ‘O Lamb of God Most Holy,’ piercing through the worldly pain with the icy-clear truth of redemption. The contrapuntal combination of the three different choruses is thrilling. There is nothing like it in all music.”

–Leonard Bernstein

And to Mr. Bernstein I would add, and there is nothing in all of world history like the sacrifice of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, for a fallen human race. Hallelujah!

O Lamb of God, unspotted
Upon the cross’s branch slaughtered,
See ye,—what?—see him forbear,
Alway displayed in thy patience,
How greatly wast thou despisèd.
Look—where, then?—upon our guilt;
All sin hast thou born for us,
Else we had lost all courage.
See how he with love and grace
Wood as cross himself now beareth!
Have mercy on us, O Jesus!