Why do we sing?

There are few issues in church life that cause more controversy than that of ‘singing’. People have different opinions on how we should sing (organ or piano, band, singers); what we should sing (hymns or modern choruses, Emu or Hillsong); when we should sing (an extended period of praise & worship or spreading the songs throughout the service, or even using music as a ‘leg-stretch’!); how many songs we should sing, whether we are singing to God or about God etc etc.. In this article I would simply like to give us 3 reasons why we should sing! 

1) To declare God’s character. The Psalms (poems set to music) contains declarations about God’s character (his goodness, faithfulness, salvation, glory, compassion, judgement, forgiveness, justice etc) and why he is worthy of all our praise. These were not simply doctrinal statements, but rather expressed the reasons why the psalmist loves, adores and worships the great, Almighty God. Many of the Psalms were ‘circumstantial’ – that is, in a particular situation the psalmist focuses on a specific aspect of God’s character (with the music appropriate for that particular attribute!). Therefore, it is good to begin our gatherings by singing about who God is and why we adore Him!

2) To encourage one another. Ephesians 5:18-20 ‘Be filled with the filled, (lit.) speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs; singing and making music in your heart to the Lord’
Singing is not simply a ‘vertical expression of adoration to God’. We are also encouraging, teaching, admonishing each other (the ‘horizontal’ or ‘other person centred’ aspect). So as we sing truths about God, we do this together (corporately), as people who are ‘one in Christ’, spurring on the person we stand beside or infront (no matter how bad our singing is!). This corporate aspect of singing is so important. It enhances unity (expressing our dependence on God as one body). It offers support & encouragement (for example, there may be times when we come to church ‘struggling’ in our faith and unable to sing the words of a song – yet to hear the whole church singing these ‘truths’ reminds us of God’s faithfulness, inspite of our present circumstance). Therefore, it can be very discouraging when people never sing – as though they have desire to express their love for God corporately. It is interesting that in many older churches, the pews actually faced one another as an aid to mutual encouragement.

3) To let the Word dwell in our hearts. Colossians 3:16-17 ‘Let the word of Christ dwell in your richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God’ Singing is one way that we prepare our hearst to hear God’s word (by setting our minds on things above), as well as responding to God’s word. So choosing post-sermon songs that help us to declare the truths we have just heard expounded is an important aspect of our gatherings. It’s interesting that many of us remember song lyrics more easily than we do the Scriptures! So setting Seripture to song is a great way of letting the word of Christ dwell in us!

Let me add a few of quick comments:

i) Ephesians 5 reminds us that Spirit filled Christians will sing! Please note that we are not filled with the Spirit BY singing – so we do not need to sing lots to invoke the Spirit into our gathering. Rather, BECAUSE we are filled with the Spirit, we will want to sing and make music in our hearts

ii) The Psalms do express ‘emotions’! We have psalms of lament, grief, repentance, joy, gratitude, total adoration! I really don’t care how we express our ‘emotions’ (whether we raise our hands or keep our hands in pockets, whether we kneel or stand, eyes open or closed) but singing truths about God should evoke an emotional response!

iii) The words of songs are far more important than a good tune! Too often our bad theology comes from sloppy song words! So please look carefully at song words to ensure they are teaching biblical truth. Equally, a tune that is difficult to sing (or just boring!) is not going to help us praise God, no matter how amazing the words are!

I’d like to take this opportunity to thank all the musicians, singers and sound people who help us to sing each week. Thank you for your humble, servant hearts. And let me encourage each one of us to ‘sing & make music in our hearts to the Lord’

In His grace,
Paul Dale (Senior Pastor)