“Only Believe” is a short song that is a good song for more advanced guitar players to learn.
This PDF provides the music, chords, and lyrics for the song in the key of C. I have also provided chord diagrams for the four uncommon chords used in the song: D#dim7/C, F#half dim7/A, D9, and Bdim/F.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
Undeniably, many secular musicians have testified in various ways to supernatural influences as the source of their ungodly music.[1] In online written messages to me, at least two CCM supporters have claimed that secular testimonies about music and spirituality are unreliable.
Are secular testimonies about fallen spirits and music inherently unreliable? Two passages provide revelation that points to this view being false.
At a time when Syria was warring against Israel, the king of Syria conferred with his servants to determine various places where he would locate his camp (2 Kings 6:8). Elisha warned the king of Israel about each location so that the king was able to save himself on multiple occasions from being harmed by the Syrians (2 Kings 6:9-10).
In response to the repeated foiling of his strategy, the king of Syria demanded that his servants tell him who was the traitor among them who was giving away their location each time to the king of Israel (2 Kings 6:11). One of his servants replied, “None, my lord, O king: but Elisha, the prophet that is in Israel, telleth the king of Israel the words that thou speakest in thy bedchamber (2 Kings 6:12).
The passage provides no indication that this Syrian servant somehow had secretly spied on Elisha on each occasion and then returned to give his eyewitness testimony to the king about what had happened. Nor does the passage tell us that he received that information somehow through some other informant.
This remarkable testimony, therefore, by presumably an unbelieving Syrian servant shows that an unbeliever was able to testify reliably about a profound spiritual reality of which he would not have been able to obtain any evidence to support his testimony. Although we have no way to know how or why this servant was able to provide this testimony, we must accept that this record of his ability to do so teaches us that secular testimony about spiritual realities are not inherently unreliable.
While Paul, Timothy, and Luke were going to a place of prayer, they encountered a certain female slave who was possessed by an evil spirit (Acts 16:16a). Through the influence of the evil spirit of divination that was upon her, this girl was greatly profiting her masters through her fortune telling (Acts 16:16b).
This girl followed Paul and the others around for many days and repeatedly gave forth a remarkable testimony: “These men are the servants of the most high God, which show unto us the way of salvation” (Acts 16:17). After being grieved by her doing so for many days, Paul commanded the spirit in the name of Jesus Christ to come out of the girl, and the spirit immediately left her (Acts 16:18).
This passage informs us that a presumably unbelieving girl who was possessed by an evil spirit yet repeatedly bore a reliable testimony to profound spiritual realities! Not only did she correctly proclaim crucial spiritual information about who Paul, Timothy, and Luke were, but also she gave forth a fully reliable testimony to the spiritual content of their message.
Even though she was a demon-possessed woman, she bore repeated testimonies to spiritual truths about which no demon would ever want any human to give true testimony! Her testimony was pointing people to true servants of the true God who were telling them the truth of how they could be saved—something about which the devil and his demons use all their infernal powers to try to prevent as many people as possible from ever hearing the truth about and believing!
Second Kings 6:8-12 teaches us that a secular servant of an evil king somehow testified to profound spiritual truth in spite of his having no stated source of his having such knowledge. Acts 16:16-18 shows that even a demon-possessed lost person yet provided provide reliable testimony to truths about vital spiritual realities and did so even though her testifying to those truths was in direct opposition to the aims and purposes of all fallen spirits!
Taken together, these two passages refute the notion that testimonies from secular people about spiritual realities are inherently unreliable. Applying what we learn from these passages to the objections raised about the reliability of secular testimonies to the role of fallen spirits in influencing people to produce ungodly music, we can be confident that such testimonies are not inherently unreliable.
Christians must not hold the false view that secular testimonies about fallen spirits and music are inherently unreliable. Because we have many testimonies from secular musicians that fallen spirits have influenced them to produce their music, we should reject all such music and all other music that uses the same styles about which they have borne testimony concerning the evil supernatural source of those styles.
