The Spirit of Music

Music is straight up powerful. Music transcends time. Music was happening before creation (Job 38:7). One of the greatest rewards in heaven is to learn a new song that no one else will ever know (Revelation 14:3). Throughout the book of Psalms we are commanded to sing songs to the Lord and to make music to him.

Music has the ability to stir a person’s soul and spirit far more than mere words. Music can uplift a weary soul, or bring heaviness and depression. Music can illicit anger and rage, or cause the listener to become calm and at peace. It all depends on the spirit of the music and how it was inspired.

This past Sunday I preached a message where I reveal Satan’s number one law and one of the clearest ways Satan has been attempting to brainwash society with his teachings: music. You can click on the video at below to get the teaching and to see a five minute video clip of song after song emphasizing Satan’s message. It’s eye-opening how his message has been spread through pretty much every music genre.

Everything we do is inspired by something. We eat because we are hungry (inspired by hunger). We sleep because we are tired. We laugh because we are amused. We cry because we are sad. We write love letters because we are in love. Again, everything we do is inspired by something. And the same goes for music. All music is inspired by something. For someone who is angry, their music will likely have a spirit of anger attached to them. If someone is depressed, then their music will likely have a spirit of heaviness over them. Such music will release that spirit over the listener. Here is a test: see if your feelings match up with the different emotions I wrote next to each song title. I tried to choose some different genres, so I imagine for the music style you like more you’ll connect more strongly with the spirit of the song.

Bob Carlisle – Butterfly Kisses (nostalgia is strong here, love… but if you didn’t have a good relationship with your father you might not be able to connect with this song)

Matchbox 20 – Push (depression, anger, frustration… this used to be one of my favorite songs… and yes, i struggled a bit with depression when I was a teenager)

Pharrell Williams – Happy (the title says it all, this song and video should at least illicit a smile)

Britney Spears – Lucky (might feel compassion for the such lost celebrities, but otherwise sad, hopeless… and can guarantee heavy feelings will come the more you listen to this)

Justin Timberlake – Cry Me a River (bitterness, anger, “I’m better than you”)

For me personally, I listened to a lot of rock and contemporary music growing up. My favorite bands were Pearl Jam, Everclear, Better Than Ezra, Counting Crows, and Sponge (Molly was my favorite song). It wasn’t until I entered college (2000) that I was introduced to worship music. It was also at that time that I realized one of my favorite cds (Lifehouse – No Name Face) had a number of songs pointed to God, including a powerful worship song as the last track (Everything). As I began to listen to more worship music, I soon realized a clear shift in my spirit. I would feel completely different after listening to some songs praising God compared to listening to Everclear or my other secular music. It honestly took me a few years to fully come around to it, but I realized that my secular music just plain wasn’t good for me. I never wanted to admit it so I fought it off a long time. But finally when younger believers would look through my music collection and get excited over some of my cds of music laced with anger and depression, I knew it was time to get rid of the stuff. I wanted to influence people for good, not for bad. So I trashed all my secular cds. It was a lot of money, but afterward I had no regret. I also noticed my spirit was so much more healthy after I stopped listening to the secular stuff. Love, joy, peace… these are all emotions that are fruit of the Spirit. Anointed worship music makes our soil rich and causes such fruit to grow healthy within us.

That was my personal choice. I don’t condemn listening to secular music and from time to time I’ll listen to some different tracks on youtube. Some Christians are called into the secular music field, whether to sing or make music or to dance. But all such people must be strong in the areas I preached about in the message above (strong prayer life, rooted in the Word, and submitted to leaders in a church), otherwise they will struggle mightily because they are deep in enemy territory and temptations and attacks are really strong in the music industry. Some songs and some artists are blatantly demonic and unhealthy. For those sensitive to certain emotions (anger, lust, depression, bitterness, pride, etc), a level of caution should be taken in listening to music inspired by such emotions. And when artists have an “alter ego” or “spirit guide” (Beyonce – Sasha Fierce, Eminem – Slim Shady, Nicki Minaj – Roman, etc.), you know that there is something very unhealthy there. Just listen to tracks where the singer goes in and out from their own voice to their “alter ego.” It’s quite… demonic. There definitely should be a high level of caution in listening to such music, and especially in endorsing it. There is so much satanism out there. Just watch Kate Perry’s rendition of Dark Horse from the 2014 Grammys. Yuck. And she will be performing the next Super Bowl halftime show…

If you gotten this far, I also wanted to add a link to a message I preached last year titled: The Power of the Arts. For any musician, author, artist, actor, or anyone else working in the arts I highly recommend it. The arts (not just music) are powerful!

https://www.comequicklyministries.org/blog/dt_portfolio/power-arts/

Last, here are some artists I recommend checking out if you don’t know them already…

Edge Kingsland
Jason Upton
Future of Forestry
Jonathan David Helser
Hillsong United (my favorite)
Jesus Culture
Will Reagan
Brooke Fraser
David Crowder Band