ON SOUNDS
By Adesoji Fasanya
2 Kings 3:15 says,
“But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the Lord came upon him.”
In this passage, as the musician played, the hand of God came upon Elisha.
Contextually, the prophet was probably in a physical/emotional state that made his access in the prophetic hampered. He obviously didn’t approve of the king of Israel but because of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, Elisha requested for a sound that would ease his access into the heart of God. This goes to show the sounds/music aren’t to be taken lightly. In 1 Samuel 16:14–18, we see a similar story with King Saul who was troubled by an aggressive evil spirit, and David (who God was with) was brought to him to perform anointed sounds which had the capacity to exorcise the evil spirit. The evil spirit would grow so uncomfortable to the point of causing Saul to attack David as he played but he escaped all the attacks.
The above biblical accounts are true stories that show the spiritual aspect of sounds and music. Sounds are not just sounds; music isn’t just music, they are spiritual channels through which spiritual forces are communicated. They could be divine or demonic. The reactions such as goosebumps, euphoria, ecstasy, and others are offshoots of spiritual transactions going on within and in you.
A Personal Story
It was many years ago, during undergraduate studies, I would normally listen to music as I sleep or read. After a long day, I played an album by a popular American artist, then I fell on my bed and slept off. What woke me up was a strange human figure that held its head to my neck as though choking the life out of me. I immediately switched off the music and prayed. God made me realize that it was the depressing spirit of the music that was troubling me. I was quick to delete the album while I kept digging into the explanation of what had just happened.
Culture is diverse. In some cultures, their festival requires that a particular sound be made for animals being worshiped like giant snakes, to come out. As they pipe the sound, the animal is ushered out on the strength of the sound. It dances and dances, they bow before it and sacrifice to it before it is ushered back into its cave (a quick YouTube search will show this).
Among the Yoruba people of Nigeria (Western Africa), there is a sect called ‘Ogboni’ or ‘Osugbo’. They have a specific type of drum that must be played during their festival, rites, and occasions.
Sounds are not ONLY coordinated musical notes that are beautifully arranged and sung for the enjoyment and merriment of many, they can also be spiritually carved to incite spirits and spiritual forces, many of which you do not want to be under their influence. This is why you must guard your heart/mind.
The five sense organ; ear, eye, nose, skin, and tongue are channels to just into our bodies but into our minds and spirits. This is why a picture, a touch, and even a sound can torment a man for years. You must have heard people say things like, ‘I don’t like being touched, it triggers me’ etc. This is why we must guard our minds (Proverbs 4:23).
Among Christians, there has been a consistent discussion on secular music and the believer’s participation or involvement. While this piece isn’t to contribute so much to that, I hope that it teaches and calls to mind the effects of sounds and how spiritual they can be. Hence, informing our approach to this secular and/or worldly music. I dare to say that, the lyrics may be good, and yet the sound is demonic. Be discerning!
For the believer, spiritual or prophetic sounds come from God via one of these channels;
- Colossians 3:16. When the word of God dwells richly in a man’s heart, he would experience an outflow of spiritual songs and hymns. This is why believers may burst into songs as they read, listen or meditate over the word of God.
- Ephesians 5:18–19. A believer can experience an overflow of God’s Spirit and then he burst forth in sounds and spiritual songs of the Lord.
Believers should learn to take advantage of these channels when writing songs instead of editing secular or worldly songs with “biblical” lyrics. The genre, the musical notes, the rhythm, the beat, and so on that is heavenly are pure, entertaining, encouraging, blissful, and much more than the ones of the world. Do well, to stay with God enough to capture these divine sounds. The believer should not do away with sounds, God instructs the Jews to blow the trumpet (Psalms 81:3) but the believer should fill the world with the sounds of heaven and not echo worldly music.
