A Biblical Standard of Music?

Recently, I was challenged at a conference to consider the styles of music that our children listen to as a signal of whether they respect us as parents. The speaker indicated that there are styles or genres of music that are by nature rebellious and parents need to be careful what genres of music they expose their children to as well as what genres their teenagers are listening to. This challenged me to consider what genres of music my wife and I play around the house and in the car. Would the speaker at the conference consider these genres to be "rebellious" music? What does the Bible say about genres of music? Should I shield my children from certain genres to protect them from a worldly influence through music?
As I began this study, understand that I entered with a willingness to change the music I listen to if the Holy Spirit indicated from God's Word that my music was "worldly and rebellious." Also understand that primarily the focus of my study was on the genre of music with a natural by-product being the instruments employed in those styles. The issue was not on the lyrical content of the songs, though as you will see in my conclusion, the lyrical content is vitally important in a Biblical standard of music. Finally, we must recognize that there are two spheres in the Christian's life involving music, the sacred and secular or the religious and common. That is to say that we have music that we use in Church and music that we listen to at home. Is there an overarching standard to apply in both spheres or is there one standard for religious usage and another for common usage?
To begin the study, I researched the music of the temple. King David was the initiator of temple music. He was the one who arranged the "choirs" and ranked the musicians. We can assume that music used in the temple would have to be special and unique in some way because it was played in the very presence of God! Unfortunately, I did not find a reference to the genre of music used in the temple.
Most likely the music played in the temple was very unlike the music that we are accustomed to in our modern Western culture. It was probably very Eastern in sound and would sound strange to our ears. More interestingly to our modern debate over musical styles in the church, we probably would have a very hard time "worshiping" to the style of music David used in the temple!
Since the style of music is not directly addressed, perhaps we can get a clue from the types of instruments used in the temple. Incredibly, the Old Testament has a lot to say about the instruments used in the temple. The three most commonly used were the lyre, the harp, and the cymbals. Both the lyre and harp are stringed instruments (interestingly the Hebrew for lyre is kinnowr, and the Greek for lyre is kithara which sounds to me like the Spanish word guitara!).
I also found it interesting that the Bible gives us the name of the inventor of the lyre, Jubal great-great-great-great-grandson of Cain. Genesis 4:21 says, "His brother's name was Jubal; he was the father of all those who play the lyre (kinnowr: instrument of ten strings played with a plectrum) and pipe ('uwgab: double or manifold pipe; pan-pipe or reed-pipe)." I have heard some teach that we must differentiate between worldly instruments and "sacred" instruments based on the fact that Jubal was the descendent of Cain (presumably evil) and he was the father of those who played a certain kind of instrument. They add to this argument the fact that David "invented" the instruments used in the temple (2 Chronicles 7:6) and conclude that the temple instruments were different and special. I have several issues with this line of reasoning, not the least of which is that the Hebrew word for one of the instruments used in the temple is kinnowr, the very same instrument invented by Jubal.
The lyre was used by David as a young man in King Saul's court to play soothing music when Saul was oppressed by the spirit from the LORD (1 Samuel 16:23 where kinnowr is translated harp). The lyre was later used in the temple by the choirs. This does not sound like an evil instrument!
Though David "created" the instruments used in the temple, the fact is that they were the same kind of instruments invented by Jubal and used in common, non-religious settings in that culture. A modern comparison would be a guitar that is used for folk singing verses a guitar that was built to be used in a church service setting. The instruments are the same, though one is built and dedicated specifically for use in praising the LORD.
We see that the kinnowr was invented by "evil" Jubal. We see that it is used in common, non-religious applications (Genesis 31:27). We see that David used it to soothe King Saul's troubled spirit. We also see it being used to praise the LORD in the temple. One instrument being used in all of these ways seems to indicate that God does not consider instruments good or bad. The only conclusion I can derive is that there is no instrument considered so "evil", "immoral", or "vulgar" that it cannot be used in the praise of the LORD!
