The Spirit of Music

One of the big questions that Christians often face is “How should I view secular music? Should I listen to it? Is all secular music bad? If not all secular music is bad, then how do I draw a line between what is okay and what is not okay?” These questions have been argued back and fourth amongst Christians in the past and continue to be debated even more so today. For me personally, I have found myself asking these same questions. The past year I have been looking at what the Bible says about music, the background of the music and the musician, how it makes me feel, and what

the Holy Spirit has been teaching me.

The Bible is clear in stating that we should sing unto the Lord. Music is mentioned numerous times in the bible, to be exact over 830 times. Music can be seen from the beginning of the creation of the world, the time of the Temple, the synagogue, the early church, and making its way to our modern day churches. The Word of God tells us to sing unto the Lord. “Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day” 1 Chronicles 16:2. It is clear that music is one of the most important things in worship. The music talked about in the bible is not a self-seeking pleasure but is an exaltation to lift glory up to the Lord. We are called to praise the Lord in song. “Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good; sing praise to his name, for that is pleasant.” Psalm 135:3 “How good it is to sing praises to our God, how pleasant and fitting to praise him” Psalm 147:1. Singing in the Bible is seen as giving thanksgiving to the Lord for all the blessings He poured out amongst His people, the blessings of life, sanctification, and salvation. The bible tells us that singing to the Lord is a good and pleasing thing to do and it helps us express our love and emotions to God. I believe that the music the Bible discusses is to be a language of thanksgiving and praise to God from his children. As I read about the music of the Bible, I questioned how secular music fell into this category.

I have often believed that there are three different types of music. One being music that is glorifying God, the second being music that is neither glorifying nor diminishing God, and the third being music that is dishonoring God. I still believe in these three but with the secular view changing. Is there really music that is neither glorifying nor diminishing God? This music I would have to say would be music that is used for the glory of man and the world. I’m not saying this has been an easy decision for me to make, in all actuality it has been extremely difficult. It has meant that I have had to give up a lot of music that I really enjoyed. This change began when I really started hearing not just from my ears but my heart, the lyrics that I was singing. I felt like the Lord was embedding songs of praise upon my heart as I sung certain songs of worship to him. It was as if he took the songs I began to sing to him at church and in-grafted them in my mind, even in my dreams. Over the course of about a year and a half, I began listening to more and more praise music and less and less secular music. I was able to sift through my music that I felt was dishonoring God, which was a pretty easy process. When I listened to the music, it was as if the Holy Spirit sent up a red flag in my soul. Anytime I felt a sense of uneasiness about a song, I knew the Holy Spirit was speaking to me. That’s how I discerned what music to keep or what music to let go. I have to admit that there was music that didn’t necessarily seam bad or good, these I decided to keep.

I also believe that it’s important to research musician’s testimonies, motives behind their music, and what influences their music. I began looking at the lives of some musician’s whose music I enjoyed. Did their lives honor the Lord? What were their beliefs and values? What were their reasons for creating music? What influenced the meanings and lyrics behind their songs? The majority of musicians whose music I owned didn’t add up to what I had anticipated. I wanted to listen to musicians in whom I respected, looked up to, and were encouraged by the motives and influences behind their music. It seemed that after looking into just a glimpse of some of the musician’s lives, I didn’t even have to question getting rid of the music because I no longer wanted to even listen to it. Everyone I believe wants to be encouraged, inspired, and motivated by music. I believe that after researching the background and musicians’ testimonies equipped me with more discernment on whether I should trust the music to be put into my mind and heart.

Through my research, I began reading Christian musicians’ testimonies on secular music from IHOP. I read one specific testimony that struck my heart. In his testimony he said that there is a certain spirit behind all music. He discusses how just because some music doesn’t have a spirit of God or a spirit of the devil, doesn’t mean that it doesn’t have a spirit. It was when I read this testimony that I began to see that music is not just music, in a sense it has its own spirit, its own mood, its own tone. It was then that I decided that the only spirit that I wanted to glorify or lift up was the Spirit of the Lord. I didn’t want to lift up any music, although not necessarily dishonoring God, of another spirit. I felt like I was honoring man and man’s desires by doing this. It was at this time that I cleaned house, and it was still a very hard process of letting go.

Since letting go of secular music, I feel more drawn to the Lord in worship. The Lord has blessed me with more of a heart of worship and appreciation for music. At times the Lord has even awoken me with songs in my sleep and songs in my prayers. Never before have I read the Word and seen parts of songs jump into view, until recently that is. I can’t explain the wholeness that I feel when I hear or sing a new song which draws me into His presence, with all glory and honor going to Him. Nothing compares to the Spirit of this music, His music.