Music Has Power
The Bible assures us that every good and perfect gift comes from our Father in heaven. One of the benevolent blessings given by the Creator is the gift of music. It is a powerful instrument often reflecting and sometimes even reshaping the conscience of culture. It has been said that music is the universal language. It would be difficult to overstate the impact of music.
There is indication that, before his fall, Satan was in charge of leading music that filled heaven with praise to God. His pride led him to singing his own praises rather than the praises of his Creator. Throughout the Bible, and especially in the Psalms there is a clarion call to sing the praises of God. The closing chapters of Psalms, namely 147-150, are filled with numerous expressions of and directions for praising the Lord. Believers are told to sing to God because it is good, pleasant and beautiful to do so. Psalm 148 commands praise to God from everything and everyone in all of creation. There is a reminder that God’s glory is above all the earth and heaven. His name alone is worthy of total exaltation. The last words recorded in the Psalms say it succinctly. “Let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Praise the Lord!” (Psalm 150:6)
Music plays a vital role in the New Testament teaching also. The “new songs” of the Book of Revelation are themselves a study in the vibrancy and power of praise. The Apostle Paul, often perceived as only a somber theologian, personally employed music in his own worship. “Around midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening.” (Acts 16:25) In that dark cell music, undoubtedly, lifted the spirits of the singers and the listeners. Perhaps such truth prompted Paul to pen this passage in Colossians, “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) Forgive my poetic shortcomings; Music has power, whether you sing in the choir, or sing in the shower. Just sing!
—Terry Morrison