[1] The following quotes are from a website that I found by doing a Google search on evil spirits and rock music:
Angus Young: (AC/DC guitarist) “…it’s like I’m on automatic pilot. By the time we’re halfway through the first number someone else is steering me. I’m just along for the ride. I become possessed when I get on stage” (Hit Parader, July 1985, p. 60).
John McGlaughlin: “One night we were playing and suddenly the spirit entered into me and I was playing but it was no longer me playing.” (Circus Magazine, April, 1972, p. 38)
Little Richard: “My true belief about Rock ‘n’ Roll — is this: I believe this kind of music is demonic . . . A lot of the BEATS in music today are taken from voodoo, from the voodoo DRUMS.” (Charles White, The Life and Times of Little Richard, p. 197)
Van Halen’s David Lee Roth “I’m gonna abandon my spirit to them which is exactly what I attempt to do. You work yourself up into that state and you fall into supplication of the demon gods…” [Van Halen’s David Lee Roth. Interview w. Rock. April 1984. Pg 30]
—http://www.inplainsite.org/html/voices_of_rock.html; accessed 1/17/14; 4:09 pm)
I also found the following sources from that same search: Note the testimonies provided in this web article (https://truediscipleship.com/ten-scriptural-reasons-why-the-rock-beat-is-evil-in-any-form/; accessed 9/21/19; 9:40 pm) and these testimonies from rock musicians themselves in this article (http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20America/CCM/hip_hop.htm; accessed 1/17/14; 3:55 pm); see also the similar testimonies in a similar article (http://wayoflife.org/index_files/rock_musicians_as_mediums.html; accessed 1/17/14; 4:14 pm.)
Please note that I have not independently verified the quotes provided in any of these sources. I have no reason, however, to doubt their veracity, especially since several sources provide some of the same quotes.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
Aunque muchos creyentes piensan que no es posible que se pongan en peligro a sí mismos y a los demás a través de la música si tiene palabras cristianas, una cuidadosa atención a la revelación bíblica y otras pruebas relativas a los espíritus caídos y sus influencias en la música humana demuestra lo contrario. El siguiente tratamiento de esa revelación y la evidencia nos advierte contra los peligros que hay para otros y para nosotros mismos a través de la música.
Dios es el único Ser eterno (Salmo 90:2; Juan 1:1-2), y Él creó todo lo que existe (Gen. 1:1, Juan 1:3), incluyendo todos los seres espirituales sobrenaturales (Gen. 2:1; Éxodo 20:11; Neh. 9:6; Salmo 148:1-5; Col. 1:16). Los seres espirituales sobrenaturales mencionados en la Biblia incluyen los serafines (Isaías 6:2), los querubines (Génesis 3:24), los cuatro seres vivientes (Rev. 4:8), los santos ángeles (Mateo 25:31), y los malos espíritus (Hechos 19:12).
Como Dios no es el autor del mal (Génesis 1:31; cf. Santiago 1:13), sabemos que los malos espíritus que se mencionan en las Escrituras fueron creados como seres espirituales santos (Ezequiel 28:14-15a; ver Judas 6). En algún momento después de su creación, se rebelaron contra Dios y se convirtieron en espíritus caídos (Ezequiel 28:15b; cf. Judas 6; 2 Pedro 2:4).
Los espíritus caídos tienen la intención de negar a Dios la gloria que Él solo merece de sus criaturas (Is. 14:12-14; cf. Col. 2:18; Ap. 9:20). Tratan de hacer daño a tantas de sus criaturas como sea posible para lograr su destrucción (cf. Mat. 8:32; Juan 8:44, Hechos 19:12), especialmente los seres humanos (Lucas 13:16; Hechos 10:38; 1 Ped. 5:8).
Debido a que el Padre desea que la gente le adore en espíritu y en verdad (Juan 4:23-24), podemos estar seguros de que los espíritus caídos quieren evitar que la gente le de esa adoración. Sin lugar a dudas, lo hacen de forma continua en todo el mundo, ya sea a través de la prevención por completo (2 Corintios 4:3-4; Col. 2:18; Ap. 9:20) o a través de la corrupción de la adoración en tantas formas como sea posible (cf. 2 Cor 11:3; 1 Tim 4:1-3).
