MUSIC
“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). The book of Psalms consists of 150 psalms, and most were believed to be set to music. We are exhorted to “make a joyful noise unto him with psalms” (Psalm 95:2). King David was known as the “sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Samuel 23:1). Christ and the apostles “sung an hymn” at the institution of the Lord’s Table (Matthew 26:30).
Musical instruments are not wrong, and the Bible names many, such as the harp, organ, stringed instruments, cymbals, flute, psaltery, dulcimer, trumpets, and more. However, the type of music we play can lift our spirits, or sadden us, or move our bodies, but sacred music lifts the soul. Music should glorify the Lord, not bring attention to the singer. The words of the song are also important. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).
Godly music with the right words is a great encouragement and will strengthen you. There is music for the occult and idol worship, as when Israel made the golden calf. “There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear” (Exodus 32:17–18). And there is also music that will drive away evil spirits : “Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well…[They found David and said], the Lord is with him…And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him” (1 Samuel 16:16–23).
A lady in a church I went to had sought council from our pastor, trying to figure out why she was so depressed. She’d had a problem with depression before she was saved, but since she surrendered her life to live only for God, she was enjoying her Christian walk. The pastor asked what she might have changed in her life that could have caused her to go back into depression. They only thing she had done was to turn the dial on her radio to the type of music she listened to in bars before she was saved. She changed the dial. She started to listen to uplifting Christian music and the Bible on cassette and received her joy back.
Matthew 7:16–20 gives a basic principle on how to determine if someone or something is good—by what it produces: “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” The pop culture is given over to drugs and sex, and their songs reflect this.
Wikipedia has a list of almost 100 pop musicians who died of drug overdose:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pop_musicians_who_died_of_drug_overdose This list includes the drugs they used and has such stars as
· Jimi Hendrix—barbiturates
· Janis Joplin—heroin
· Jim Morrison—suspected heroin
· Elvis Presley—assorted
· Keith Moon—Heminevrin
· Michael Jackson—propofol and benzodiazepine
· Prince— fentanyl
I was brought up on such music; I do not hate them. I used to idolize these rock groups. But something happened when I was 23 years old. I asked Christ to be my Lord. When I started to attend a church, I heard traditional Christian music. To be honest, at first it seemed awkward to me, simply because I had been raised on a steady diet of the world’s music. I liked the words in Christian songs I heard, but I was used to a different sound. I am glad to say that now I love God’s music. “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40:2–3).
Many know that Elvis Presley would often spend his nights playing gospel music on his piano, and besides his rock music, he also sold some gospel music. I heard Evangelist Carl Hatch say that he personally knew Elvis Presley and flew on his private jet a number of times. Evangelist Carl Hatch spoke with Elvis about his salvation more than once and said Elvis Presley always did the same thing when he talked to him about salvation: “He became quite and hung his head.” John Lennon’s number one song “Imagine” (1971) has the lyrics “Imagine there’s no heaven, It’s easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky.”
Wikipedia reports an interview of John Lennon on 4 March 1966 in which John Lennon said, “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right, and I’ll be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_popular_than_Jesus)
“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). All music (even Christian music) has three parts: rhythm, harmony, and melody. But the difference is where the emphasis is placed, on the rhythm (beat) or on the melody. The very name “Rock ’n’ Roll” is slang for having sex, rock and roll. The music itself is a problem, not only the words. In sacred music the melody is dominant and affects your spirit. Rock with its dominate beat is for the flesh, it makes your body move. Of course simply because some music affects your body does not in itself mean that it’s bad. If you play marching music (which also has a dominant beat) in a nursery with little boys and girls, they will begin to harmlessly march around, but if you play rock ‘n’ roll, they will move their bottoms.
The devil knows music and was created with musical instruments: “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God…the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created” (Ezekiel 28:13). “Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols…How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” (Isaiah 14:11–12). What music is the devil’s music? Would he glorify sin, rebellion, sex, drugs, alcohol, self, or Jesus Christ the Lord? “No man cannot serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24).
“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). The book of Psalms consists of 150 psalms, and most were believed to be set to music. We are exhorted to “make a joyful noise unto him with psalms” (Psalm 95:2). King David was known as the “sweet psalmist of Israel” (2 Samuel 23:1). Christ and the apostles “sung an hymn” at the institution of the Lord’s Table (Matthew 26:30).
