Music In The Worship Of The Old Testament

Music was an important element of both temple and synagogue worship. Undoubtedly this music and its forms influenced the form and use of music in the early Christian church. Both Jews and Christians revere a transcendent God and both give honor to Scripture. For these reasons and others, Jewish synagogue worship and modern Christian services are similar in content and spirit. Through almost three thousand years of Hebrew/Christian history, music has been inseparable from worship, and the Bible contains much of our early heritage of worship song. The Psalms come from many periods of the ancient Jewish culture, and they were augmented by canticles that date back to Israel's deliverance from Egypt. Synagogue worship probably developed among the Jews as a result of their dispersion in the fifth century before Christ. With its emphasis on the reading and explanation of Scripture, prayers, and the singing of psalms and canticles, it was very significant in the framing of early Christian …