Los espíritus caídos han influido a los seres humanos a hacer cosas malas sin que ellos se den cuenta de esta influencia (1 Crónicas 21:1; 1 Reyes 22:22; 2 Cor. 11:14). Han tenido esta influencia encubierta sobre los incrédulos (1 Reyes 22:22; Juan 13:27) igual que sobre los creyentes (1 Crónicas 21:1; Hechos 5:3).
Los ángeles cantaron cuando Dios creó la tierra y todo en ella (Job 38:6-7). Los ángeles tocan las trompetas (Éxodo 19:16; Ap. 8:2) y los seres espirituales celestiales adoran a Dios, juegan arpas, y cantan alabanzas a Dios y al Cordero (Apocalipsis 4:8-11; 5:8-14). Sabemos, pues, que los seres espirituales sobrenaturales, incluyendo los espíritus caídos, son seres musicales (ver este post para más explicaciones sobre este punto).
Los espíritus caídos han observado y escuchado toda la adoración del cielo que ha incluido la música (Job 38:6-7; Salmo 148:2; cf. Is. 6:3). Ellos saben por experiencia cómo suena la música celestial que le agrada a Dios.
Los espíritus caídos han observado las actividades de los seres humanos desde el principio de la humanidad (Génesis 3; 2 Cor. 11:3; cf. Job 1:7). Ellos saben exactamente lo que el hombre ha hecho de la música que ha complacido a Dios (por ejemplo, 2 Crón. 5:11-14).
Los espíritus caídos saben acerca de la música instrumental piadosa producida por un hombre lleno del Espíritu que expulsó a un espíritu malo de otro hombre (1 Sam. 16:14-23). Entonces, hay por lo menos un espíritu caído que ha experimentado personalmente el poder espiritual de la música piadosa (1 Sam. 16:23).
Los espíritus caídos tienen pleno conocimiento también de la música que el hombre ha hecho que no le ha complacido a Dios (por ejemplo, Is. 5:11-12; Dan. 3:5-7; 10; 15). Ellos, sin duda, juegan un papel importante en las actividades musicales de multitudes de personas que fueron destruidas en el Diluvio porque “todo designio de los pensamientos del corazón de ellos era de continuo solamente el mal” (Génesis 4:21 cf. Génesis 6:5; ver este post para una explicación completa de este punto clave).
Después del diluvio, en una ocasión particularmente sórdida, los espíritus caídos influyeron a la gente que había comido carne ofrecida a un ídolo en el culto sincretista de Jehová a cantar. El Espíritu Santo destaca su manera de cantar con una referencia explícita a su canto (Éxodo 32: 17-18). Debido a que el canto fue producido por la gente baja la influencia de los demonios (cf. 1 Cor. 10:20), comiendo, bebiendo y jugando idolátricamente (1 Corintios 10:7; incluyendo el baile impío [Éxodo 32:19]) de una manera tan mala y descontrolada que aun sus enemigos se avergonzaban de ellos (Éxodo 32:25), podemos estar seguros de que su canto a Jehová era malo también.
Teniendo en cuenta todo lo que sabemos acerca de los objetivos y actividades de los espíritus caídos y sobre todo su conocimiento de la música que agrada a Dios y la música que no le complace, los creyentes no deben ser en lo más mínimo despectivos en cuanto al papel de los espíritus caídos en la producción de los estilos musicales que son populares e impíos (Ef. 2:2-3, 1 Juan 5:19). Más bien, tenemos todas las razones para creer que los espíritus caídos han influido y seguirán influyendo a tantas personas como sea posible a escuchar y producir música que no agrada a Dios, sobre todo en su adoración a él.
