I believe this thought may have started from what we read in Ezekiel 28:11-15, “Moreover the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, take up a lamentation upon the king of Tyrus, and say unto him, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Thou sealest up the sum, full of wisdom, and perfect in beauty. Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy covering, the sardius, topaz, and the diamond, the beryl, the onyx, and the jasper, the sapphire, the emerald, and the carbuncle, and gold: the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes was prepared in thee in the day that thou wast created. Thou art the anointed cherub that covereth; and I have set thee so: thou wast upon the holy mountain of God; thou hast walked up and down in the midst of the stones of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day that thou wast created, till iniquity was found in thee.”

In this instance the language used goes far beyond the description of the king of Tyre to Satan, or Lucifer.  Satan was certainly the inspirer and unseen ruler of all such pomp and pride as that of the king Tyre (Tyrus).  We read in this portion, “the workmanship of thy tabrets and of thy pipes…”  Tabrets are timbrels, or tambourines.  Pipes could refer to musical woodwind instruments.  So, this has led many to believe that Lucifer was some sort of a musical leader in Heaven in a past eternity.  In fact, the first use of musical instruments mentioned in the Bible came from the ungodly family of Cain in the name of a man named Jubal (Jubal was the fourth generation from Adam through Cain) in Genesis 4:21, “And his brother’s name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.”  It seems like music is associated with the sinful and ungodly.

However, there is godly music, and we see that the Lord loves music. 

  • Of the Levites, “…four thousand praised the LORD with the instruments which I made, said David, to praise therewith.” (1 Chronicles 23:5).
  • The book of Psalms is comprised of 150 psalms to the Lord. A psalm is defined as “instrumental music; by implication, a poem set to notes.”
  • Solomon wrote 1,005 songs as we’re told in 1 Kings 4:32, “And he spake three thousand proverbs: and his songs were a thousand and five.”
  • The Lord Jesus and His disciples sang a hymn before departing from the upper room at the institution of the Lord’s Supper according to Matthew 26:30.
  • A characteristic of those filled with the Holy Ghost is that they will be speaking to themselves “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:19).

There are many more examples that could be cited to show there is godly music and the Lord loves music, but I think we have shown enough cases here. 

Was Satan in charge of music?  I suppose he was possibly in charge of music before his fall, but he influences the world today with the acceptance of vile, sexual, sadistic, and cursing found in much of today’s music.  While music can be used to glorify and worship the Lord, it can also be used as instruments of degradation and ungodliness.  May we be so careful as to the music we listen to and use only that which the Lord would approve. (CC)  (676.2)