Monday, January 31, 2011

The hyper-regulative principle?

My family has been working through the question of what kind of music and behavior are appropriate in worship, and as a learning experience, we decided to go through Psalm 150 in the original Hebrew--I know just enough to get myself in real trouble.  Here's some of the "real trouble" we got into:

The literary part; the meter is inconsistent, and there is no simple rhyme scheme--it's definitely built more built around the operating verb of "praise" as a refrain than anything else.  That said, after repeating each verse about ten times, I started to get into a rhythm that made sense....

....and the kids started to catch the words, and then came out the pots and pans to be our family cymbals.  Eat your heart out, old time Presbyterians!

6 comments:

Gino said...

i dont think modern pots and pans are bibilical.
try clay pots and pans, and see how that works. :)

Bike Bubba said...

Well, Psalms 149 and 150 talk about percussive instruments like cymbals and tambourines, so I'm pretty sure brass instruments were around.

That said, we still did differ from the regulative principle in that our pots and pans are stainless (300/400 series) and aluminium. :^)

Gino said...

after i posted that i started to wonder what they made cymbals and tambourines out of in those days.

i guess they had metal swords, so brass was likley available too.

but imagery of banging clay pots together was kinda funny...

Bike Bubba said...

Yeah, funny until you're the one cleaning up and stepping on potsherds in your bare feet! :^)

Gino said...

but cleaning up is the wife's job?
;)

Bike Bubba said...

the kids', if they're making the mess!