De hecho, muchos músicos populares han declarado en diversas formas que la fuente de su música ha sido las influencias sobrenaturales fuera de sí mismos.[1] Los creyentes no deben rechazar tales testimonios—deben mantenerse lo más alejado posible de cualquier tipo de música, aunque tenga palabras cristianas, cuando hay la más mínima posibilidad de que los espíritus caídos hayan jugado un papel en el origen de esa música peligrosa.
Los cristianos deben rechazar (Sal. 1:1; Ef. 5:11) toda la música, incluyendo música con palabras cristianas, que emplea estilos musicales populares e impíos que los humanos malvados han producido con fines perversos explícitamente planteados, como la música rock, porque hay consideraciones bíblicas y fundamentales y testimonios personales que apuntan a los espíritus caídos como el origen sobrenatural de esos estilos impíos. ¡Cuidado con los peligros de la música!
[1] Las siguientes citas son de una página que he encontrado haciendo una búsqueda en Google sobre los malos espíritus y la música rock:
David Bowie: “Rock has always been THE DEVIL’S MUSIC. . .” (Rolling Stone, Feb. 12, 1976);
John Lennon: “I’ve sold my soul to the DEVIL.” (Ray Coleman, Lennon, p.256);
Little Richard: “I’m the Rock ‘n Roll singer that you heard about through the years. . . I was directed and commanded by another power. The power of DARKNESS. . . The power of the DEVIL, SATAN.” (Charles White, The Life and Times of Little Richard, pp. 205-206);
During a 1993 Oprah Winfrey interview, Michael Jackson, explained the reason for some of his filthy sexual gestures during his concerts: “It happens subliminally. IT’S THE MUSIC THAT COMPELS ME TO DO IT. You don’t think about it, it just happens. I’M SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM.” (The Evening Star, Feb. 11, 1993, p. A10)
—http:/ / www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils % 20en % 20America/CCM/hip_hop.htm ; visitada 17/01/14; 15:55
También encontré las siguientes fuentes en la misma búsqueda: Tenga en cuenta los testimonios prestados en el punto II de este artículo web (http://truediscipleship.org/Gtopics/general108.htm; visitada 01/17/14; 15:59) y los numerosos testimonios de los propios músicos de rock de este artículo ( http://www.inplainsite.org/html/voices_of_rock.html ; visitada 17/01/14; 16:09), ver también los testimonios similares en un artículo similar (http://wayoflife.org/index_files/rock_musicians_as_mediums.html ; visitada 17/01/14; 16:14).
Por favor, tenga en cuenta que no he verificado de forma independiente las citas provistas en estas fuentes. Sin embargo no tengo ninguna razón para dudar de su veracidad, sobre todo porque varias fuentes proporcionan algunas de las mismas cotizaciones.
*I’d like to thank my friend Jeremy Patterson for his help in translating the English version of this article into Spanish.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
From my reading in the Reina Valera, I came up with the idea recently of using music in a different way to teach my Spanish guitar students truths about God. Here is a PDF of an exercise that uses major scales in the six main keys used in guitar (F, C, G, D, A, and E) to teach some Spanish names for God and some truths in Spanish about God. By learning this exercise, the guitar player not only learns some great truths about God, but also he learns how to play the notes for these six major scales!
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
This graphic shows the top 20 posts & pages viewed on my blog, according to Jetpack. Although Jetpack says that these are the all time statistics for my blog, they actually are only the statistics since I first got Jetpack for my blog.
I find it interesting that 12 of the 20 have to do with music, 4 have to do with Christian books, and 2 are posts about free guitar music.
Because these are the top 20 posts & pages viewed on my blog, which I consider a vital ministry that God has given me, you might want to take a look at any of these that you have not looked at before to find out what has been so interesting to all the other people who have looked at them.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
Although many believers think that it is not possible for them to endanger themselves and others through music if it has Christian words, careful attention to biblical revelation and other evidence concerning fallen spirits and their influences on human music proves otherwise. The following treatment of that revelation and evidence warns us to beware endangering others and ourselves through music.
