Take Away From Me the Noise of Your Songs

LTRP Note: Lighthouse Trails will be publishing a booklet in the near future by Sandy Simpson on worship and today’s Christian music. Below is an excerpt of his material on this subject. Many people who contact Lighthouse Trails are very concerned about the changes they are seeing in the worship music in their churches.

By Sandy Simpson
Deception in the Church Ministries

Amos 5:21-27 – I hate, I despise your feast days, and I will not smell in your solemn assemblies. Though ye offer me burnt offerings and your meat offerings, I will not accept them: neither will I regard the peace offerings of your fat beasts. Take thou away from me the noise of thy songs; for I will not hear the melody of thy viols. But let judgment run down as waters, and righteousness as a mighty stream. Have ye offered unto me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness forty years, O house of Israel? But ye have borne the tabernacle of your Moloch and Chiun your images, the star of your god, which ye made to yourselves. Therefore will I cause you to go into captivity beyond Damascus, saith the Lord, whose name is The God of hosts.

When I first reread this passage in Amos, a few things struck me.  First of all the Lord is bringing judgment on Israel for carrying on religious ceremony without true dedication to the Lord.  They sing songs and present their offerings while harboring idols.  I was reminded of how the Lord must view the heretical apostate mega church celebrations of today.  There is a lot of pomp and circumstance, yet little or no obedience to the Word of God.  The Lord does not look favorably upon worship of that type, no matter the hype, no matter the noise, no matter the show.  He actually “hates” it.

Modern “worship” music has taken on a distinct flavor of the world.  It is all about how well crafted the music is to get followers to think they are experiencing the presence of the Holy Spirit, when in fact they are simply experiencing the effect of their own emotions.  They mistake spiritual things for soulical. They think carnal things are an evidence of the presence of the Holy Spirit.  True worship of the Lord has been left behind and substituted with high-volume rock music where audience participation has been relegated to raising of hands and clapping instead of making their own voices heard above the din.  You can have the best musicians and songs crafted to tug at the heartstrings, and it may very well be something the Lord hates.  The Lord is looking for obedience and true worship, not a show, and not lyrics that compromise truth.

The Lord reminds Israel of their journey through the wilderness after disobeying the Lord.  They continued to present their sacrifices and grain offerings while carrying with them idols. 

(photo from bigstockphoto.com; used with permission)

24 thoughts on “Take Away From Me the Noise of Your Songs

  1. “Mark them which cause division contrary to the doctrine that you have learned and avoid them.” Romans 16

  2. Bless you. Your expressing what I have felt. I listen to old hymns now. They are about Jesus and his grace, not about all my wonderful works. I’d rather not hear about all the different kinds of colors and textures of the fruit and vegetables that Cain offered on the altar. No thanks.

  3. Gordon, the author of this article isn’t condemning all contemporary Christian music, but you are suggesting that there should be no discerning at all when it comes to worship music. It is not “harsh judgmentalism” to discern what is truth and what is error.

  4. The outpouring of judgmentalism and condemnation here makes me sad. I’m a doctrinally conservative Christian who wouldn’t be a believer today if it wasn’t for the music of the Christian rock band Petra, which came into my life at just the right time to turn me toward God when I was a struggling teenager. I’m certain that as many people (especially young people) are turned away from faith by the harsh judgmentalism of those who think their taste in music are synonymous with God’s as are by their dislike of contemporary worship music.

  5. I call out “Christian” radio stations. They will play anything in order to offend no one. They have ZERO standard of discernment when it comes to biblical standards for the music they play.

    I called one of my local Christian stations a few years ago for playing “Wizards of Winter” by TSO. Amazing musicality, but . . . “What’s next? Dryads of Spring?” Crickets.

    I no longer listen.

    The problem in churches is that people want to hear what they’ve heard on the radio to be cool, relate-able and in step with the times. They want to hear what they have been listening to all week, assuming it is wholesome because it’s on a Christian radio station. If they only knew how little those station managers care about that!

    The last problem is preachers who are too spineless to say that the church is not going to support the music of Bethel, Elevation, Hillsong and the like — or who are too ignorant to make that call.

  6. Our Reformed church sings the Psalms and some hymns and that is all. It is wonderful after all the modern music which is so full of rhythm and beat and loud instruments. We left a church because the music was becoming more of an apostate idol worship of rock and roll. It was songs which were me,me, me oriented too. Glad to have found a solid biblical church.

  7. Sadly, Pathetically, and Unfortunately, he also did his version of Reckless Love. Which he SHOULD HAVE thought about (title, lyrics, and all), LONG BEFORE he ever considered doing it. Then again, he’s the one who started the trend of crossing over to the other side – Mainstream (Secular) Music.

  8. Biblical, that is to say, scriptural worship that is pleasing to God must be reverent. To be reverent it must come from a humble and contrite heart. It must be based in truth and grace.
    true worship is a not an event rather it is a lifestyle.
    The entire gathering together on the Lord’s day is worship. Calling the music portion of the service “worship” is to twist and distort the word of God.
    Every aspect of gathering together is to give glory to God and edification to the flock. There is nothing about worship that should evoke applause, nothing. There is no record of the people applauding when Jesus was baptized. Why then should being baptized into his death and resurrection evoke congregational applause. After Peters sermon on Pentecost no one applauded the conversion and baptizim of 3000 souls. All should be done for edification not for inflating egos.

  9. As a church musician of many years, I absolutely love a capella singing. But the Bible does not require it, at all. There is much scripture to the contrary.

