The music we choose to listen to can affect us either positively or negatively.

To most people, listening to music is a somewhat passive, sedative, and even thoughtless activity and, therefore, is often considered a relatively harmless exercise.

But be that as it may, music can be used by the enemy to draw believers into a state of spiritual dullness, apathy, and indifference to the things of God so that it becomes an impediment to our sanctification (Col. 1:10; 1 Pet. 2:2; 2 Pet. 3:18). As the seventeenth-century Puritan William Spurstowe (1605-1666) warns in his book The Wiles of Satan:

Satan is wholly bent to evil, and makes it his only study to dive and search into men so that he may better fasten his temptations upon them. . . . He does not go forward a step without noting every man’s estate, temper, age, calling, and company so that he may with greater advantage tempt to evil, and thereby bring men into the same misery and condition as himself.[4]

As with other forms of stimulative media—and music is in some ways a kind of emotional and psychological stimulant—listening to music is not merely a static proposition. The music we absorb never only enters our ears and that’s as far as it goes. On the contrary, it is through the channel of our ears that music, and the messages it conveys, for better or worse, enters our mind and, subsequently, our heart.

There is a spiritual relationship between the music we listen to and its spiritual effect on our mind and heart (1 Sam. 16:23; Ps. 71:23; Prov. 25:20; 1 Cor. 14:15). That is why biblical discernment is so important with regard to the type of music to which we choose to expose ourselves (Phil. 1:9-10). As Dr. Burk Parsons, senior pastor of Saint Andrew’s Chapel in Sanford, Florida, writes in the July 2017 issue of Tabletalk magazine,

Entertainment affects our minds, our homes, our culture, and our churches. Consequently, we must be vigilant as we use discernment in how we enjoy entertainment—looking to the light of God’s Word to guide us and inform our consciences. Entertainment isn’t evil in itself, and we can enjoy it as we remember that in whatever we do, our chief end is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever as we live coram Deo, before the face of our omniscient and gracious God.[1]

In Philippians 4:8, the apostle Paul exhorts believers to dwell only on those things that are “excellent and worthy of praise.” The Greek verb “dwell” (λογίζομαι)[2] conveys the need for godly discipline and wisdom in exposing ourselves only to those things that edify and sanctify us (Rom. 12:2; Gal. 6:14).

It is with that purpose in mind that, as Christians, we are obligated to consider the impact music has on our soul, particularly in light of the character of the God in whom we profess to believe and serve (Lk. 6:46). Consider that in light of what Christian songwriter Bob Kauflin writes in the book Worldliness: Resisting the Seduction of a Fallen World:

What does music have to do with worldliness? To answer that question, we have to ask a few more. What motivates us to like the music we do? Is music entirely neutral? Why does music affect us so deeply? Does the music I listen to affect my thoughts or behavior in any way? Does it say anything about my relationship with God? Most important, are my music choices consistent with the gospel that has saved me? If these questions don’t seem important, think again. Music can be more dangerous than most of us realize. It has the potential to harden our hearts and weaken our faith. In fact, a wise Christian understands that listening to music without discernment and godly intent reveals a heart willing to flirt with the world.[3]

Scripture teaches that all good gifts come from God (Eccl. 2:24-25; 1 Tim. 6:17b), and music is unarguably one of God’s good gifts.

In Ephesians 5:19, the apostle Paul urges believers to speak to one another “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.” Sadly, however, many professing believers today view music as an idol, a kind of audible “golden calf” that they refuse to submit to any godly boundaries or restrictions (Ex. 32:4).

But as people who have been made new in Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 5:17; Gal. 2:20), we must not carry on as if music, or any other medium for that matter, is a separate area of our life to which the Word of God does not apply. As Dr. Joel R. Beeke writes in his book Puritan Reformed Theology: Historical, Experiential, and Practical Studies for the Whole of Life:

Positively speaking, a believer must “endeavor to have a heart marked by modesty [and] purity” (Matt. 5:8) and to be “chaste in all his actions” (2 Cor. 7:1). The Christian must always keep watch, knowing that “we carry the seed of uncleanness within.” He must especially guard his eyes and ears against “all occasions which would stimulate his sins.”  

God’s people are to have a biblical worldview about everything in life, and the music we listen to is no exception.

Music is a gift of God’s common grace that we are to enjoy for His glory and our edification (Ps. 105:2). That is the case regardless of whether the music we listen to is secular or ecclesiastical.  

In Christ’s service to you,

Darrell

[1] https://tabletalkmagazine.com/article/2017/07/discerning-entertainment/

[2] https://www.blueletterbible.org/lexicon/g3049/nasb95/tr/0-1/  

[3] pp. 70-71, hardcover, Crossway (2008).

4. pp. 23-24, hardcover, Soli Deo Gloria Publications (2004)