King David never saw a pipe organ, let alone played one

I hear so many churchgoers in traditional western forms of worship decry the introduction of guitars and contemporary musical idiom into the liturgy.

I find this quite a peculiar kind of worrying. The most exalted form of music in the western liturgical tradition is Gregorian chant, and due to its antiquity, it deserves to keep its pride of place.

But you hear people insist that guitars must not be used, and pianos are blasphemous, because a saintly Pope of another era (Pius X) lumped pianos in with "noisy and frivolous" instruments. Bearing in mind that you can't easily ignore the opinion of a Pope, the opinions of Biblical prophets and ancestors of Jesus quoted in scripture probably trump any Papal decree of any sort.

The Psalms, whose use in sung liturgical worship predates Christianity, make frequent reference to stringed instruments such as the harp and lyre. The lyre in particular is very much an analog of and cousin to the modern guitar. If a guitar like instrument had King David's favour (the same David who is an ancestor of Jesus through Mary and His adoptive father Joseph), then I think the debate on that question is essentially over.

Nowhere in scripture can a Pipe organ be found. In fact, the Pipe organ (or the hydraulis, as it was then known) is a pagan instrument invented in ancient Greece. Now, I love organs, and I don't for a minute believe God frowns on these beautiful instruments. But I cannot swallow that they possess any particular exaltation either.

The expectation of sacred music is that it be "grave" (to also use Pope St. Pius X's words.) But again, we see in King David that no use of the word "grave" can be used to contradict righteous exuberance so clearly prescribed in scripture. In 2 Samuel, Chapter 6, we see David joyfully, raucously celebrate joy before the Lord. His wife Michal rebukes him for this, but David makes clear her rebuke cannot stand: he will continue to do this, and he will be honoured for it. And the chapter makes clear that Michal herself pays a price for her prim condescension.

Sacred music does not have to be funereal. Nor is any specific musical style prescribed - God invented music, and even the big bang has been turned into a WAV file out there. I'm not sure there is even a way to sing that does not in some way give glory to God, for He is found in it always (well, maybe not on Britney Spears or Nickelback corporate shlock records. ;-)

Now don't get me wrong - I've heard some awful "folk Mass" music. Some of it is written terribly ('And the Father will Dance' - yech) in my opinion, and at too many church events, somebody barely capable of strumming a guitar and/or singing is made the accompanist. But in the hands of capable and earnest musicians and singers, "Be Not Afraid" is just as moving as a choir-sung "Salutoris Hostia."

I sing in a Folk Group at my church, 8 PM every Sunday. We sing with great joy and exuberance. I like to think we take joy in it, and try and soar the way people were meant to, without having to build a tower like Nebuchadnezzar. Music was meant to stir the soul - and that is true when it is played on an organ as the glorious Cathedral choir at Notre Dame does. And it is also true when a great guitarist does it.