Music: God is clean. Why shouldn't your music be? - Lyrics

WHEN IT COMES TO MUSIC... OR MUCH OF ANYTHING... YOU CAN'T TRUST YOUR HEART.

Mark 7:20 -23  And he said, That which cometh out of the man, that defileth the man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: All these evil things come from within, and defile the man.

OBEYING GOD'S WORD IS ABOUT TRUTH, NOT FEELINGS.

Here we go...

IDLE MUSIC

"Sound of Music" - Songs by which many have learned, whether they liked it or not.

Everything we do is to bring glory to God.  Yet, not everything we do is in direct relation to the great commission.  Sometimes… (like is said in Ecclesiastes 3:13 “And also that every man should eat and drink, and enjoy the good of all his labour, it is the gift of God.) …we just have fun.

Still, much fun IS glorifying to God when it is clean and within the bounds of Scriptural commands and precepts.

We do many idle things and it is okay.  (I’m sure my husband would be glad to hear me say that.)  At the same time we will give account to God someday as to whether our actions are pure and holy.

Mat 12:36  But I say unto you, That every idle word that men shall speak, they shall give account thereof in the day of judgment.

I believe that the same is true about music.  There are songs we use like “The A,B,Cs” that help us to learn things.  There are silly songs like “Happy Birthday” that are just joyous and celebratory.  There are songs we make up while cleaning the house with the kids like “This is how we make our bed, make our bed, make our bed…”  These are idle words, but as a clean lifestyle glorifies God even if we are not soul winning at the time, clean words glorify God in that they do not “defile” our mouths with filth or promote sin.

THEREFORE, not ALL idle music is wrong.

ROMANTIC MUSIC

The above mentioned are idle songs and essentially meaningless, but what about romantic songs?  Well, there are many layers to that question: music, the author, the singer, to whom they are being applied, but as we are specifically talking about the lyrics, the best advice I ever got concerning romantic music was this.

“Be careful not to attribute to your spouse what should only be attributed to God.”  - Debbie Smith

For example:  “I can’t live if living is without you.”

I think that if you follow that guideline concerning the LYRICS of romantic music, and the music does not promote fornication or speak of things that should be left behind the bedroom door, than you are relatively safe.

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JUNK FOOD ONLY TASTES GOOD, IT ISN'T REALLY GOOD FOR ANYONE

Still, all the music listed above is like junk food.  It does nothing for your spirit.  It is meant for special occasions, as all junk food should be.  YET, if you look around you will notice that we have a nation of malnourished obese people surrounding us.  WHY?  Because they have indulged in junk food and it is not healthy.

If the majority of what you are listening to is junk music, then you are going to become a weak Christian.  You know the song, “Read your Bible pray every day, pray every day, pray every day and you’ll GROW, GROW, GROW.  It is true because our SPIRIT NEEDS FED.

Good Christian lyrics FEED YOUR SPIRIT.  God knows that and He says over and over again in His word what good lyrics (also known as the “new song”) say.

THE NEW SONG – CHRISTIAN MUSIC

THREE TYPES OF CHRISTIAN SONGS


I believe that it was God’s foreknowledge and wisdom that inspired Him to use the words “Psalms, “Hymns,” and “Spiritual Songs.” Down through history many songs have been written, and they do not all fit into one category. I couldn’t say conclusively, but it was almost as if He listed them chronologically in Ephesians 5:19, as it seems Psalms were written first, then Hymns in a different time period and now we have many Spiritual Songs.

Psalms – Bible verses put to music.

Hymns – Hymns are usually written directly in praise to God / Jesus and speak more of His greatness and goodness than personal testimony. The lyrics are very doctrinal in content. They are composed with four part harmony for verses and chorus and usually have three or four verses.

Spiritual Songs – Songs of testimony that bring praise to God / Jesus, but are written from more of a personal nature rather than an objective, doctrinal lyric. These songs predominantly are composed with a mixture of solos and harmony and rarely have more than two or three verses.

