The Lord’s Song

“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

Music can be a powerful element. Before I was saved, I would read in various music magazines statements like, “Music is the most powerful force on the planet.” Of course we know that God’s power is the most powerful but this illustrates how much influence and “power” some musicians feel music can have. God thought it was so important that he built music into his arch angel, Lucifer, who is now Satan or the devil now. At one time though, Lucifer possibly ruled the planet although I’m not going to get into the argument if there were thousands of years between Genesis 1:1 and 2 at this time. The point is that he was God’s arch angel until he fell.

Isaiah 14:12 How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations! 13 For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: 14 I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. 15 Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

Jesus said, “I beheld Satan as lightning fall from heaven.” Luke 10:18 He is now the “prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in the children of disobedience:” Ephesians 2:2b But at first it was not so. He was a leader and even had music built within him.

Ezekiel 28:12 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. (Underlines are mine).

While the first eleven verses of Ezekiel chapter 28 deals exclusively with the King of Tyrus, this part does not. Even though he is named, someone else is being addressed. We know this for several reasons.

1. The King of Tyrus was not perfect in beauty
2. He could not have been in Eden
3. While he no doubt had many precious stones, he could not be covered literally with all of these in such a great fashion.
4. The King of Tyrus was “created” from the womb therefore he could not have tabrets and pipes within him.
5. He was not the anointed cherub nor was he on the mountain of God.
6. He was not perfect in his ways for all have been born into sin.

Just from the above, there can be little or no argument that the one being addressed is Satan, or Lucifer before the fall. This describes him before his fall. He was perfect in beauty as all God’s angels are. He had been in Eden at one time and perhaps there was a former one, who knows. The point is that he at one time was a beautiful angel before his fall. He was adorned with all the precious stones including the sardius, the topaz, the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, the carbuncle, and gold. He also had tabrets and pipes built within. These provided for the three basic elements of music: melody, haromy, and rhythm. He no doubt led in worship and praise to God and made beautiful music doing so.

BUT WHEN SATAN FELL, HIS MUSIC FELL!!

This does not mean that music in itself is bad. When we read the book of Psalms, we are constantly reminded of the psalms written for the choirs and musicians. David himself was a great musician. And while there is no direct mention of musical instruments used in the New Testament church, there is no word that they cannot be used either. However, if you choose not to have instruments in the church, I understand. But when church is over, do you go out into the car and turn on the music that glorifies adultery, sex, and all the vices of sin!

Satan has used music to subvert whole generations. He has used it to demonize and introduce a culture that is only bent on rebellion. Anyone who does a casual glance back in time since the early 50’s when Elvis came on the scene can see how Rock ‘N Roll has advanced and how the wickedness and influence of the music has created a generation gap that was never there before. Even the term is taken from immoral terms. Wikipedia says the following about the term.

The term "rock and roll", which was black slang for dancing or sex, appeared on record for the first time in 1922 on Trixie Smith's "My Baby Rocks Me With One Steady Roll". The word "rock" had a long history in the English language as a metaphor for "to shake up, to disturb or to incite". The verb "Roll" was a medieval metaphor which meant "having sex".

Quite frankly, I don’t feel someone can claim with an honest heart that they are Christ’s and continue to listen and sing the songs glorifying the lusts of this world. Music is esthetic and becomes a part of what we are. That’s why the Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 5:18-19 the following: “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.” As Christians, the tunes and lyrics within us should glorify God, not Satan.