Hallelu Yah! Play it, David!

Some have come to eschew playing music in a congregational setting. I ask them to read this! 😉

Personally, I really enjoy a cappella worship; almost half of what we do in the Synagogue is a cappella. But, even in the “New Testament”, instruments are seen in worship, but because of lack of knowledge, people do not ‘see’ them.

In Ephesians 5, a standard translation will be rendered this way:

“Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.”

Even in the English, the instruments are there, but, as I said, most people cannot, or refuse to see it.

A direct rendering of this verse is better:

“…be filled with The Spirit, ¹⁹speaking to your souls in Mizmorot, and Tehillot, and Zimrot of The Spirit; sing with your heart to יהוה , giving ²⁰ thanks always for all men to God, The Father, in the name of Our Master Yeshua The Messiah.”

Each of the three Hebrew words transliterated there match the English, but they are in a different order: mizmorot is ‘songs’, accompanied by instruments; ‘zimrot’ is hymns on particular instruments, and ‘tehillot’ is psalms.

These are actually names of the various types of songs that King David wrote for specific occasions, to be used with specific instruments. A psalm often begins with the type of instrument the music was to be played on to accompany the vocalists.

¹For the Leader, for Yedutun. A Mizmor of David. ~ Ps 39

¹For the Leader; with string-music; on the Sh’minit. A Mizmor of David. ~ Ps 6

¹Shigayon of David, which he sang unto  יהוה , concerning Khush, a Ben Yemini. ~ Ps 7

David was given the vision of the Temple, and architected it for Solomon, who would build it. He also wrote the “hymnal” for the “congregation”: The Book of Psalms. And he instructed Solomon how to set up the ‘choir’ and the ‘orchestra’.

Psalms is “Tehillim” in Hebrew. This is a general musical term from the root word for praise. הלל. “hallel”.  Thus, when David shouts or sings “Hallelu Yah”, he is instructing all of Israel to ‘Praise Yah” with their voices, unless they are holding an instrument!

When the very Ark of God’s Covenant was returning to Israel, David, the King, called for the worshippers to come and celebrate, worshipping before the very Seat of God on earth, that “ark”. This was the place of the Divine Presence. One could not get closer to God, and they did so with instruments:

“And David spoke to the chief of the Levites [the priestly tribe] to appoint their brethren the singers, with instruments of music: nevalim and kinorot and cymbals, sounding aloud and lifting up the voice with joy.” ~ 1 Chronicles 15:16

When He was planning the Temple worship, as the anointed, “Messianic” King, he planned for there to be thousands of musicians:

⁴Of these, twenty-four thousand [priests and Levites] were to oversee the work of the House of  יהוה ; and six thousand were officers and judges; ⁵and four thousand were doorkeepers; and four thousand praised  יהוה  “with the instruments which I made to praise therewith.” ~ 1 Chron 23

King David instructed Israel to make thousands of instruments to be used in the Temple, to worship God every day, in the most sacred of settings, where His Presence was!

So far, we have only mentioned the “nevel,” the “kinor”, and the “cymbals”. These were made and used before King David, who himself was a skilled harpist, who ordered the building of the Temple. When the Temple was completed, the worship began, and we are given some details about the instruments actually used in worship:

¹²also the Levites who were the singers, all of them, even Asaf, Heiman, Yedutun, and their sons and their brethren, arrayed in fine linen, with cymbals and nevalim and kinorot, stood at the east end of the Altar, and with them a hundred and twenty Kohanim sounding with trumpets, ¹³it came even to pass, when the trumpeters and singers were as one, to make one sound to be heard in praising and thanking  יהוה ; and when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised  יהוה , “for He is good, for His compassion endures forever”; that then the house was filled with a cloud, even the House of  יהוה , so¹⁴ that the Priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud; for the Glory of  יהוה  filled The House of God.” ~ 2 Chron 5

The Glory of God filled His House after and because of worship with instrument and voice!

His word literally says so: “Yet You are Holy, O You that are enthroned upon the praises of Yisra’el.” ~ Ps 22:4

“Praises” there is “tehillot”, the songs David wrote specifically for instruments and voice!