God is the only eternal Being (Ps. 90:2; John 1:1-2), and He created everything else that exists (Gen. 1:1; John 1:3), including all supernatural spirit beings (Gen. 2:1; Exod. 20:11; Neh. 9:6; Ps. 148:1-5; Col. 1:16). Supernatural spirit beings mentioned in Scripture include seraphim (Is. 6:2), cherubim (Gen. 3:24), four living creatures (Rev. 4:8), holy angels (Matt. 25:31), and evil spirits (Acts 19:12).
Because God is not the Author of evil (Gen. 1:31; cf. James 1:13), we know that the evil spirits mentioned in Scripture were created as holy spiritual beings (Ezek. 28:14-15a; cf. Jude 6). At some point after their creation, they rebelled against God and became fallen spirits (Ezek. 28:15b; cf. Jude 6; 2 Pet. 2:4).
Fallen spirits are intent on denying God the glory that He alone is due from His creatures (Is. 14:12-14; cf. Col. 2:18; Rev. 9:20). They seek to harm as many of His creatures as possible and to bring about their destruction (cf. Matt. 8:32; John 8:44; Acts 19:12), especially humans (Luke 13:16; Acts 10:38; 1 Pet. 5:8).
Because the Father desires people who will worship Him in spirit and truth (John 4:23-24), we can be certain that fallen spirits want to prevent people from giving Him that worship. Undoubtedly, they do so continuously throughout the world either through preventing it entirely (2 Cor. 4:3-4; Col. 2:18; Rev. 9:20) or through corrupting it in as many ways as possible and as much as possible (cf. 2 Cor. 11:3; 1 Tim. 4:1-3).
Fallen spirits have influenced humans to do evil things without their knowing anything about that influence (1 Chron. 21:1; 1 Kings 22:22; 2 Cor. 11:14). They have had this covert influence on both unbelievers (1 Kings 22:22; John 13:27) and believers (1 Chron. 21:1; Acts 5:3).
The angels sang when God created the earth and everything on it (Job. 38:6-7). Angels sound trumpets (Exod. 19:16; Rev. 8:2) and heavenly spirit beings worship God, play harps, and sing praise to God and the Lamb (Rev. 4:8-11; 5:8-14). We know, therefore, that supernatural spirit beings, including fallen spirits, are musical beings (see this post for further explanation of this point.
Fallen spirits have observed and heard all the worship of heaven that has included music (Job 38:6-7; Ps. 148:2; cf. Is. 6:3). They know experientially what heavenly music that pleases God sounds like.
Fallen spirits have observed the activities of humans from the beginning of mankind (Gen. 3; 2 Cor. 11:3; cf. Job 1:7). They know exactly what music man has made that has pleased God (e.g. 2 Chron. 5:11-14).
Fallen spirits know about the godly instrumental music produced by a Spirit-empowered man that drove out an evil spirit from another man (1 Sam. 16:14-23). At least one fallen spirit, therefore, has personally experienced the spiritual power of such godly music (1 Sam. 16:23).
Fallen spirits have full knowledge also about the music that man has made that has not pleased God (e.g. Is. 5:11-12; Dan. 3:5-7, 10, 15). They undoubtedly played a major role in the musical activities of multitudes of people who were destroyed in the Flood because “every imagination of the thoughts of [their hearts] was only evil continually” (Gen. 4:21 cf. Gen. 6:5; see this post for a full explanation of this key point).
After the Flood, on a particularly sordid occasion, fallen spirits influenced people who had eaten meat offered to an idol in syncretistic worship of Yahweh to sing in a way that the Holy Spirit highlights by providing an explicit record of that singing (Exod. 32:17-18). Because that singing was produced by demon-influenced people (cf. 1 Cor. 10:20) who were idolatrously eating, drinking, and playing (1 Cor. 10:7; including ungodly dancing [Exod. 32:19]) in such an evil, uncontrolled way that even their enemies were ashamed of them (Exod. 32:25), we can be certain that their singing that was supposedly to Yahweh was evil as well.
