Music is incredibly powerful. Why is that? Well, remember, music is for everyone. There are not that many things in this world that in some way or another affect everyone.
“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” Victor Hugo
By the way, if you’ve never read any Victor Hugo, I highly recommend him. Moving right along.
Victor here brings me to my first argument for the power of music. Music is emotional. Music can move people to tears. It can make people angry. It can foster romance. It says things you didn’t know how to say but always wanted to. Music can direct a person emotionally. Add words, and you can even more specifically direct those emotions. Which leads me to my next point.
Music is manipulative. I know, some people don’t want to hear this, or maybe even don’t believe me, but it’s true. Music has been the catalyst to movements, marches and periods of history. Did the enlightenment period come and cause music to change, or did the enlightenment period come because of the change in music? It’s not such a radical idea.
And whenever the tormenting spirit from God troubled Saul, David would play the harp. Then Saul would feel better, and the tormenting spirit would go away. 1st Samuel 16:18
Music so powerful to calm the spirit of a tormented king.
A worship leader can calm worshipers, excite, energize, give hope, bring into reflection, and more. It is powerful.
It can be so easy with even the best of intentions to manipulate those you are leading in worship. And honestly, that scares me.
I’m gonna talk about this more tomorrow. Mull it over. Peace.