Are we really going to say that our little assembly houses are more sacred than the Temple that God anointed David to design and his son to build? Where God’s presence got so thick they had to stop praising? This orchestral group in the passage above is singing and playing David’s music, “for He [יהוה] is good, for His compassion endures forever”. That phrase is echoed in several “psalms”, pieces of music that are made for the harp [kinor], the lyre [nevel], and the trumpets. Some specific ‘psalms’ were written specially for other, more exotic instruments. We will revisit those soon.

Let’s keep looking into what happened when the House of God was first opened for worship:

⁶And the Priests stood, according to their offices; the Levites also with instruments of music of יהוה , which David The King had made, to give thanks unto  יהוה , for His compassion endures forever, with the praises of David by their hand; and the Priests sounded trumpets over against them; and all Yisra’el stood.” ~ 2 Chron 7

This is in fulfillment of a very specific command, to blow the trumpets over the sacrifices that we offer to God. The word there is not ‘shofar’, for the ‘ram’s horn trumpet’, but ‘silver trumpets’ that God Himself commanded Israel to make to blow when they offered sacrifices:

⁸And the sons of Aharon, the Priests,  shall blow with the trumpets; and they shall be to you for a statute forever throughout your generations. ⁹And when you go to war in your land against the adversary that oppresses you, then you shall sound a Teru’ah with the trumpets; and you shall be remembered before  יהוה  your God, and you shall be saved from your enemies. ¹⁰Also in the day of your gladness, and in your Appointed Times, and in your renewed moons, you shall blow with the trumpets over your Burnt Offerings, and over the sacrifices of your Peace Offerings; and they shall be to you for a memorial before your God: I am  יהוה  your God.” ~ Numbers 10

In 2 Chron 7, Solomon had built King David’s Temple, and he fulfilled this command in that Temple.

As stated, David wrote the Psalms for use in the Temple. You see that in the verse above, “with the Praises of David”, that is actually ‘hallel’, which in plural noun form is “tehillot” or ‘tehillim’, the name of the book of Psalms in Hebrew!

And the last song in that book, Psalm 150, actually instructs us to Praise God on many instruments:

¹Hallelu Yah! Praise God in His Holy Place; praise Him in the firmament of His power.

²Praise Him for His mighty acts; praise Him according to His abundant greatness.

³Praise Him with the blast of the Shofar [ram’s horn trumpet]; praise Him with the Nevel [lyre] and Kinor [harp].

⁴Praise Him with the Tof [tambourine], and dance; praise Him with stringed instruments and the pipe [flute].

⁵Praise Him with the loud-sounding cymbals; praise Him with the clanging cymbals.

⁶Let all of the Neshamah [soul revived by Yeshua] praise  יהוה .  Hallelu Yah!

Here is a brief summary of some of the types of songs and instruments in the Song Book of David, the Book of Psalms:

Mizmor: This term for a song of praise, for instrumental worship. Many of these in the book of Psalms mention instruments such as harps, lyres, trumpets, cymbals, and timbrels.

Ayalet: Refers to an instrument and possibly the melody or a type of music, and it appears in Psalm 22:1 with the phrase Ayalet haShakhar . This is music that was played at dawn, when the sunlight struck a gold disk at the top of the door of the Temple, seen in the picture below, where the musicians are assembling at dawn, “shakhar”:

Instruments: ◦ Harp and Lyre (often paired together)

◦ Trumpet

◦ Cymbals

◦ Timbrel (tambourine)

◦ Flute or Pipe

• Notable Psalms:

◦ Psalm 33:2 – “Praise יהוה with the harp… on the ten-stringed lyre.”

◦ Psalm 92:3 – “To the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.”

◦ Psalm 150 – A final, celebratory psalm that lists many instruments, including cymbals, harps, lyres, timbrels, and trumpets

So, in Ephesians chapter five, when Paul says “with psalms, hymns, and songs”, he is actually calling for accompaniment with musical instruments! He does so again in another place:

¹⁶and let His Word dwell in you abundantly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in Mizmorim, Tishbakhot, and Shirot HaRu’akh, singing with grace in your hearts to Elohim. ~Colossians 3:16

Tishbakhot are very ‘upbeat’, lively, rhythmic songs accompanied by cymbals and tambourines, and dance, like Psalm 150. “Shirot” are more worshipful, melodic, and meditative ‘songs’, like Psalms 120-135, which were sung while approaching Jerusalem on pilgrimage [which every male Jew had to do three times a year].

