By Katharine Abrahams

Music is NOT for the Ears!:
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3

the first article of the series, “Music is NOT for the Ears“, I noted many Biblical functions for music.  Those examples show God created music for different functions and so the desire of my heart is to use it for the purposes that He has ordained (John 1:3) .

Stewards of Music

I am certain to be a musician is a gift from Him and one-day we will all have to give an account of our stewardship of that gift.  Jesus illustrated this in His famous teachings on the Parable of the Talents which can be found in two Gospels, Matthew 25:14-30 and Luke 19:12-27.

The gifts are not only for the one to whom they are given, but are for others: “But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal”, ( I Corinthians 12:7)

• The gift of music operating in a surrendered musician is able to:
• Bring people into the presence of God,
• Inspire them to worship,Minister healing and deliverance to them,
• Enable them to prophesy,
• Speak/ sing Gods words over them.

As such it is extremely important that musicians submit their musical gifts back to God so He can use them for His purposes. 

The Curse of Pride

It is important to note that the original musician in heaven was Satan. 

He was the most beautiful of all the angels.  He was responsible for music in heaven and had the total spectrum of instruments in his body and could play them all. As such he is all too aware of the power of music.  When he fell, he was removed from heaven, as he wanted the adoration and worship that must be given only to God (read Ezekiel 28). 

This is also a very relevant danger for musicians today. Often when play well, we want to receive the praise and glory. But it is not us who are to be glorified, as there is only One who is has earned that right and privilege.  It is only God who is worthy of receiving that glory.  Nevertheless, this struggle has been a curse on musicians’ lives ever since Satan was thrown down to earth from being the chief musician in heaven. 

As a result, there is a tendency for musicians to be egotistical, and to want and need praise. This often causes them to isolate themselves, either due to a superiority complex or conversely through feeling inferior to other musicians and thus suffering from insecurity. 

In my understanding this is a reason why the musicians in the Old Testament had a part of their duties that entailed being a porter. As a menial, task it protected the musicians from the sin and curse of pride.

“None ought to carry the ark (His presence) of God but the Levites (who were all skilled in playing musical instruments) for them hath the Lord chosen to carry the ark of God, and to minister unto Him forever.” (1 Chronicles 15: 2).

Forever means forever! God wants His musicians to play for Him forever!

In the Hebrew, the word minister is ‘shârath’ which means to attend as a menial or worshipper. It also means to contribute to, minister unto, serve and wait upon.

As musicians we are to serve the Lord.

Solomon’s Wisdom

The opposite is when music becomes worldly and the musicians seek their own glory instead of Gods’.  I believe that this can open a door for Satan to be able to enter/use that music, as the motive is pride.  If music can be used by God and His children as an instrument of spiritual warfare, then it can also by used in the same way by Satan and his angels.  This sound is harmful.

A Biblical example of when music became worldly can be found in the book of Ecclesiastes, written by King Solomon.  Worldly pursuits are particularly mentioned in chapter 2, where King Solomon is attempting to find peace and joy in temporal things.  But he later realizes that life, even at its best, is merely vanity without Christ.  For Solomon it even became futile from the earthly perspective. 

“I Bought male and female slaves and had other slaves who were born in my house.  I also owned more herds and flocks than anyone in Jerusalem before me. I amassed silver and gold for myself, and the treasures of kings and provinces.  I acquired men and women singers, and a harem as well – the delights of the heart of man. I became greater by far than anyone in Jerusalem before me.” (Ecclesiastes 2:8-9).

Two verses later he writes:

“Yet when I observed all that my hands had done and what I had toiled to achieve, everything was meaningless, a chasing after the wind; nothing was gained under thesun.”

Creating Godly Responses

In the Baroque period, knowledge of the principles of rhetoric enabled composers and performers to create the specific response that they wished for in their audience.

This idea stems from Classical times and from the art of oratory. Aristotle writes:  “If one can understand with who, why and in what circumstances one experiences a given emotion, it then becomes very simple to create the same emotion in another person.”

This concept relies on man’s understanding to create emotions in an audience.  It can be used positively to enable people to release pent-up emotions, or to unify people, but equally can be used to incite lust, dissension, aggression etc. If we are not careful, we could use music as a tool of manipulation.

This leads to a question, “Was music intended for worship?” When directed towards God, it should not be manipulating or controlling, or indeed merely playing emotions over an audience, but rather creating an atmosphere in which God can dwell and minister to His people.

(In the next third and last article on “Music is NOT for the Ears”, Katherine discusses how music and sound touch both the natural and spiritual realms).

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Katharine Abrahams (nee Steddon) was born In England, and in 2000 graduated as a specialist in Historical Performance Practice, from Londons Royal Academy of Music.  She also studied at The Sibelius Academy in Helsinki, Finland and at The Royal Conservatory of The Hague in the Netherlands. Katharine has performed and ministered across Europe and in Japan, as a recitalist, soloist, chamber musician and orchestral player on both recorders and baroque and modern cello.  She has also released  her first solo CD of Bach’s cello suites. Currently Katharine lives in Jerusalem, Israel and is a Jewish believer in Yeshua.  She gave her music fully to Him in 2001, to use for His purposes and Glory.