Can you name an Australian album compelling enough to spark and sustain a love for biblical theology? Can you name a singer-songwriter that makes you want to treasure the Old Testament? Noble Bereans, led by Kingsley Davidson and based in Geelong, have just released Taste the Old Testament. Two or three songs into the album, I concluded this was not a mere taste, it was a feast.
I’m an Old Testament lecturer. I shouldn’t take it personally when people tell me that they dislike the Old Testament, that they never read it, or that the Old Testament God is different from the New Testament God. I’m a bit sensitive to those quips given my vocation. When strangers find out what I do, they often respond with a quizzical expression, as if to ask, “Why would you want to have anything to do with the Old Testament?” This album helps answer that question.
With songs springing off the pages of Genesis, Exodus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Isaiah, and Daniel, Noble Bereans spread a table of many biblical genres set to many musical styles. Is the album rock, blues, or country? It’s all of the above – sometimes loud and sometimes soft but always talented vocals singing lyrics worth memorising. Unlike many albums, these songs do not all sound the same. What unifies the collection is the redemptive historical storyline. You walk away not so much impressed by Noble Bereans but by the word they want you to delight in. You’ll keep listening to the music, and then you’ll really want to read the book.
I assumed that the album was going to be bible verse prooftexts, yanked out of context, set to little ditties, and aimed at children. Instead, I discovered scripture passages presented in their Christological wonder, set to music the entire family will enjoy. It’s difficult to pigeonhole Noble Bereans’ style. I hear influences of Colin Buchanan, George Thorogood and the Destroyers, and even Talking Heads.
Playful Musicality
Some contemporary Christian music is embarrassingly bad, with vapid lyrics set to unoriginal tunes. Not so here. Though Taste the Old Testament will admittedly not change the history of music, its blues harmonica work epitomises the delightful surprises hiding in every song. Its lyrics combine gospel preaching with poetry, and its musicality can be summarised in one word: playful. I can’t figure out if Davidson had more fun composing or more fun recording, but his joy and his humour are infectious. If the Old Testament can be this much fun, we might have to read it, preach it, and be changed by it! Have you ever heard a sermon that was simultaneously engaging and convicting? Each time I listen to these songs, I’m both intrigued and cut to the heart.
For example, the song “Night and Day,” unpacks Psalm 119:9-16, while repeating the question: “How can a young man keep his way pure?” With beautifully blended vocals the question develops verse by verse to include not just the young man, but also the young woman and the old man in the Psalm. I started to think, “Wow, maybe this passage isn’t just for teenagers, maybe I’d better pay attention myself!” Best of all, the answer to the question of the Psalm comes through powerfully: you can keep your way pure by guarding it according to God’s Word.
Christological Content
These songs are catchy, and many of them are singable. The Aaronic blessing of Numbers 6:24-26, a song entitled “Yahweh Bless You,” is worthy of a long-term place on your worship service playlist. The “Ten Commandments” song not only summarises the moral law of God, but it also drives you to Jesus. The song about Daniel’s three friends in the fire, “Hot Hot Furnace,” not only avoids being a moralistic Sunday School lesson, but also situates the story in the light of the resurrection. The song entitled “Proverbs” not only gives you biblical advice, but also helps you understand the message of the entire book. If you’ve ever wondered why Solomon compared his beloved’s hair to a flock of goats, or what the figurative speech in Song of Songs is all about, the song “Pomegranate” will leave the mysteries as mysterious as ever, but how often do you hear a song with goats for back-up singers? My runaway favourite on this album is “Joseph.” This song’s carefully crafted lyrics draw out the gospel significance of Joseph’s saga in Genesis, so that it’s ultimately a song about Jesus.
Long-term Impact
Music is one means of melding art with theology. Music can take the aesthetics of beauty, marry it to revelation, and produce doxology. Music can take the aesthetics of pain, marry it to experience, and produce lament. For some Christian musicians the music is merely a vehicle for the lyrical content. For others the whole composition is offered to the glory of God. The latter is what Noble Bereans are trying to accomplish. There are guitar solos here worthy of being performed in King Hezekiah’s court. There are sermons here worthy of being preached in Spurgeon’s tabernacle in London.
Taste the Old Testament is not for everyone. After all, not everyone likes the Old Testament. And not everyone likes rock and roll. I doubt these songs will be listened to fifty years from now. But neither will my sermons or most of our personal contributions to this present moment. Something better than lasting fame will come of Taste the Old Testament. These songs are designed to aid parents and churches in their Deuteronomy 6 calling to teach God’s Word to the next generation as you sit at home, as you drive along the way, as you lie down, and as you rise up. Decades from now, when this music no longer connects with audiences and the equipment to play it on no longer exists, the people shaped by its truth will be leading and serving a growing church with Christ at the centre.
