In Ps. 22: 3, we are told that God is holy, and that He inhabits the praises of Israel. What does that mean? We are the people of God, and when we sing, when we praise God, we are constructing a dwelling place for Him?
So what kind of place should we build? How should it be furnished and decorated? The Bible tells us that our praise of God should overflow as a function of the Word of God dwelling in us richly.
A common misconception in our day says that music is content neutral, as though it were a universal sauce that can go with any meal. This idea arises from the fact that music is not as capable as language in communicating specific meanings. But just because it cannot communicate in as focused a way does not mean that it is not communicating at all. Music adorns words, and music must adorn words in ways that are consistent. Music is more general than the words, but they still have to line up. The words cannot be specific—Des Moines—and the music the wrong kind of general—Wyoming, say.
Music cannot tell you the temperature at the airport, or that Washington crossed the Delaware, or that Jesus rose from the dead. But when words are expressed in poetry, and set to music, it must be music that communicates something general that is consistent with the specific meaning. Music can be exultant, romantic, goofy, melancholic, and so forth. So one of the central principles of church music is this—since we are building a habitation for the Lord in our praises, and He will condescend to live in what we sing, the way we adorn the house must be consistent with what we are saying the house is. If our words are to be reverent, holy, jubilant, loud, and grateful, then so must the music be.