Musical instruments are not wrong, and the Bible names many, such as the harp, organ, stringed instruments, cymbals, flute, psaltery, dulcimer, trumpets, and more. However, the type of music we play can lift our spirits, or sadden us, or move our bodies, but sacred music lifts the soul. Music should glorify the Lord, not bring attention to the singer. The words of the song are also important. “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord” (Colossians 3:16).
Godly music with the right words is a great encouragement and will strengthen you. There is music for the occult and idol worship, as when Israel made the golden calf. “There is a noise of war in the camp. And he said, It is not the voice of them that shout for mastery, neither is it the voice of them that cry for being overcome: but the noise of them that sing do I hear” (Exodus 32:17–18). And there is also music that will drive away evil spirits : “Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well…[They found David and said], the Lord is with him…And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him” (1 Samuel 16:16–23).
A lady in a church I went to had sought council from our pastor, trying to figure out why she was so depressed. She’d had a problem with depression before she was saved, but since she surrendered her life to live only for God, she was enjoying her Christian walk. The pastor asked what she might have changed in her life that could have caused her to go back into depression. They only thing she had done was to turn the dial on her radio to the type of music she listened to in bars before she was saved. She changed the dial. She started to listen to uplifting Christian music and the Bible on cassette and received her joy back.
Matthew 7:16–20 gives a basic principle on how to determine if someone or something is good—by what it produces: “Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire. Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.” The pop culture is given over to drugs and sex, and their songs reflect this.
Wikipedia has a list of almost 100 pop musicians who died of drug overdose:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_pop_musicians_who_died_of_drug_overdose This list includes the drugs they used and has such stars as
· Jimi Hendrix—barbiturates
· Janis Joplin—heroin
· Jim Morrison—suspected heroin
· Elvis Presley—assorted
· Keith Moon—Heminevrin
· Michael Jackson—propofol and benzodiazepine
· Prince— fentanyl
I was brought up on such music; I do not hate them. I used to idolize these rock groups. But something happened when I was 23 years old. I asked Christ to be my Lord. When I started to attend a church, I heard traditional Christian music. To be honest, at first it seemed awkward to me, simply because I had been raised on a steady diet of the world’s music. I liked the words in Christian songs I heard, but I was used to a different sound. I am glad to say that now I love God’s music. “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings. And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord” (Psalm 40:2–3).
Many know that Elvis Presley would often spend his nights playing gospel music on his piano, and besides his rock music, he also sold some gospel music. I heard Evangelist Carl Hatch say that he personally knew Elvis Presley and flew on his private jet a number of times. Evangelist Carl Hatch spoke with Elvis about his salvation more than once and said Elvis Presley always did the same thing when he talked to him about salvation: “He became quite and hung his head.” John Lennon’s number one song “Imagine” (1971) has the lyrics “Imagine there’s no heaven, It’s easy if you try, No hell below us, Above us only sky.”
Wikipedia reports an interview of John Lennon on 4 March 1966 in which John Lennon said, “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn’t argue about that; I’m right, and I’ll be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_popular_than_Jesus)
“Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). All music (even Christian music) has three parts: rhythm, harmony, and melody. But the difference is where the emphasis is placed, on the rhythm (beat) or on the melody. The very name “Rock ’n’ Roll” is slang for having sex, rock and roll. The music itself is a problem, not only the words. In sacred music the melody is dominant and affects your spirit. Rock with its dominate beat is for the flesh, it makes your body move. Of course simply because some music affects your body does not in itself mean that it’s bad. If you play marching music (which also has a dominant beat) in a nursery with little boys and girls, they will begin to harmlessly march around, but if you play rock ‘n’ roll, they will move their bottoms.
The devil knows music and was created with musical instruments: “Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God…the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created” (Ezekiel 28:13). “Thy pomp is brought down to the grave, and the noise of thy viols…How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!” (Isaiah 14:11–12). What music is the devil’s music? Would he glorify sin, rebellion, sex, drugs, alcohol, self, or Jesus Christ the Lord? “No man cannot serve two masters” (Matthew 6:24).