Going deeper to what makes a lyric a Christian lyric, I want to go directly to Scripture.  God says that His word will not return void.  I know that I could just put the references up here, but if you are like me, you will not look up the references.  If you are like me, you may just skim over these verses without reading them.  BUT IF YOU WANT TO SEE WHAT GOD HAS TO SAY, then please read them all.

LEADS OTHERS TO CHRIST

Psa 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.

Psa 89:1  Maschil of Ethan the Ezrahite. I will sing of the mercies of the LORD for ever: with my mouth will I make known thy faithfulness to all generations.

Psa 96:2  Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day.

REMEMBERING HIS HOLINESS

Psa 30:4  Sing unto the LORD, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness.

REMEMBERING HIS PROTECTIONS – COMFORT

Psa 59:16  But I will sing of thy power; yea, I will sing aloud of thy mercy in the morning: for thou hast been my defence and refuge in the day of my trouble.

Psa 59:17  Unto thee, O my strength, will I sing: for God is my defence, and the God of my mercy.

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

Psa 135:3  Praise the LORD; for the LORD is good: sing praises unto his name; for it is pleasant.

AS SALT TO THE EARTH

Psa 18:49  Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.

Psa 138:1  A Psalm of David. I will praise thee with my whole heart: before the gods will I sing praise unto thee.

AS A PURPOSE FOR YOUR LIFE

Psa 146:2  While I live will I praise the LORD: I will sing praises unto my God while I have any being.

GIVES PRAISE TO GOD FOR HIS WORKS

Psa 98:1  A Psalm. O sing unto the LORD a new song; for he hath done marvellous things: his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory.

Psa 149:1  Praise ye the LORD. Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints.

Psa 105:2  Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works.

Psa 42:10  Sing unto the LORD a new song, and his praise from the end of the earth, ye that go down to the sea, and all that is therein; the isles, and the inhabitants thereof.

1Ch 16:9  Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk ye of all his wondrous works.

Psa 13:6  I will sing unto the LORD, because he hath dealt bountifully with me.

Psa 21:13  Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.

It’s rather clear that God wants for Christians to sing a "new song" with a purpose and not be idle.  The “new song” is a far cry from the old song.

THE WORLD’S LYRICS

I recently went through a good friend’s playlist with her and we started this purging process.  Lyrics seem to be the easier place to start.  We deleted anything that had to do with partying, drinking, sex, drugs, and swearing.  That was just the beginning.

We are to be careful what comes out of our mouth. God is a holy God. We are the temples of His Holy Spirit. When by habit you sing the song or for fun sing a song that is full of (I can’t think of any word other than “filth”) filth we corrupt our mind, defile our mouths, and become in fashion like a lost person. Yet how easily we habitually or in fun sing the songs of the world that promote nothing but Satan’s “fun for a season.”

Eph 4:29 Let no corrupt communication proceed out of your mouth, but that which is good to the use of edifying, that it may minister grace unto the hearers.

Col 3:8 But now ye also put off all these; anger, wrath, malice, blasphemy, filthy communication out of your mouth.

1Pe 1:13 -16 Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; As obedient children, not fashioning yourselves according to the former lusts in your ignorance: But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation; Because it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy.

Man, if you could go through a next phase of lyric purging it would be Ephesians 4:31  “Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice:”

So much music that is therapeutic is only that way because it causes you to feel powerful in your pride, anger, bitterness, loneliness, vengeance and rebellion.  I’m not trying to be super spiritual, but the world doesn’t have anyone to rely on but themselves.  So, their music reflects that.

You nurse your own wounds, lie in your own rage, feel your own adrenaline, and rejoice in your own victories.  It is filled with emotional solitude that gives no question as to why 60% of teenagers have tried to commit suicide.

God’s music brings you a comforter for you wounds, calms and clarifies your rage, gives you excitement in Christ and causes rejoicing in GOD’s victories.

I don’t think that I need to say much about the world’s lyrics.  Common sense can take over.

"Lyrics" is only the first phase, the second is the music.

CONTINUED:

http://melissaattruthandsong.blogspot.com/2010/09/god-is-clean-why-shouldnt-your-music-be.html