Music... when is it worship?

So this morning i was listening to a song i love, and worshipped God through it.
BUT it was not a christian song, the lyrics are (i presume) about a relationship between man and woman, not God and Daughter at all...

and yet, i was worshipping, my heart was full of admiration and love for my God, and it flowed effortlessly from my heart, i lay on the coarse, cold floor of my dark little room, one minute fine, the next, tears streaming down my face, i was so in love, it overwhelmed me, but it wasn't the music, it wasn't the melody, the lyrics, the harmonies, the beat or rhythm or anything else, and somehow, even if all that had been taken away, i still would have been in the same place, so what was it? what is about some songs that just lunge me into the deepest and most powerful moments with God?

I like to think, that it was her, the girl, the writer, it was her heart connecting with Gods as she wrote the song, it was an exchange of Love and beauty that went on inside her as she played her piano and sang with the voice, the voice so like her fathers, and the hands that where made first and foremost to worship.

without even knowing it, she was worshiping, and her song was saturated in God.
why? because she is in love, and every cell in her Body was created to worship God, everything, and it was only a matter of time before she would realize. it.


During my time at SAE this year, i learnt about a thing called "Timbre" (pronounced like "Tahmber") Its a french word that means the color or unique quality of a song, it has nothing to do with pitch or loudness of length, its what separates instruments from each other, what makes a certain flute sound, different from another, and all voices unique etc.

My understanding is, that every note from a musical instrument creates an incredibly complex wave, containing an infinite amount of frequencies, harmonies, overtones, partials etc, most of which we cannot hear.
So what is this color thing thing? spoken of as one of the fundamental aspects of music, what is Timbre? no one seems to really know.

I like to think of it as flecks of God, the color of him in every note or instrument that no one can quite put their finger on.
Imagine if, when God spoke the world into being, that action, that sound, still resounds in everything else, so in a way...you could say, that every note, still has Gods voice in it.

I like to think... therefore, when we create music, weather we want it to or not, its got God in it, in every note, in every frequency, and even when we speak, our voice is saturated! we can't even help it!


So back to my original statement, When is it just music and when is it worship?
Well perhaps Its always worship?

But we know for a fact music isn't always worship!? or do we? *shrugs
Maybe it is! I have no idea.
I know for a fact that sometimes i will listen to a song and it will be a perfectly lovely song, but something about it twists my soul into unbearable knots and i just can't listen to it, it just feels awful, no matter how lovely it may be, its like listening to it is literally and some how physically damaging my soul.


So my question remains unanswered, when is a song a worship song and when is it not?

hmmm, well to get the answer, i guess i'll have to look deeper into what exactly worship is.


here's what my mac has to say about it:

worship |ˈwər sh əp|
noun

The feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity : the worship of God | ancestor worship.

• the acts or rites that make up a formal expression of reverence for a deity; a religious ceremony or ceremonies : the church was opened for public worship.

• adoration or devotion comparable to religious homage, shown toward a person or principle : Krushchev threw the worship of Stalin overboard.

• archaic honor given to someone in recognition of their merit.

• [as title ] ( His/Your Worship) chiefly Brit. used in addressing or referring to an important or high-ranking person, esp. a magistrate or mayor : we were soon joined by His Worship the Mayor.

verb ( -shiped |ˈwərʃəpt|, -shiping |ˈwərʃəpɪŋ|; also -shipped, -shipping) [ trans. ]
show reverence and adoration for (a deity); honor with religious rites : the Maya built jungle pyramids to worship their gods.

• treat (someone or something) with the reverence and adoration appropriate to a deity : she adores her sons and they worship her.

• [ intrans. ] take part in a religious ceremony : he went to the cathedral because he chose to worship in a spiritually inspiring building.

DERIVATIVES
worshiper |ˈwərʃəpər| (also worshipper) noun
ORIGIN Old English [worthiness, acknowledgment of worth] (see worth , -ship).

and my

gaah, i LOVE the origins of words, i don't really know why but they always hit me right in the face, etymology is amazing.



SO back to where i was going with all of this...

We have all heard the saying "Actions speak louder than words" is it the same in songs? maybe its the action of a song that determines its final direction?

I used to always argue with my sisters, that i believed God could move through any type of music, no matter the lyrical content etc, and i would say "I honestly think someone could get smacked in the face by God even at a Marilyn Manson Concert!" truth be told i have never even listened to Marilyn Manson, i have just heard a lot about how terrible and ungodly his music is.

Nevertheless, our God is bigger than all of that, and surely he could strike anywhere right?
I'd always love imagining some bogan kid mid concert singing his little heart and when suddenly BOOM God strikes and his little broken heart starts to beat, pounding with grace, he hears a different translation to the words being spoken, his eyes grow wide with the glory of God, and he just knows there is a different meaning buried deep within the song, thats so much more powerful than everything else.

I would never win the debates, and they would always end with me getting tongue tied and frustrated at my lack of knowledge on the topic.

Hmm...i just remembered a sermon by Shane Willard.


He summed all this up perfectly in his reality TV series sermon "Blind Spots" when he says this: "If i took really expensive Coffee beans, and you grind it all up, and you put it in a filter, and you put boiling water though it you get? =Coffee.
But if i put a dirty athletic sock in the filter, would it make it not coffee? no.
But would it make it taste bad? yes.

The dirty sock does not make the coffee not coffee, but it effects the flavor.
So whatever we are doing, the acts of the flesh, does it change original content?
No BUT it effects the flavor to everybody else who taste's it.

And where does that come from? the "X" factor of his whole thing is in the soul.
Sometimes, the stuff in our spirit, starts to come out but to get out, its got to go through our soul and through our body, and sometimes the perfection gets mixed with the blind-spots in our soul and it comes out tasting like a dirty sock."



YUSS!! i can't believe i remembered that sermon! it was one of my favorites but still, nice.

Its perfect!

So, in conclusion you could say, Gods perfection/voice/sound are all in every song through its... lets say "Timbre"
Therefore every song has the roots of worship, and the desire to honor God, but its OUR flavor, that ends up effecting its taste/flavor.

Woah, i just realized i have made some really big statements in this, please know this is just the thoughtful ramblings of a young inquisitive heart, trying to figure a few things out, i mean no disrespect to anyone.

Let me know if you have any thoughts, I'm always longing to hear new theories and ideas!


AND a big special thanks to the man himself Shane Willard for his brilliant words to help withe the puzzles.