    The thing is, pride is no respecter of churches. Even in a setting where there are no instruments, singers can be prideful. It’s all about the heart. God looks at the heart, not the outward appearance. He is looking for people who worship Him in spirit and in truth.

  10. Exclusive psalm singing, with no instruments used at all…like many churches believed in and practiced during and after the Reformation will never proclaim or promote false doctrine . There are still a small number of churches that do this. I once belonged to a church that practiced Exclusive Psalmnody for a time, and I can tell you, it is biblical worship that is very simple and pure, and also I believe entirely superior to the man centered performances/ concerts that are in most churches today. It seems maybe that more saints are starting to see that all the show and hype that takes place is not true biblical worship that the honors the Lord.

  11. I do have an advantage , if the music gets too loud in the church I attend. I just take my hearing aids off. I believe that a worship that is pleasing to the Lord is when the music is a lot less than the singing of the congregation.

  12. Thank you for publishing this pamphlet. My husband and I have been attending a conservative Baptist church for nine years after having left the Alliance church we had attended for thirty-five years due to the direction it had taken. The change in the music was in part one of the reasons we felt compelled to find another church.
    But sadly, over the course of the last three years we have seen an increase of CCM being used in the church we currently attend. And although at this point a toned down version of it is being used, it is troubling nonetheless to see that it has gained a foothold.
    We and some other members of the church have repeatedly tried to warn our leadership about the dangers of using such music as it is written by people who are ecumenical, charismatic, or who are into mysticism and other unbiblical teachings.
    Unfortunately, our warnings have fallen on deaf ears.
    We have seen first hand what a corrosive effect CCM had on our former church and we fear that it is beginning to do the same thing where we are now, and we will eventually be forced to look for another church.
    So again, thank you for providing this valuable resource so we can use it as a tool to continue to educate those bothers and sisters in Christ who have an ear to hear.

  13. I agree with all of the above sentiment but another very important issue is the fact that the loud contemporary music also promotes division between the younger generation and the less young. Instead of honoring the more mature who are, of God, there to preserve the faith and teach the fear of God, the hip relegate them to another venue, the silence of ear plugs, or the option of staying home! This cannot please God and must of necessity be the very antithesis of worship!!

  14. Thank God He sent them away from Laurie’s New Age revivals. Perhaps this is one time where God told Satan to let the band play as loud as they wanted. Hopefully this couple will be going to a bible believing church and avoiding these insane revivals.

  15. I read yesterday that “Songs of Praise” on the BBC has incorporated a homosexual wedding into its programme in an attempt to be relevant. What a disaster!!

  16. Of course, some of the traditional songs are blasphemous and doctrinally evil, and people flock to see the costumes; you’re right. Satan is not stupid. But nothing turns one off as a “Christian” song that sounds as though the singer/screamer is high on cocaine or in some trance (have a look at these famous “bands” and church groups . . . stoned and tranced to the max. That ain’t God; that’s not “changing” with the times. That’s called mockery and deceit). Who loves chaos and noise? Yes, the evil dude himself.

  17. An Uber driver told me a few days ago that a couple was attending the Greg Laurie Harvest Festival but left immediately due to the loud noise of the music. They could not take the volume so they went home. The noise of contemporary church music has turned some Christians off and they are seeking a place where they can worship in spirit and in truth, where the congregation can again participate by singing meaningful words, where correct doctrine is proclaimed rather than praise teams and instruments drowning out the voices of the congregation. I attend a church that still sings the old hymns verse by verse. The old hymns taught correct doctrine; they did not just repeat the same thing over and over again. When Jesus comes we will sing a new song!

  18. As a musician (singer/songwriter) since my teens, there’s nothing worse than a cacophony of sounds (dissonance) that presents itself as music, be it “Christian” or any other genre under the sun. The blasphemous Toronto (what a horrible filthy place that has become!) fake Blessing and the noise and action that drivel evil spewed forth reminded me of people having sex with clothes on. Apparently, I was not wrong.
    Music must convey the writer’s emotion (sad, happy, grateful, joyful, longing, even sarcastic, forlorn, “bluesy,” but respectful when it comes to God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit). Nothing irks me more like repetitive, empty one-liners, closed-eyes, hands in the air and singing/mumbling/tripping our God is an awesome God 500 times. Really? That’s nothing but mind-control “christian” music. Next thing, the hipster pastor would want everyone to hold hands and, and, and, and. Write from the heart; not from something else’s desires.
    I hate noise, and I’m not the only one. God is not fond of it too. He says so Himself.

  19. The “modern” music venue is, to be sure, guilty of hype…. but I am aware of Traditional services as well where the focus is on THE BEAUTIFUL MUSIC and the production offered…. both church members and non church folks attend to hear the big choir, the bagpipes, the horns and fanfares, the beautiful venue, the velvet robes and decor. Oohing and Aahing over the Whole production! Doesn’t that compare to this… Jesus is still outside the church knocking to come in whatever the “style “ of music being offered….

  20. I’m looking forward to this. This is something that has been weighing heavily on my heart for a long time. I’ve had so many people get angry at me for pointing out how they should not be singing Bethel, Hillsong, etc… what exactly are we worshiping when you know the things they do in these places? And it is really hard because these songs are being sung even in some of the better bible teaching churches.
    My own husband stopped playing guitar when I told him that I felt like the music he was playing was not genuine and reminded me of “these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.”

  21. I’m so glad to hear that there is a concern regarding the music in many churches. Whatever happened to, “Worship the Lord in spirit and in truth?” Thank you for posting this.

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