18 Bible Verses About Music, and Why Scripture Asks Musicians to Play Skillfully

Christian Pure Team

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Summary

  • Scripture asks musicians to be competent: Psalm 33:3 says play skillfully, 1 Chronicles 25:7 counts 288 trained singers, and Chenaniah was made director “for he understood it”.
  • David’s playing refreshed Saul (1 Samuel 16:23), and when a musician played for Elisha, the hand of the Lord came upon him (2 Kings 3:15).
  • Jehoshaphat put the choir in front of the army, and the chronicler dates the turn of the battle to the moment the singing began.
  • After the crossing of the sea, Miriam the prophetess led the women with tambourines, repeating the first line of the song of Moses (Exodus 15:1, 20-21).
  • Colossians 3:16 describes a congregation teaching and admonishing one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.

The Bible treats music as part of worship and of ordinary life, and it expects musicians to be good at it. Psalm 33 says “play skillfully on the strings,” and 1 Chronicles records 288 singers “trained in singing to the Lord” and a director, Chenaniah, chosen “for he understood it.” Music also appears in grief and prayer, in a prison and on a battlefield, and in the everyday life of the church. The eighteen passages below cover skill, what music…

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Bibliography (Click to show)

Scripture quotations are from the English Standard Version.

The temple’s musical establishment is described across 1 Chronicles 15:16-22 and 1 Chronicles 25:1-7.

Michal’s contempt for David’s dancing, referred to here, is at 2 Samuel 6:16.

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