Music

I love music. When I hear music playing in the background, my ear is immediately drawn to it. Of course, whether or not I enjoy that music depends on the type of music that is playing, but regardless, I notice it.

Is enjoyment a valid criterion for evaluating music, though? Should we listen to music based on how it makes us feel? I think not. Music, like everything else, should be evaluated scripturally by asking, “Is this pleasing to God?”

The Psalmists (I don’t say David because David was not the only Psalmist) grasped the idea of using music for praise very well, as evidenced by the many Psalms that sing praises to God:

Psalm 98:4-9

Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth;

break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre,

with the lyre and the sound of melody!

With trumpets and the sound of the horn

make a joyful noise before the King, the Lord!

Let the sea roar, and all that fills it;

the world and those who dwell in it!

Let the rivers clap their hands;

let the hills sing for joy together

before the Lord, for he comes

to judge the earth.

He will judge the world with righteousness,

and the peoples with equity.

Psalm 47

Clap your hands, all peoples!

 Shout to God with loud songs of joy!

For the Lord, the Most High, is to be feared,

a great king over all the earth.

He subdued peoples under us,

and nations under our feet.

He chose our heritage for us,

the pride of Jacob whom he loves.

God has gone up with a shout,

the Lord with the sound of a trumpet.

Sing praises to God, sing praises!

Sing praises to our King, sing praises!

For God is the King of all the earth;

sing praises with a psalm!

God reigns over the nations;

God sits on his holy throne.

The princes of the peoples gather

as the people of the God of Abraham.

For the shields of the earth belong to God;

he is highly exalted!

The Psalmists also has multiple other uses for music: to express sorrow, repentance, joy, consolation, thankfulness – so many different emotions are present in the Psalms. If you want to know how you can glorify the Lord while expressing whatever mood you are in, learn from the Psalms.

Of course, singing and music in the Bible are found in many other books than the Psalms. Moses sings, Deborah sings, King Jehoshaphat’s army sings, Paul and Silas sing: singing is an integral part of life. All creation sings glory to the Lord, including the angels. Should we not sing as well?

We should use all our God-given talents for His glory, including our voice and music skills. “Whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.” Also, we are told to dwell on those things which are “true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, an excellent.”  If any music does not meet this criterion, we should stay away.

Music is a good thing, if we use it to honor the Lord like the Psalmists and angels. As you go about your day, think about the music you listen to. Is it worthwhile? If not, then throw it; your own voice singing to the Lord would be a worthwhile substitution.

So, sing psalms, let joy resound!

Casey

On Gun Control

Recently there has been a lot of talk about gun control, especially after the tragic Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting. Many people, attempting to pin the blame for this tragedy on something, mistakenly pin it on the fact that the shooter used a gun. If the shooter didn’t have a gun, then he couldn’t have shot anybody, right? We should just ban guns, and that would solve all of our violence problems, right?

While this is an understandable conclusion, it doesn’t take into account all the facts. For instance, what happens if you outlaw guns? No matter how hard it tries, the government cannot keep all guns away from everybody. Even if it could, it would require a huge increase in governmental power, which is something we most definitely do not need. The result of this is that all the law-abiding citizens are punished by not being allowed to keep guns while the criminals still illegally carry guns. We would see a huge increase of gun violence, not a decrease.

Also, the Constitution CLEARLY states that United States’ citizens have the right to bear arms. Thus, if the national government makes any move to infringe upon that right, it breaks the highest law of our land. Our founding fathers were wise men who knew what they were doing when they wrote the Constitution, putting all their sweat and tears, as well as their Christian upbringing, political experience,  age, education, and thought into the most important political document that America has ever seen. It is a very big step to contradict a document that has been the highest law of the land for over 200 years, when most other countries re-write their Constitutions every decade or so.

Thus, the government must either append to the Constitution (a move which should meet with much opposition) amendments clearly against our founder’s intentions, or press states, which have the ability to set gun control laws, to pass anti-gun legislation.

I looked up online a few states’ gun control laws. I found one article that started with the statement that a gun control law had been struck down that would have affected Washington, D.C. After the law was struck down, many liberal politicians panicked because they believed that the strike-down would increase gun violence. The article then captured those same politicians bewilderment that the gun violence rate went down as a result of the failed attempt at regulation.

There are thousands of other stories that capture the same message: gun control does not solve the problem of gun violence! The issues behind gun violence run much deeper than the actual gun. Saying that the gun is the problem behind gun violence is like saying that the paint can is the problem behind graffiti. The problem is the person behind the gun, not the gun itself.

There is nothing wrong with guns, just as there is nothing wrong with baseball bats, or cars, or toothbrushes. They are tools that can be used for good things, but like anything else, can be sinfully misused. Gun control accomplishes nothing and hurts the country when what the country really needs is reform in general. The reform this country most needs is spiritual--not healthcare reform, nor social security reform, nor a balanced budget or any other worthwhile cause.  America needs Christ.