Now, given that the Bible does not reference the genre of music used in the temple, another interesting point that I found was that the Bible does refer to the volume of music used in praising the LORD. "Thus all Israel brought up the ark of the covenant of the LORD with shouting, and with sound of the horn, with trumpets, with loud-sounding cymbals, with harps and lyres." (1 Chronicles 15:28; by the way in this same context David "danced" before the ark of the LORD presumably in joyful praise to the LORD. see also Exodus 15:20 for another instance of dancing used in praise) "The Levites, from the sons of the Kohathites and of the sons of the Korahites, stood up to praise the LORD God of Israel, with a very loud voice." (2 Chronicles 20:19) "They sang, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, saying 'For He is good, for His lovingkindness is upon Israel forever.' And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid." (Ezra 3:11) There are many other examples of the volume of the praise of the LORD (2 Chron. 5:12-13; Nehemiah 12:43; Psalm 33:3; 81:1; 92:3; 95:1, 2; 98:4, 6; 100:1, 2; 150:5). I cannot find any direct reference to the music used to praise the LORD being played quietly, though some translators insist that a few of the untranslatable words in Psalms referring to the music imply a quiet or plaintive mood (like Higgaion; many of the untranslatable words are assumed to refer to the instrument to be used, the melody to be played, or the voicing in which to sing the song.)
Some teachers try to conclude that the music used in the temple was unique to the temple. However, the Bible does not make that claim. We could just as easily argue from the silence of the Bible on the issue that the music used in the temple was the common, folk music of that day. In fact, it would make more sense from a musician's perspective if David wrote the Psalms to known tunes that the musicians could easily play while singing the new words of the Psalm. In modern times, we see that many hymn writers employed this tactic in writing songs for the Church, including Martin Luther.
Based solely upon the Scriptural references to music, it is impossible to build a "Biblical standard of music" that allows certain styles/genres and disallows others. At best we can boil it down to different tastes in music and happily agree to disagree. We are fortunate in America to have many local churches that employ various genres of music in their services, making it easy for each of us to find a congregation that agrees with our preferences. However, that music influences us emotionally cannot be denied (though one song may influence two people in two different ways). With this in mind, is there a Biblical principle that we can apply to music dealing with what we allow to enter our minds and influence us?
I believe the answer is yes. As an example, Philippians 4:8 says, "Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right (righteous), whatever is pure (including sexually chaste), whatever is lovely (pleasing), whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence (morally excellent) and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things." I think it would do damage to the verse if we tried to force the genre of music to fit into these categories, but I still think we can apply this principle to music in that the lyrical content of the music we listen to does easily fall into these areas. The songs that Christians listen to must present that which is true, honorable, righteous, sexually pure, and pleasing (i.e. to God). I would hope that the artists and their songs have good reputations, are morally excellent and worthy of praise.
If the Bible gives no clear instruction concerning the genre of music employed in praising God, is it then righteous for everyone to listen to all genres? No, because to some certain genres would cause them to stumble based upon past experiences with that genre or negative emotions/ thoughts incited by the genre. For example, I heard the story of a young man raised in the Occult. This group used the music of Beethoven during their ceremonies. This young man was saved and added to the Church but when the congregation used Beethoven's music in praise, the young man had to leave the service because of the negative thoughts and emotions that music incited within him. Romans 14:14 says, "I know and am convinced in the Lord Jesus that nothing is unclean in itself; but to him who thinks anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean."
Finally, we know that the Bible gives no clear teaching on the rightness or wrongness of using certain genres in the praise of the LORD. We see that all instruments that are used in common music can also be used praising the LORD. We know that we must take care with what we allow to enter our minds including the lyrical content of the music we listen to. And we know that it is sin for certain people to listen to certain styles of music based upon their own perception of the rightness or wrongness of the style. I want to end with this thought represented by Psalm 150: every instrument, every genre, every word, every song employed or listened to by the Christian should be used to express praise to the LORD. If we cannot express praise to the LORD with it, maybe we should not listen to it or play it.