Lord of Song: The Messiah Revealed in the Psalms [Paperback]

Ronald B. Allen (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 177 pages
• Publisher: Multnomah Pub (September 1985)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0880701293
• ISBN-13: 978-0880701297
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 4.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,960,538 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Psalms as Music and Prophecy, March 3, 2009

By 

Orville B. Jenkins "Research Guy" (Arlington, Texas) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Lord of Song: The Messiah Revealed in the Psalms (Paperback)

The author's father was the musical director for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. A bonus to this study is the historical and musical interest as Allen tells several stories from the rallies of Billy Graham. Those unfavorable to the evangelist or gospel music may not warm to the idea, but these stories are human interest anecdotes that should be of interest to all, whatever their assumptions about the context.

Devotional Focus
The primary theme of the book is a devotional-focus study of the Psalms. Though it may be redundant for some, it is worth reminding ourselves here that the Psalms are songs. This musician analyzing their themes and poetic structure from a musician's point of view. He looks into the cultural history and cult practices of the Hebrews to set these songs in their original context, which is commonly ignored.

Musical Focus
It is unfortunately common in the western analytical approaches, for preachers to treat the comments, claims and statements of the songs the same way they do the teaching and historical literature of the Bible. This musician honors the integrity of these Hebrew Psalms, whether worship or meditation, complaint or praise, as the songs they originally were!

Messianic View
From his Christian point of view, the author also looks for references in the Psalms that some Christians consider to be prophecies or figures related to the Messiah.

Often Christian lists of "Messianic" passages differ from the Jewish list. Further, this writer, as a musician, is not presenting a critical study of the passages, so does not deal with the original intent, or the use of these passages in the history of Christian thought, but takes a devotional worship approach.

He includes much anecdotal information about the use of music in the modern Christian evangelical movement.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not so much how as why one should worship the Messiah, February 12, 2004

By 

John Wheeler (King David's Harp, Inc., Houston, TX.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Lord of Song: The Messiah Revealed in the Psalms (Paperback)

This book is written by a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary and a professor of Hebrew Scripture at Western Conservative Baptist Seminary, Portland, Oregon. Certainly he is aware of the musical notation of the Hebrew Masoretic Text -- and that fact influences my comments below.

Unlike many other books on Christian worship listed by Amazon.com, this book does not focus on the issues of =what= is sound in worship music, but on =why= one should worship the Messiah in song. (At the risk of quibbling, Prof. Allen should be able to transliterate and pronounce Jesus' name in Hebrew properly: =Yeshua=, not =Y'shua=.) In three enlightening and enjoyable sections of several chapters each, the author deals with the Savior as the center of the Scriptures, as the Singer of the Psalms, and as the recipient of the songs we sing to Him.

It is worth noting something of the author's opinion on the original music of the Psalms. On p. 149 he writes: "While the Psalms is a book of music, only its lyrics have come down to us -- no musical notation system has survived. This appears to me to be God's providence. Had we been able to reproduce exactly the singing of ancient Israel, we likely would believe that such a pattern is the only proper way to make music to the Lord. And we would be the poorer for it."

This argument is simply a red herring -- and unfounded besides. The Hebrew Bible =does= preserve the original music of the Psalms in a written notation: the =te`amim=. This was known in Christian circles as far back as the Renaissance by the metrical Psalmist Thomas Ravenscroft and others -- if indeed not many centuries earlier, when the notation was described by the Catholic Father Clement of Alexandria. More importantly, the belief in the link between the =te`amim= and the Temple liturgy was effectively that of the Masoretes themselves, who were in a position to know (having received the notation from the priestly Elders of Bathyra via the Karaites). But for the Christian, the Word of God is the =foundation= of humanly obtainable knowledge; it is not the =sum total= of that knowledge. Keeping that distinction in mind keeps one from enshrining what should be used as a springboard -- even a touchstone -- for discerning what is "good" music in all cultures and times.

Prof. Allen notes the real need to teach old truths in new ways across the generations. Yet strangely, he overlooks the fact that the "new songs" mentioned by the Hebrew Bible were consistently written and performed in one and the same ancient and traditional musical system. Not only the biblical notation, but the biblical narrative, indicates this. The Hebrew Bible is not promoting cultural change as such by such exhortations as one finds in Psalms 96:1 ("Sing to the LORD a new song..."); in fact, it is doing precisely the opposite. It is exhorting the worshipper to sing new songs in the old sacred style. This sort of traditionalism is typical of ancient and traditional music in general, even in folk music where improvisation within limits was and remains the norm.

If Mr. Allen claims that "all the best music of the ages and cultures of man may be used to praise the Lord of Song" (ibid.), how then shall we judge what is "best"? While the biblical narratives and exhortations give us many valuable keys to making that assessment, they do not answer every question that may be raised -- especially with regard to the =ethos= or moral force in music. I submit that only the original music of the Bible, taken as a foundation, can train one's ear to make =infallible= distinctions between good and evil in music. That is why I recommend the work of the late Suzanne Haik-Vantoura along with this book. We owe to her the rediscovery of the original music, without which Prof. Allen is in fact the one who is poorer.