Music Power

The Bible declares that the Words of God are a lamp unto our feet. I am enamored with the beautiful supernatural Words of the living God, for in the majority-text Holy Bible dwells the foundation of all that is true. The Scriptures declare:

∙ The escape from carnality—the way out;

∙ All the insights to life you’ll ever need;

∙ The immutable laws of life;

∙ Instruction in righteousness;

∙ Conviction for the purpose of correction;

∙ The rules of social interaction;

∙ The rules for spirit-flesh interaction;

∙ All the glorious promises of God, and so much more.

After all these years, the Word of God remains the correct answer to all of life’s questions. In order to understand and become one with truth, entrance into the family of God via the born-again experience must be made. And it’s made through the cleansing blood of God’s only begotten Son, Jesus Christ the Righteous. Get help, get life, get answers to who you are, why you’re here and where you’re going. Click on to "Further With Jesus" on this website. You’ll find it on the navigation bar on the left of your screen. Choose life and live. NOW FOR TODAY’S SUBJECT.

GOD SAID in Psalms, chapter 150:

1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

God instructs Moses to teach the children of Israel a song as a testimony between Him and them. Deuteronomy, chapter 31, verses 19-22, reads:

19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.

22 Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.

After God delivered Israel from the hand of Egypt’s bondage, Moses and the Israelites sang unto God. The first two verses of Exodus, chapter 15, contain the beginning of the song:

1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

King David set up a huge musical team to worship the LORD in the sanctuary.

And when the great prophet Elisha was called to prophesy in a tough spiritual setting, he calls for music. II Kings, chapter 3, verses 15-16:

15 But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.

16 And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches.

When King Saul was troubled by an evil spirit, he calls for a young lad named David to play upon his harp. I Samuel, chapter 16, verses 14-23:

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, which is with the sheep.

20 And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul.

21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.

22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight.

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.

According to the God who created man, music plays a very important role in this life.

MAN SAID:  Forget the Bible. It’s not relevant for today’s modern man. It was written by men.

Now THE RECORD. Why is there this phenomenon of song and music? It transcends every nationality line and, for that matter, all of creation. It exists because it is part of the spiritual construct of all life and all of God’s creation is designed to harmonize with it. Within music is found great benefit to all of life and God invests much instruction time in our owner’s manual, the Holy Bible.

A relatively new psycho-medical area of training is making serious strides in the field of medicine, and it’s called music therapy. Some of the following cited research will make its now recognized benefits abundantly clear. A marvelous thing to consider is that thousands of years before science knew the reason why, God in His perfect wisdom, the engineer and creator of all life, declared the importance of music in His Word—just another proof of the supernatural credibility of the Bible.

Music is now known to improve immune response. A subject on this website in the "GodSaidManSaid: The Record" category titled, "A Merry Heart Or a Broken Spirit," declares that when one is in a joyful, positive spirit, something that music can help induce, his bone marrow pumps out red and white blood cells profusely. Red blood cells carry food and oxygen to the body and white blood cells destroy disease. A joyful, positive spirit, that music can surely help to promote, enhances a strong immune system.

Mood is a reflection of the spirit dwelling in your earthen vessel (your body). The Bible teaches that music is a spiritual medium having the ability to change mood. Spirits are affected by music: whether the spirit of man, of angels, or devils. Songs of praise to God have the power of mood-changing life in them, because God inhabits the praise of His people (Psalms, chapter 22, verse 3), and where the Spirit of God and His Light dwells, the spirit of darkness and its dark moods must flee. Note I Samuel, chapter 16, verse 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.

The music of the LORD has the power to alter spiritual composition. Also note that evil music has the opposite effect. For example, carnal musical concerts, especially those directed toward the 15 to 30- year-old age group, have major security concerns. Police are brought in to attempt to control the violence, alcohol, and illicit drugs. At a gospel concert you’ll typically only need police to help direct traffic. Two different musics—two different spirits—two different moods—two different Gods: one big G-O-D and one little g-o-d. So music directly affects moods and science now confirms it. Energy Times magazine cited research published in two medical journals concerning mood. The journals stated that "People undergoing cardiac procedures enjoy improved mood and see drops in blood pressure and respiratory rates after listening to music. Also, neophyte music makers have shown improved immune responses." [End of quote]

In a 1998 article in the publication Natural Health, the following paragraphs were found discussing music therapy research and the music of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:

