The Wonderful Power of Music

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Introduction: Opening comments:

• Music is a universal power
  • We find it at the beginning of creation (Job 38:1-7) and at the end of time (Revelation 5:8-10)
  • We find it up in heaven and we find it in the lowest parts of the earth
• Music follows two great streams:
  • The songs of salvation
    • 1Chronicles 25:7 So the number of them, with their brethren that were instructed in the songs of the LORD, even all that were cunning, was two hundred fourscore and eight.
    • Psalm 33:3 Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.
    • Psalm 40:3 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 137:3-4 For there they that carried us away captive required of us a song; and they that wasted us required of us mirth, saying, Sing us one of the songs of Zion. How shall we sing the LORD'S song in a strange land?
  • The songs of Satan
    • Ezekiel 28:11 Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,
    •  12 Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty.
    •  13 Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created.
    •  14 Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire.
    •  15 Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.

We will consider how these two lines of music work in the world today and look how we can draw closer to God in our music.  

I.           THE SONGS OF SALVATION  

·         Ephesians 5:18-19 And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord;

·         Colossians 3:16 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.

A.        They Praise God

1.         Psalm 7:17 I will praise the LORD according to his righteousness: and will sing praise to the name of the LORD most high.

2.         Psalm 89:1 I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

3.         Acts 16:25 And at midnight Paul and Silas prayed, and sang praises unto God: and the prisoners heard them.

B.        They Express Joy 

• 2Chronicles 23:18 Also Jehoiada appointed the offices of the house of the LORD by the hand of the priests the Levites, whom David had distributed in the house of the LORD, to offer the burnt offerings of the LORD, as it is written in the law of Moses, with rejoicing and with singing, as it was ordained by David.

1.         Victory Songs and Battle Songs 

• Exodus 15:1-2 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea. The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father's God, and I will exalt him.
• Exodus 15:21 And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

2.         Songs of Deliverance 

• Psalm 32:7 Thou art my hiding place; thou shalt preserve me from trouble; thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance. Selah.

3.         Songs of Love 

• Isaiah 5:1 Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

C.        They Teach Doctrine 

• Deuteronomy 31:19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
•  20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.
•  21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.
• Psalm 119:54 Thy statutes have been my songs in the house of my pilgrimage.

D.        They Encourage Godliness 

• Isaiah 30:29 Ye shall have a song, as in the night when a holy solemnity is kept; and gladness of heart, as when one goeth with a pipe to come into the mountain of the LORD, to the mighty One of Israel.

II.        THE SONGS OF SATAN 

A.        They Mock Holiness

• Job 30:9-10 And now am I their song, yea, I am their byword. They abhor me, they flee far from me, and spare not to spit in my face.
• Ecclesiastes 7:5 It is better to hear the rebuke of the wise, than for a man to hear the song of fools.

B.        They Glorify Sin While Expressing Despair  

• Psalm 69:12 They that sit in the gate speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.
• Isaiah 23:15 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot.

C.        They Teach Rebellion 

• Ezekiel 27:25 The ships of Tarshish did sing of thee in thy market: and thou wast replenished, and made very glorious in the midst of the seas.
• Ezekiel 28:5-6 By thy great wisdom and by thy traffick hast thou increased thy riches, and thine heart is lifted up because of thy riches: Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God;

D.        They Encourage Wickedness  

• Isaiah 23:15-17 And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years shall Tyre sing as an harlot. Take an harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that thou mayest be remembered. And it shall come to pass after the end of seventy years, that the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall turn to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth.
• Exodus 32:18-19 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. And it came to pass, as soon as he came nigh unto the camp, that he saw the calf, and the dancing: and Moses' anger waxed hot, and he cast the tables out of his hands, and brake them beneath the mount. (v.25 – “naked unto their shame”)

III.     THE MESSAGE OF SONG – “teaching and admonishing” 

A.        In the Words

B.        In the Music

C.        In the Messenger 

IV.     THE SIGNS OF CORRUPT MUSIC IN CHURCH 

A.        Increasing Appeal to the Flesh

1.         By beat

a.         Back beat

b.         Off beat

c.         Boogie beat

2.         By fleshly words

3.         By fleshly sounds

B.        Diminishing Emphasis on the Message

1.         No doctrine

2.         Repeated phrases

C.        Increasing Emphasis on Performance

1.         Exalted people

2.         Entertaining medium

3.         Worldly lighting, effects, etc.

D.        Message Changing From Joy to Despair

1.         Despair in the message

2.         Despair in the tone

3.         Despair in the musical key – minor key emphasis

4.         Unlike the songs of Zion

Conclusion: Final considerations:

1.         Your music expresses your true heart condition

a.         Are you saved?

b.         Do you joy in the Lord?

c.         Does your music say it?

2.         Your music either hinders your relationship with God or draws you closer to Him – Which is it?

3.         Your music is either the choice of your own flesh or it is the music of a life surrendered to God