- II Kings 3:15 “But now bring me a minstrel. And it came to pass, when the minstrel played, that the hand of the LORD came upon him.”
Many, many studies have found the effects of music on life around us. A study in 2014 was done with Mozart’s Sonata for Two Pianos in D major and posted online by National Institute of Health. They tested children with epileptic seizures. Almost all of the children showed significant decreased epileptic fits after listening to the music for 8 minutes once a day right before bedtime for 6 months.
Music is extremely powerful. We have already seen in “The Spirit Realm” how music works through the spiritual side of things. In this article, it is important that we notice the physical realm. It has been said, “Music is a part of us, and either ennobles or degrades our behavior.” In our text, for instance, the prophet Elisha is assisted in prophecy by a minstrel’s musical playing which Elisha specifically asked for. Music set the tone for Elisha’s prophesying. This is one main reason why most churches today provide congregational singing and special music before the preacher preaches. Music sets the tone both spiritually and physically.
Music’s effect on life is the reason for the famous statement, “Music soothes the savage beast.” But music doesn’t just “soothe the savage beast.” Bad music can stir the savage beast. Maybe you have heard or read of various studies concerning music and plants? Repeated tests have found that classical and/or spiritual music helps speed healthy plant growth while rock, country, pop, etc… hinder or even kill certain plants (One publication that details such studies is The Secret Life of Plants by Peter Tomkins and Christopher Bird, HarperCollins, 1989).
The following true story is taken from the book “Measuring the Music”. In 1968, Dorothy Retallack, a 43 year-old biology student at Temple Buell College in Denver, CO, conducted a series of 11 experiments exposing several species of plants to different styles of music for her biology class. Quoting author John Makujina, “Her professor, Francis F. Broman, assures us that ‘Dorothy worked under strict scientific controls from the first, and we did everything possible to insure accurate, unbiased results.’ Usually groups of 5 different plants were placed in environmentally controlled chambers that assured identical temperatures, lighting, and air supply for the control and test groups. Further, all the plants were potted in identical soil and were given equal amounts of water at the same time. The only variable was the type of music. In one experiment, Retallack exposed one set of plants (petunias and zinnias) to rock music played on station KIMN and another set to semi-classical music and hymns originating from station KLIR. All other factors being equal, including the volume, ‘the petunias listening to KIMN [rock station] refused to bloom. Those on KLIR [semi-classical and hymns] developed 6 beautiful blooms’ Further, the petunias surrounded by rock music leaned away from the speaker ‘showing very erratic growth.’ At the same time, the petunias treated with classical sounds grew toward the speaker. The zinnias had a similar reaction. More telling is the fact that after one month all the plants listening to rock music died! Author John Makujina continued, “At this point, skeptics will insist that other variables could have been responsible for the startling results. Indeed, Retallack was immediately inundated by accusations of this nature from students and faculty at the college. Retallack satisfied each of her critics by reproducing the experiment according to the stricter controls that they recommended. Some skeptics insisted that the voices of the disk jockeys on the two types of radio stations may have caused the different outcomes. In response, Retallack duplicated the experiments, this time using taped music without the variable of the announcer’s voice. The outcome was the same. Soothing music benefited the plants while rock music killed them. Others suggested that results such as the plants leaning away from the rock music could be attributed to her handling of the plants. To meet this objection, Retallack ‘turned the flower pots so the plants leaned toward the speaker. A few days later the plants had reversed position and were again trying to get away from the rock sound.’ Another cynic felt that Retallack’s emotions influenced the experiments since she was the only one who maintained the plants and their environment. Nevertheless, when the experiment was repeated, this time with the help of an impartial custodian who knew nothing of the study, the outcome was identical. Retallack did not stop simply with the results of these experiments. She supported the findings with ‘weekly measurements of plant growth, root system changes, and leaf discoloration.’ Further, even after her science project was completed, she continued her experiments at school with findings that supported her original studies. These later experiments also verified that ‘soothing melodies seemed to make the plants flourish. Loud discordant sounds made them droop, then die.’ In a final experiment, which the Empire Magazine recorded on film, rock music and other forms of dissonant music were tested on bean, squash, corn, morning glory, and coleus. Again, using strict controls, one group was exposed to the hard rock…and another to the dissonant and atonal sounds of contemporary avant-garde music. The control group was isolated from all music and sound. Within 10 days, the rock music plants were found leaning away from the speaker, as were those listening to the avant-garde music – though to a lesser degree. Three weeks after the experiment had commenced, reporter Olga Curtis described the condition of the plants: ‘The plants in the acid rock chamber were dying. The squash had almost fallen over. The morning glory, instead of crawling up as is natural, had sagged and were stretched over four pots, in the direction away from the music. Corn stalks sagged in the middle. The beans were stunted and tilted away from the speaker. All the plants showed browning leaves except the crimson coleus.’ Furthermore, the article records that the plants exposed to the rock music were leaning 60 degrees away from the speaker. Even more striking is the fact that after unpotting, Retallack discovered that the roots were also traveling away from the speaker! The plants in the control group (no music) were 6 ½ inches taller than the rock group and had vibrant fulsome roots. The control group also out-performed those treated with avant-garde music, which managed slightly better than the rock group. Better than all these was a group that was exposed to soothing devotional music in an earlier experiment. These, as expected, grew toward the speaker, produced healthy shoots and roots and grew 2 inches taller than the control group of the later study.”
In “The Spirit Realm”, we saw from I Sam. 16:23 how David’s Spirit-filled music helped King Saul spiritually.
“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 phrase “was refreshed” refers to Saul’s physical state, and the Hebrew “ravach” backs up this interpretation. So, David’s Spirit-filled music not only positively affected King Saul’s spirit, but also his body.
Music has been scientifically proven to affect our bodies. Music can increase or relieve pain; it can increase or decrease blood pressure. Music can improve or hurt the heart; it can speed up or slow down recovery. Music can help or increase chronic headaches and migraines. Music can boost or lower our immune systems. Music has been found to help or hurt many health conditions including: seizures; childbirth and postpartum well-being, insomnia, etc…. The list goes on and on.
David’s grace-filled music not only positively affected Saul’s spirit and Saul’s body, but also Saul’s soul. The phrase “was well” is the Hebrew word “towb” [tobe] refering to Saul’s soul, his mental and emotional state. David’s godly music – without words, mind you – affected all three parts of King Saul: his spirit, his soul, and his body.
Music has also been proven time and time again to affect our moods and emotions (Alternative Therapies, Volume 4, No. 1, January 1998). Rock, country, pop, etc… music has consistently produced rage, anxiety, tension, bitterness, and even violence in lab tests. Classical and spiritual music consistently produce calm, peace, joy, and happiness. Music has been proven to either increase or decrease crime. Music has also been shown scientifically to improve or hinder intelligence and alter brainwaves (Dr. Francis Rauscher, Neuroscience Letters, #185, 1995). Music can cause increased alertness or decreased attention span; even hypnosis leading to Satanic oppression.
A number of experiments have been done with rodents running mazes with different types of music in the background. One such study was done by a Virginia high school student, David Merrell. He divided his mice into three groups: a set that had no music to run to, a group that ran a maze with Mozart (a classical, Christian artist by the way) playing in the background, and a third group of mice that ran while Anthrax heavy metal Stomp 442 was playing. On the mice’s first speed run through a maze, all groups finished the maze averaging about 600 seconds. After one week, the control group and the Mozart mice improved to 450 seconds while the Anthrax mice slowed to 900 seconds. By the third and final week, the Mozart mice sped through the maze at 106 seconds, the control group finished at about 307 seconds, and the mice with Anthrax heavy metal music averaged 1,825 seconds. It took them 30 minutes to complete what had the first time taken them 10 minutes! You want to know another fascinating fact? Rodents can’t hear pitch. The heavy metal’s syncopated rhythm harmed and even “dumbed down” the mice (see Satan’s Music Structure)!
Music is either a manipulative beast or a refreshing beauty depending on how it is written and performed. It is up to you to purposely choose good music that affects you, your family, and your church for good.
(This article is from the “Music” series.)