Given all that we know about the aims and activities of fallen spirits and about their full knowledge about music that pleases God and music that does not please Him, believers must not be at all dismissive about the role of fallen spirits in the production of ungodly popular musical styles (Eph. 2:2-3; 1 John 5:19). Rather, we have every reason to believe that fallen spirits have influenced and continue to influence as many people as possible to listen to and produce music that does not please God, especially in their worship of Him.
In fact, many popular musicians have testified in various ways that the source of their music has been supernatural influences from outside themselves.[1] Believers must not reject such testimonies—they must stay as far away as possible from any music, even if it has Christian words, when there is even the slightest possibility that fallen spirits have played a role in originating that dangerous music (see also Are Secular Testimonies about Fallen Spirits and Music Inherently Unreliable?).
Christians must reject (Ps. 1:1; Eph. 5:11) all music, including music with Christian words, that employs ungodly popular musical styles that evil humans have produced for explicitly stated evil purposes, such as rock music, because vital biblical considerations and sobering personal testimonies point to fallen spirits as the supernatural origin of those ungodly styles. Beware endangering yourself and others through music!
[1] The following quotes are from a website that I found by doing a Google search on evil spirits and rock music:
David Bowie: “Rock has always been THE DEVIL’S MUSIC. . .” (Rolling Stone, Feb. 12, 1976);
John Lennon: “I’ve sold my soul to the DEVIL.” (Ray Coleman, Lennon, p.256);
Little Richard: “I’m the Rock ‘n Roll singer that you heard about through the years. . . I was directed and commanded by another power. The power of DARKNESS. . . The power of the DEVIL, SATAN.” (Charles White, The Life and Times of Little Richard, pp. 205-206);
During a 1993 Oprah Winfrey interview, Michael Jackson, explained the reason for some of his filthy sexual gestures during his concerts: “It happens subliminally. IT’S THE MUSIC THAT COMPELS ME TO DO IT. You don’t think about it, it just happens. I’M SLAVE TO THE RHYTHM.” (The Evening Star, Feb. 11, 1993, p. A10)
—http://www.jesus-is-savior.com/Evils%20in%20America/CCM/hip_hop.htm; accessed 1/17/14; 3:55 pm
I also found the following sources from that same search: Note the testimonies provided in point II of this web article (http://truediscipleship.org/Gtopics/general108.htm; accessed 1/17/14; 3:59 pm) and the many testimonies from rock musicians themselves in this article (http://www.inplainsite.org/html/voices_of_rock.html; accessed 1/17/14; 4:09 pm); see also the similar testimonies in a similar article (http://wayoflife.org/index_files/rock_musicians_as_mediums.html; accessed 1/17/14; 4:14 pm.)
Please note that I have not independently verified the quotes provided in any of these sources. I have no reason, however, to doubt their veracity, especially since several sources provide some of the same quotes.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
I am trying to learn to pray in Spanish. I produced the following model prayers using BibleWorks 8, Google Translate, the translation tool at Spanishdict.com (http://www.spanishdict.com/translation), and Webster’s Comprehensive Spanish-English Dictionary.
The Bible references provide the verse that I used to write each prayer. If you know Spanish and see any problems with anything below, please let me know.
(Estoy aprendiendo a orar en español. Si ves algún error en las oraciones siguientes, por favor, házmelo saber.)
Ten misericordia de nosotros, Jehová, porque somos pecadores. (Ps. 9:13)
Abre nuestros ojos para que veamos las maravillas de tu ley. (Ps. 119:18)
Nosotros deseamos que tus santos sean prosperado en todas las cosas y que tengan salud, así como prosperan sus almas. (3 John 2)
Padre santo, guarda en tu nombre a todos nosotros, a quien tú has dado a tu Hijo Jesucristo, para que seamos uno, así como tú y tu Hijo y tu Espíritu Santo somos uno. (John 17:11)
Te rogamos que nos guardes del mal. (John 17:15)
Santifícanos en tu verdad; tu palabra es verdad. (John 17:17)
Conceda que tu pueblo sean perfecto en unidad. (John 17:23)
Padre, por favor, haz que nosotros, a quien has dado a tu Hijo, para estar con Él donde Él está para que podamos contemplar su gloria. (John 17:24)
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
My Bible reading goal for this year is to read through the whole Bible in Spanish. So far, after 12 days, I have read 40 chapters in the Reina Valera (R60).
