Music in the Bible

 

(Image from the Wikipedia.)

There are many mentions of singing, music, or specific musical instruments in the Bible. Here are a few of them:

In 1 Samuel 16, David came to King Saul’s attention as someone who was skilled at playing the harp.  There are 150 Psalms in the Bible. David is credited as the author in about half of these. In some cases, such as Psalms 4, 5 and 6, specific instruments were to be played, accompanying the singing of the Psalm. Psalm 9, and others, indicate that a Psalm was to be sung to a specific tune.

In 1 Chronicles 15, David had the Ark brought into Jerusalem. The procession was accompanied by music.

In 2 Chronicles 5, the dedication of Solomon’s temple is described. The Bible says that “...when they lifted up their voice with the trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and praised Yahweh, saying,
“For he is good;
    for his loving kindness endures forever!”
then the house was filled with a cloud, even Yahweh’s house ...”

In 2 Chronicles 20, the Israelites, under Jehoshaphat, went to war with a choir of priests going in front of the armed men. God gave a miraculous victory.

In Daniel 3, King Nebuchadnezzar expected everyone to bow down and worship an image of himself, when “all the peoples heard the sound of the horn, flute, zither, lyre, harp, pipe, and all kinds of music, all the peoples, the nations, and the languages, fell down and worshiped the golden image that Nebuchadnezzar the king had set up. ...” Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego did not do this, but God rescued them from the interior of a hot furnace.

Here and here are two references on musical instruments in Bible times. 

Thank you for reading!