There is something inherently spiritual about music. Throughout Scripture, there are songs, notes to music directors, and instructions for musicians. We know that the Tabernacle had specific musical requirements just as we know that in times of sorrow, the Israelites ceased to play music. Why is music so integral to our faith?

Music is communal. It ties people together through tradition, history, and emotion. Music is also spiritual. In both the making and performing of music, the phenomenon of flow allows one to connect spiritually in ways that are unique.

Music is commemorative. Through music, we are drawn to memories that fill us with emotions that are otherwise hard to explain. In these three ways, music is a benefit to our faith lives. It blends traditions and voices together to strengthen faith over generations and within individual lives.

Rarely is there a modern service of worship without a song. In fact, modern Christianity has so ingrained music into the definition of worship that we often struggle to know how to worship if music is not involved. Whether sung out of a hymnal or newly inspired by Scripture, music plays an integral part in shaping how our faith is expressed through traditions of worship. Part of the beauty of this association between music and worship is that it ties people together across a wide variety of barriers in unique ways.

In Act 16, Paul and Silas are in jail singing songs of the early church, and all the other prisoners, bound for different reasons and as diverse as the Roman empire, listened. Moments later, a massive earthquake causes all the prisoners to be free of their chains. Yet, Paul and Silas convince them all to stay in prison. Despite all their differences, something in the songs bonded these prisoners. The faith of Paul and Silas created an authority in this unique community through the music they sang.

Music also provides a means of plumbing the depths of our feelings. Musicians frequently talk about the spiritual aspects of flow in creating and performing music, regardless of their beliefs. Even a short series of notes translates emotions that are otherwise hard to express. One needs only turn to the Psalms, the most famous example of biblical music, to see examples of songs for every season of the human experience. In both shouts of praises of joy and groans of anguish, the Psalms show that music plays a powerful role in our faith. It gives voice not only to the emotions of the composer or musician but to those of all who listen.

Music has a commemorative relationship to memory. For the Israelites, moments of God’s great acts of faith were marked with song. Miriam and Moses composed as God guided them in the wilderness. Jesus was ushered into the world surrounded by the commemorative songs of Mary, Zechariah, a host of angels, and Simeon. Music is how the history of faithfulness has been recorded. And just as Mary would have hummed her song as a lullaby to a sleeping baby Jesus, we can also repeat songs that have impacted our own journeys to remember God’s faithfulness in our own lives.

And so through notes, words, and melodies, music enriches our faith. By giving unique expression to our individual spiritual depth, we can commemorate God’s faithfulness and sing of faith in community. For the sake of music, our faith is richer. As Scripture is filled with songs, so may our own lives be.  

There is something inherently spiritual about music. Throughout Scripture, there are songs, notes to music directors, and instructions for musicians. We know that the Tabernacle had specific musical requirements just as we know that in times of sorrow, the Israelites ceased to play music. Why is music so integral to our faith?

Music is communal. It ties people together through tradition, history, and emotion. Music is also spiritual. In both the making and performing of music, the phenomenon of flow allows one to connect spiritually in ways that are unique.

Music is commemorative. Through music, we are drawn to memories that fill us with emotions that are otherwise hard to explain. In these three ways, music is a benefit to our faith lives. It blends traditions and voices together to strengthen faith over generations and within individual lives.

Rarely is there a modern service of worship without a song. In fact, modern Christianity has so ingrained music into the definition of worship that we often struggle to know how to worship if music is not involved. Whether sung out of a hymnal or newly inspired by Scripture, music plays an integral part in shaping how our faith is expressed through traditions of worship. Part of the beauty of this association between music and worship is that it ties people together across a wide variety of barriers in unique ways.

In Act 16, Paul and Silas are in jail singing songs of the early church, and all the other prisoners, bound for different reasons and as diverse as the Roman empire, listened. Moments later, a massive earthquake causes all the prisoners to be free of their chains. Yet, Paul and Silas convince them all to stay in prison. Despite all their differences, something in the songs bonded these prisoners. The faith of Paul and Silas created an authority in this unique community through the music they sang.

Music also provides a means of plumbing the depths of our feelings. Musicians frequently talk about the spiritual aspects of flow in creating and performing music, regardless of their beliefs. Even a short series of notes translates emotions that are otherwise hard to express. One needs only turn to the Psalms, the most famous example of biblical music, to see examples of songs for every season of the human experience. In both shouts of praises of joy and groans of anguish, the Psalms show that music plays a powerful role in our faith. It gives voice not only to the emotions of the composer or musician but to those of all who listen.

Music has a commemorative relationship to memory. For the Israelites, moments of God’s great acts of faith were marked with song. Miriam and Moses composed as God guided them in the wilderness. Jesus was ushered into the world surrounded by the commemorative songs of Mary, Zechariah, a host of angels, and Simeon. Music is how the history of faithfulness has been recorded. And just as Mary would have hummed her song as a lullaby to a sleeping baby Jesus, we can also repeat songs that have impacted our own journeys to remember God’s faithfulness in our own lives.

And so through notes, words, and melodies, music enriches our faith. By giving unique expression to our individual spiritual depth, we can commemorate God’s faithfulness and sing of faith in community. For the sake of music, our faith is richer. As Scripture is filled with songs, so may our own lives be.