Reading the Bible through in another language like Spanish is for me similar to reading a commentary on the Bible in some respects because the translational choices sometimes bring out conceptual links between passages and concepts that I have not seen from reading the English Bible.
For example, compare how the prohibition against lusting after the evil woman/strange woman (Prov. 6:24-25) reads in English versus Spanish:
Pro 6:24 To keep thee from the evil woman, from the flattery of the tongue of a strange woman. 25 Lust not after her beauty in thine heart; neither let her take thee with her eyelids.
R60 Pro 6:24 Para que te guarden de la mala mujer, De la blandura de la lengua de la mujer extraña. 25 No codicies su hermosura en tu corazón, Ni ella te prenda con sus ojos;
Webster’s Comprehensive Spanish-English Dictionary provides “to covet” as the definition of codiciar (the verb used in the R60 in the first statement in verse 25). Reading that, Exodus 20:17 came to mind, so I checked and found that the R60 uses the same verb there as it does in Proverbs 6:25:
Exo 20:17 Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour’s.
R60 Exo 20:17 No codiciarás la casa de tu prójimo, no codiciarás la mujer de tu prójimo, ni su siervo, ni su criada, ni su buey, ni su asno, ni cosa alguna de tu prójimo.
Exodus 20:17 specifically prohibits coveting “thy neighbour’s wife.” The larger context of Proverbs 6:24-25 warns about lusting after the beauty of an evil strange woman and going into one’s neighbor’s wife:
Pro 6:29 So he that goeth in to his neighbour’s wife; whosoever toucheth her shall not be innocent.
R60 Pro 6:29 Así es el que se llega a la mujer de su prójimo; No quedará impune ninguno que la tocare.
The use of codiciar in both Exodus 20:17 and Proverbs 6:25 brings out that lusting for illicit physical relations with your neighbor’s wife is a key aspect of what characterizes the sinful coveting that God prohibits concerning her. In this way, reading the R60 helped me to see a key connection between important passages that I do not rember specifically linking before.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
First Samuel 16 reveals several truths that are lacking in the theology of music of many believers today. Because the Holy Spirit has inspired this passage of Scripture to profit us so that we will be thoroughly equipped to do every good work (2 Tim. 3:15-17), we must give close attention to this passage if we are to have a sound theology of music.
After informing us that the Spirit was on David from the day that Samuel anointed him (1 Sam. 16:13), First Samuel 16:14-23 immediately thereafter provides us with a lengthy report of how David’s skillfully playing the harp relieved Saul from terrible affliction:
1Sa 16:14 But the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD troubled him.
15 And Saul’s servants said unto him, Behold now, an evil spirit from God troubleth thee.
16 Let our lord now command thy servants, which are before thee, to seek out a man, who is a cunning player on an harp: and it shall come to pass, when the evil spirit from God is upon thee, that he shall play with his hand, and thou shalt be well.
17 And Saul said unto his servants, Provide me now a man that can play well, and bring him to me.
18 Then answered one of the servants, and said, Behold, I have seen a son of Jesse the Bethlehemite, that is cunning in playing, and a mighty valiant man, and a man of war, and prudent in matters, and a comely person, and the LORD is with him.
19 Wherefore Saul sent messengers unto Jesse, and said, Send me David thy son . . .
23 And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him. (bold added to the original)
The flow of thought from 1 Samuel 16:13 to this passage shows that the passage is not merely stressing that a skillful harp player profited Saul, but that a Spirit-empowered skillful harp player did so (cf. “the Lord was with him” [16:18]). We know, therefore, that the skillful music that David was playing was not merely humanly produced instrumental music—it was divinely empowered instrumental music and therefore godly music.
