La música cristiana es de origen judío: la liturgia musical de la sinagoga, en particular el canto psalmódico de los judíos como unidad poética musical, fue un legado preciado transmitido del Israel antiguo al cristianismo primitivo, como forma de manifestar tanto a nivel personal como comunitario las creencias religiosas y la fe en Dios.
Who are you that you fear mortal men
The sons of man that are but grass
That you forget the Lord your maker
Who stretched out the heavens
And laid the foundations of the earth
We all like sheep have gone astray
Each of us has turned to his own way
And the Lord has laid on him
The iniquity of us all
Wherefore when I came was there no man?
When I called was there no-one to answer
Is my hand shortened, so it can't redeem?
Or have I no power to deliver?
[Isa. 50, 51, 53]