A Closer Walk With God
The Joy Of Singing
Another important element of our walk with God is the act of singing praises... We spend nearly a third of our assemblies engaged in this activity. It also has a place in our private devotions to God -- And rightly so, for it has the potential of reaping great spiritual benefits to those who engage in it properly. It is clear that those who walked with God in Old Testament times delighted in singing - note Psa
146:1-2 "Praise the LORD! Praise the LORD, O my soul! I will praise the LORD as long as I live; I will sing praises to my God while I have my being. Christians were taught to respond to the goodness of God in a similar way - Ja 5:13 "Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise." But there are indications in many churches which cause me to wonder if some have lost the joy of singing... Many Christians sing with virtually no emotion. Some go one step further, and do not sing at all! I have personally known Christians, who complained because time available for classes was taken up by the singing of a few hymns. They will not attend a worship service if they know it will be devoted primarily to singing. In contrast, it was common in the past for people to travel some distance to attend a service devoted to praising God in song. Why do such conditions exist? I suspect it may be a failure to appreciate: the true purpose of singing or how we can get more out of singing.
In an effort to ensure that we will experience the joy of singing, let's first examine the purpose of singing. One purpose is to praise the Lord - Ac 16:25 "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,". This is the most popular concept of the purpose of singing. Indeed, this is certainly the idea inherent in the word "hymn", which comes from the Greek word "humnos", meaning "a song in praise of". Praising God should be "a natural" for Christians! If David in the OT reacted this way to the blessings God gave him (Psa 28:6-7 "Blessed be the LORD! for he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy. The LORD is my strength and my shield; in him my heart trusts, and I am helped; my heart exults, and with my song I give thanks to him.") how much more should we! In fact, singing is one of the "spiritual sacrifices" that we are to offer to God - He 13:15 "Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name." As "spiritual priests" we offer up "spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God" - 1 Pe 2:5 "you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." If we are not careful, we might be guilty of offering "defiled" service to God as was the case in Malachi's day! - Mal 1:7-8 "By offering polluted food upon my altar. But you say, 'How have we polluted you?' By saying that the LORD's table may be despised. When you offer blind animals in sacrifice, is that not evil? And when you offer those that are lame or sick, is that not evil? Present that to your governor; will he accept you or show you favor? says the LORD of hosts.", 12-13 "But you profane it when you say that the Lord's table is polluted, and its fruit, that is, its food may be despised. But you say, 'What a weariness this is,' and you snort at it, says the LORD of hosts. You bring what has been taken by violence or is lame or sick, and this you bring as your offering! Shall I accept that from your hand? says the LORD."
Another purpose of singing is to admonish and teach one another - Co 3:16 "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God."; Ep 5:19 "addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart," Our singing is not just directed toward God... Certainly, many songs are, but many songs are directed to each other. That's because many songs are designed to teach one another. Teaching and admonishing us to live properly, enjoying the blessings of the Christian life. It might even be said that "congregational singing" is often "congregational teaching"! Thus singing is a way that we can encourage our brethren and ourselves as well!
When done properly, singing can be a wonderful blessing; but how can we get the most out of singing? We will pose some answers to this question and offer some suggestions when we continue this lesson.