The power of Mozart’s music came to public attention largely through innovative research at the University of California in the mid-1990s. At the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory in Irvine, a research team began to look at the effects of Mozart on college students and children. Frances H. Rauscher, Ph.D., and her colleagues conducted a study in which thirty-six undergraduates from the psychology department scored eight to nine points higher on the spatial IQ test (part of the Stanford-Binet intelligence scale) after listening to ten minutes of Mozart’s "Sonata for Two Pianos in D Major." Mozart’s music "may `warm up’ the brain," suggested Gordon Shaw, a theoretical physicist and one of the Irvine researchers. He suspects that complex music facilitates certain complex neuronal patterns involved in high brain activities like math and chess. By contrast, simple and repetitive music could have the opposite effect. The day after the Irvine findings were announced, music stores in one major city sold out of Mozart recordings. In a follow-up study, the scientists explored the neurophysiological bases of this enhancement. Spatial intelligence was further tested by projecting sixteen abstract figures similar to folded pieces of paper on an overhead screen for one minute each. The exercises tested whether seventy-nine students could tell how the items would look when they were unfolded. Over a five-day period, one group listened to the original Mozart sonata, another to silence, and a third to mixed sounds, including the music of Philip Glass, an audio-taped story, and a dance piece. The researchers reported that all three groups improved their scores from day one to day two, but the Mozart group’s pattern recognition soared 62 percent compared to 14 percent for the silence group and 11 percent for the mixed-sound group. The Mozart group continued to achieve the highest scores on subsequent days. Proposing a mechanism for this effect, the scientists suggested that listening to Mozart helps "organize" the firing patterns of neurons in the cerebral cortex, especially strengthening creative right-brain processes associated with spatial-temporal reasoning. Listening to music, they concluded, acts as "an exercise" for facilitating operations associated with higher brain function. In plain English, it can improve your concentration and enhance your ability to make intuitive leaps.

In a 1999 article titled "Sound Advice" in Better Homes and Gardens, this following excerpt was found:

Your doctor will never tell you to play two CDs and call him in the morning, but music is fast becoming a part of the prescription to feel better. Hospital intensive care units, nurseries, and operating rooms across the country are playing music for patients. Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the Orlando Regional Healthcare System in Florida, and the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio have all reported that music helps patients improve. Studies show that music therapy—using music as a way to communicate—helps trigger memory and reality awareness in patients with Alzheimer’s disease and helps improve the mobility of stroke patients and people with Parkinson’s disease. It’s so effective that music therapy is reimbursable under certain conditions of Medicare.

Again the article reports:

In hospitals, anxious patients often have elevated blood pressure, heartbeat, and respiratory rates, placing them at greater risk for complications. Dr. Fred Schwartz, an anesthesiologist at Piedmont Hospital in Atlanta, says that for an anxious patient, music can have as comparable an effect as taking five milligrams of Valium. When music plays in his operating room, Dr. Schwartz says anesthesia requirements drop from 10 to 20 percent.

And finally the article reports:

Large numbers of doctors began hearing about music’s measurable effect on hospital patients in 1986 when Jayne Standley, Ph.D., chair of the music therapy program at Florida State University, published a study in the Journal of Music Therapy. The study found the following:* Premature babies in intensive care who were exposed to music were calmer and used oxygen more efficiently. The babies also gained weight faster and required shorter periods of hospitalization than babies who didn’t listen to music. Burn victims, and patients undergoing treatment for cancer, brain disorders, and kidney dialysis reported less discomfort when music was played during painful procedures. Patients who awoke to music playing after surgery required less pain medication and could wait longer for their analgesic medications than other patients.

The power of music is created by God and all of creation responds to it. Put music therapy to work in your vehicle and home. Bless yourself and your home by playing and singing along with Godly music. Your spirit and your flesh will respond favorably.

GOD SAID, Psalms, chapter 150:

1 Praise ye the LORD. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power.

2 Praise him for his mighty acts: praise him according to his excellent greatness.

3 Praise him with the sound of the trumpet: praise him with the psaltery and harp.

4 Praise him with the timbrel and dance: praise him with stringed instruments and organs.

5 Praise him upon the loud cymbals: praise him upon the high sounding cymbals.

6 Let every thing that hath breath praise the LORD. Praise ye the LORD.

GOD SAID, Deuteronomy, chapter 31, verses 19-22:

19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.

20 For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey, and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.

21 And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware.

22 Moses therefore wrote this song the same day, and taught it the children of Israel.

GOD SAID, Exodus 15:1-2

1 Then sang Moses and the children of Israel this song unto the LORD, and spake, saying, I will sing unto the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously: the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.

2 The LORD is my strength and song, and he is become my salvation: he is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation; my father’s God, and I will exalt him.

GOD SAID, II Kings, chapter 3, verses 15-16:

15 But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.

16 And he said, Thus saith the LORD, Make this valley full of ditches.

GOD SAID, I Samuel, chapter 16, verses 14-23:

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, which is with the sheep.

20 And Jesse took an ass laden with bread, and a bottle of wine, and a kid, and sent them by David his son unto Saul.

21 And David came to Saul, and stood before him: and he loved him greatly; and he became his armourbearer.

22 And Saul sent to Jesse, saying, Let David, I pray thee, stand before me; for he hath found favour in my sight.

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.

MAN SAID:  Forget the Bible. It’s not relevant for today’s modern man. It was written by men.


Now you have THE RECORD.



References:

King James Bible

Brown, A.P., "Sound Advice," Better Homes and Gardens, October 1999.

Campbell, D., "The Riddle of the Mozart Effect," Natural Health, January-February 1998.

Energy Times, January 2003, p 16.

J. Music Ther. 2002; 39:30-9

Prog. Cardiovasc. Nurs. 2001; 16:5-13

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