Moreover, this passage speaks only of David’s skillfully playing the harp and does not say anything about his singing to Saul. In fact, five explicit references to the playing of a musical instrument (1 Sam. 16:16 [2x]; 17; 18; 23) show incontestably that God is emphasizing instrumental music—apart from any words— in this passage.
The passage thus stresses to us that David’s ministry of that solely instrumental music that was Spirit-empowered powerfully benefited Saul for good (1 Sam. 16:23). A sound theology of music, therefore, must account fully for the teaching of this passage that shows that godly music without words had powerful effects for good.
An evil spirit was plaguing Saul (1 Sam. 16:14). To relieve him of his affliction that was caused by that spirit, his servants advised him with confidence that his availing himself of certain skillfully played instrumental music would make him well (1 Sam. 16:15-16).
Just as they had said, Saul’s receiving such ministry did refresh him and make him well (1 Sam. 16:23). David’s instrumental music did so because it had a profound spiritual effect of delivering him from the supernatural cause of his affliction—“the evil spirit departed from him” (1 Sam. 16:23)!
This passage shows that godly instrumental music drove away an evil spirit that was afflicting Saul. David’s godly instrumental music, therefore, not only had a beneficial spiritual effect on Saul—it also had a powerful spiritual effect on an evil spirit!
We must learn, therefore, that godly music without any words does not just affect humans; it also has effects on evil supernatural spirit beings. Although we should expect unbelievers to deny any such aspect of music and hold that music is only about humans, believers cannot and must not deny that godly instrumental music is not just about humans.
This passage shows that godly instrumental music ministered by a believer who had the Spirit upon him (1 Sam. 16:13) did not just profit Saul by changing his emotional state. Although it did benefit him emotionally, the instrumental music also profited him spiritually by driving away an evil spirit that was afflicting him!
We, therefore, must not make the serious mistake of restricting our understanding of godly instrumental music to its emotional effects on humans. Although the emotional effects of music on humans are very important, godly instrumental music has spiritual effects that go far beyond the effects that it has on the emotions of the hearer.
A theology of music that understands that godly music must have lyrics for it to benefit other believers spiritually is an unbiblical theology. Rather, believers must hold that godly instrumental music also profits believers not just emotionally but also spiritually, including helping to relieve them from any oppression by evil spirits that they may be experiencing.
In the debates about what music and musical styles are fitting for believers, believers must not just talk about how various pieces and styles of music affect human emotions. They must also keep in mind that instrumental music has spiritual effects on both humans and supernatural beings.
Furthermore, demanding that people explain in detail how such spiritual effects are specifically mediated by specifics about how the godly instrumental music is played is an unbiblical insistence. God has not given us detailed explanations about how godly instrumental music influences the spiritual realm, and many such things may very likely be entirely beyond human comprehension (cf. John 3:8).
Simply because we cannot explain how godly instrumental music affects supernatural beings does not justify our denying that it does. The revelation given in First Samuel 16:14-23 demands that we accept what God teaches about the spiritual effects of godly instrumental music whether we can explain them or not.
A sound theology of music must reflect fully the important divine revelation provided about music in 1 Samuel 16:14-23. God teaches us through this passage that a sound theology of music understands that not only is godly music not just about words that are sung, it also is not just about humans and their emotions.
Related posts:
David’s Instrumental Music Was Not Amoral
Did an Unholy Spirit from God Torment Saul?
Correcting a Wrong Handling of the Accounts of David’s Music Ministry to Saul
Resources That Provide Answers to Key Issues concerning CCM
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
Written by Bernard of Clairvaux, “Jesus, Thou Joy of Loving Hearts,” is a good hymn for beginning to intermediate guitarists to learn because it is easy to play and has a nice melody with a rich text. This PDF provides the first stanza, melody notes, and chords for this hymn in the key of D using basic chords that every guitarist should learn and know well.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
Rajesh Gandhi holds a Ph.D. in New Testament Interpretation from Bob Jones Seminary; he's a long-time member of Mount Calvary Baptist Church in Greenville, SC.
