I have a wonderful friend named Carol and I can’t tell you how many times down through the years I’ve seen Carol get a real puzzled look on her face, become very thoughtful and say “Now something about that just don’t ring right!”   In other words, she was saying “That doesn’t make sense”, “doesn’t sound like the truth” or “doesn’t match up with Biblical truths.”

In this crazy age we are living in, the majority of things we hear, watch and read do not “ring right”.

This hit me in a musical way yesterday in church.  At the end of the service, our music team was playing a beautiful new song unfamiliar to me.  It was moving along quite nicely when all of a sudden, the chord movement went from the I to VI.  One member of the team played a vi7 (a minor seventh chord) and one played the VI7 (built on a Major triad).  So here I am sitting in the audience and I hear the guitar playing an Em7 and the piano playing E7—not ringing right!  

What was happening was that the guitar was playing the notes b, d, e and g and the piano was playing b, d, e and  g#.   Now g and g# sit side by side on the piano — 1/2 step apart as shown in this illustration.

When the notes g and g# are played together (or any notes which are a half step interval) there is a “rubbing” sound and believe me it is not pretty or pleasant to listen to. 

After the service was finished, they continued to play so I walked up to the keyboard player and asked if the chord sheet had a G7(#5#9) chord in that particular spot.  He said, “no, it’s a G7.”  I was unfamiliar with the song, but because of its style, it just did not seem to be fitting to have a G7(#5#9) chord.  The keyboard player spoke into the talk-back mic to the guitar player and told him “we need to play a G dominant 7 there.”  He did and guess what?  It “rang” right.

Of course, if you are a musician who uses the G7(#5#9) (also illustrated) you probably know that chord is built with an augmented (1 – 3 – 5#) and minor (1 – 3b – 5).  It has a dissonant sound, but the voicing is so that the 3b is on top of the chord and the major 3 is on the bottom of the chord. But the chord IS NOT played with the 3b and 3 sitting side by side or “rubbing”.  In addition, it is most often used in upbeat or more jazzy songs. 

In this crazy world in which we live in today, we must become alert and listen to the “ring” of sights and sounds around us in order not to be deceived.  We must always allow the Holy Spirit within us to be on full alert. If you find yourself feeling like something you’ve seen or heard “rubs” adversely against your Holy Ghost, don’t just override it or ignore it—check it out—MOST LIKELY it’s not of God and is a deception the enemy is trying use against you.

“For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?”

1 Corinthians 14:8 KJV

We are preparing to hear sound of the trumpet my friends—make sure you are hearing a CERTAIN sound and it’s ringing right!