Yeshua participated in Jewish worship, in the Temple. There were instruments there, as seen above. Below is a mosaic of many different, ancient, Jewish instruments, many of which are named above:

The instruments above are predecessors to many instruments that we use today. The ‘tof’ is a hand ‘drum’. The trumpet, we just added valves and created other brass instruments. The flute birthed other wind instruments like the clarinet and the sax; the harp eventually became a piano. None of these instruments are inherently evil, nor are they forbidden; in fact, we are instructed to use them!

The instruments above were there as Yeshua gave His message about His being “The Bread of Life” and the “Living Water” in John 6-8. He did not shut down the Temple of God because they were using instruments. He inserted Himself into it, showing the deep meaning behind it.

Last, when God’s people finally assemble around His Throne, we will ALL be holding instruments of Worship:

⁸And as He [Yeshua] took the book, the four creatures [US, people, from every tribe, tongue and nation] and the twenty-four elders fell down before The Lamb, and every one of them had a harp… ~ Rev 5

²Then I heard a voice from heaven, like the sound of many waters and like the sound of a great thunder; and the voice I heard was like the music of many harpists playing on their kinorot [harps]; ³and they sang a new song before the throne and before the four creatures [US, people, from every tribe, tongue and nation] and the elders.. ~ Rev 14

“…those who were victorious over the beast of prey and over his image, and over the number of his name, were standing on the sea of glass and had the Nevilim [Lyre, stringed instruments] of God.  ³And they were singing the song of Moshe, the servant of God, and the song of The Lamb.” ~ Rev 15:2-3

It is abundantly clear to us that God sanctioned music with instruments to be used in Worship to Him. They use them in Heaven! They were used in the Temple, where Yeshua ministered. Yeshua sang psalms on the night of Passover, just before He was betrayed, Paul encouraged the use of Jewish types of worship in the Gentile congregations! And, we will be using instruments in Heaven!

Play it!

Instruments Mentioned in the Psalms

Various instruments are mentioned in the book of Tehillot, Psalms. They are often in conjunction with types of songs like mizmor or tehillah.

1. Harp (כִּנּוֹר, Kinor)

The harp is one of the most frequently mentioned instruments in the Psalms. It is often associated with joyful praise and song.

• Psalm 33:2 – “Praise יהוה with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.”
• Psalm 92:3 – “To the music of the ten-stringed lyre and the melody of the harp.”
• Psalm 144:9 – “I will sing a new song to you, my God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you.”

2. Lyre (נֵבֶל, Nevel)

The lyre is a stringed instrument similar to the harp, mentioned in many psalms and used frequently in worship.

• Psalm 33:2 – “Praise יהוה with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.”
• Psalm 98:5 – “Sing to יהוה with the harp, with the harp and the sound of singing.”
• Psalm 147:7 – “Sing to יהוה with grateful praise; make music to our God on the harp.”

3. Trumpet (שׁוֹפָר, Shofar)

The shofar (ram’s horn) is used to herald God’s presence and summon the people to worship, especially in times of celebration or significant events.

• Psalm 81:3 – “Sound the shofar at the New Moon, and when the moon is full, on the day of our festival;”
• Psalm 98:6 – “With trumpets and the blast of the shofar—shout for joy before יהוה  , the King.”

4. Cymbals (צַלְצַלִּים, Tzaltzalim)

Cymbals are used to add rhythmic and celebratory elements to worship songs, often mentioned in the context of noisy, joyful praise.

• Psalm 150:5 – “Praise him with the clash of cymbals, praise him with resounding cymbals.”

5. Timbrel (תֹּף, Tof)

The timbrel is a type of hand drum, often associated with dance and celebration.

• Psalm 81:2 – “Begin the music, strike the timbrel, play the melodious harp and lyre.”
• Psalm 150:4 – “Praise him with the timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe.”

6. Flute (חָלוֹס , khalos) or Pipe

The flute or pipe is mentioned in a few Psalms as an instrument of praise, contributing to the overall melody.

• Psalm 150:4 – “Praise him with the timbrel and dancing, praise him with the strings and pipe.”

7. Stringed Instruments (כִּנּוֹר, Kinnor and נֵבֶל, Nevel)

Both kinor (harp) and nevel (lyre, larger than the kinor) are mentioned in Psalms as instruments for praise.

• Psalm 33:2 – “Praise יהוה  with the harp; make music to him on the ten-stringed lyre.”
• Psalm 144:9 – “I will sing a new song to you, my God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you.”