The Place of Music and Singing in
Church
Genesis 4.21 Jubal “he was the father of all who play the
harp and flute” Examples of singing – Moses, Deborah, David, Jesus sang a hymn
at the last supper; Paul and Silas sang a hymn of praise to God in jail; Revelation
tells us about songs of praise in heaven. Exhortations to sing “Come let us
sing for joy to the Lord” (Ps. 95:1) “Sing to the Lord a new song, for He has
done marvellous things” (Ps. 98:1) “Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and
spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord” (Eph. 5:19)
Why sing? Not ‘Entering God’s
Presence’
= The liver shiver
equates ‘entering God’s presence’ with a feeling as true of choral music as
rock band How do I know that my experience is a genuine encounter with the
living God - and not just the power of music to generate emotion? The Bible
never teaches that a feeling can take us into the presence of God. Only Christ
can take us into the Most Holy Place in heaven, where we have direct access to
the Father through faith in him. The very common view that ‘worship’ is
essentially a time of singing through which we are drawn close to God has a
number of harmful consequences:
The consequences of viewing
music/singing as an encounter with God God’s word is marginalised
“Faith comes through hearing the message, and the message is
heard through the word of Christ” (Rom. 10:17). it would be possible to survive
in our faith without music - but we could not survive without God’s word. It is
by his word that God brings us into relationship with himself as we hear about
Jesus and put our faith in him. It is also by his word that we are maintained
in our Christian faith as the living God addresses us with both challenges and
encouragements.
Our assurance is threatened
If I associate the
presence of God with an experience, what happens when I no longer feel it? But
our assurance of God’s love does not depend on our feelings, but on the
finished work of Christ. “seated with him in the heavenly realms in Christ
Jesus” (Eph. 2:6) Charles Spurgeon once said: “I looked at Christ, and the dove
of peace flew into my heart. I looked at the dove, and it flew away”.
Musicians are exalted
asked to play a priestly role how well does he know the
Bible? The best Christian musicians will not primarily be seeking to produce an
experience, which is easily manufactured once a few techniques are learnt. He
or she will be pointing to Christ and focusing attention on the truth about
him.
Division is increased
Particular music styles are associated with an authentic
encounter with God. If I identify an experience with a genuine encounter with
God, and only a certain kind of music gives me that experience, then it will be
very important to me that that kind of music is played regularly in my church
or Christian Union.
Why should we sing?
The Bible
has a high regard for the place of singing in the Christian’s life
We should sing to praise God
“You are a chosen people, a royal priesthood, a holy nation,
a people belonging to God, that you may declare the praises of him who called
you out of darkness into his wonderful light” (1 Peter 2:9). Praise is natural
Emotions and singing “Is any one of you in trouble? He should pray. Is anyone
happy? Let him sing songs of praise” (James 5:13). Singing is one of the ways
in which we express our emotions. We should be emotional about our faith. Those
of us who come from the United Kingdom can be more British than biblical. We
tend to be scared of showing any emotion.
Why do we think God tells us to sing? Surely it is because
singing enables us to express our emotions. It is not the means by which we
enter the presence of God, but it is one of the ways in which we can express
our joy at the wonderful truth that we are already there in Christ. Sometimes
songs will help us to express the emotion that we already feel. On other
occasions they will begin to trigger emotions, as the music helps us to feel
something of the wonder of the truths we are singing about. The words
“ransomed, healed, restored, forgiven” might not move us especially when we see
them written on a page; but they can come alive as we sing them and reflect on
all that they describe. [Vaughan Roberts]
God-focused songs
There is certainly a place for telling him how we feel about
him. plenty of examples of that in the Psalms Psalm 18.1 “I love you, o Lord,
my strength” Psalm 89: “I will sing of the Lord’s great love for ever”. But the
Psalms of praise are never simply subjective declarations of the Psalmists’
feelings. The objective reasons for those feelings are always given, namely the
greatness of God. For example: “The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my
deliverer” (Ps. 18:2) “Your love stands firm, you established your faithfulness
in heaven itself” (Ps. 89:2). Too many of our contemporary songs place an
excessive emphasis on us, how we feel about God and what we will do for him,
and not enough emphasis on him. We can only express our love for him if we are
first reminded of his love for us. “We love because he first loved us” (1 Jn.
4:19).
God-focused singing
The fact that we are addressing God as we sing should mean
that we do so with reverence. “We approach the almighty God, not the all-matey
God” “reverent fear” intimate, but not casual; confident, but not presumptuous
John Wesley ‘Rules for Methodist Singers’ Above all, sing spiritually. Have an
eye to God in very word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more that yourself or any
other creature. In order to do this, attend strictly to the sense of what you
sing and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to
God continually. We can use all sorts of instruments for the purpose. Psalm 150
alone speaks of the trumpet, lute, harp, timbrel, strings, pipe, and loud
clashing cymbals. any kind of instrument can be used as a means of praising
God.
We should sing to encourage one
another
“Be filled with the
Spirit. Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph.
5:18-19). present continuous + string of participles “Keep on being filled with
the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs;
singing and making music in your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks to God
the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; submitting to
one another out of reverence for Christ” (vv.18-21). 3/5 participles are to do
with singing! Spirit-filled Christians sing. n.b. sing to ‘one another’. Part
of purpose of edification “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you
teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns
and spiritual songs with gratitude in you hearts to God” (Col. 3:16) singing =
a form of our ministry of God’s word to each other to be built up in our faith
So, when we sing, we are not simply a collection of individuals praising our
God; we are a community addressing one another. e.g. Psalm 95.1 Come, let us
sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation then
strengthens that appeal by reminding us of reasons why he is worthy of our
praise: “For the Lord is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his
hand are the depths of the earth, and the mountain peaks belong to him”
(vv.3-4). The rehearsal of great truths about God simultaneously brings praise
to him and encouragement to us.
Most songs therefore
have two audiences: heavenly and earthly. We should keep both the vertical and
horizontal dimensions in mind as we choose songs and as we sing them.
The power of music
One Christian leader
has said: “I don’t mind who writes the theological books so long as I can write
the hymns.” the great influence that our songs have on our theology heretic
Arius, who denied the divinity of Christ in the Fourth Century, used brief
choruses with catchy tunes to spread his message.
Our
knowledge of Bible truth from songs – because memorable One theologian said
once: “Show me your songs, and I will tell you your theology.”
Choosing songs
edifying to
others
Are they true?
Are they faithful to Scripture? will God give us all the
ground we claim? The Bible itself should provide many of our lyrics James
Harbottle question – pleased to say that examples in the Psalms
Are they God-focused?
not simply so that we can praise him, but also so that we can
be encouraged. If the majority of our songs are focused on ourselves, our
feelings and expressions of devotion to God, we will have little to sustain us
for the rest of the week.
How have I been edified by singing Matt redman’s
‘Undignified’? “I will dance, I will sing, to be mad for my King; nothing, Lord
is hindering the passion in my soul. And I’ll become even more undignified that
this; some would say it’s foolishness, but I’ll become even more undignified
than this. And this. Na, na, na, na, na-hey (x7) Here I, here I, here I, here I
go” There is a place for the subjective, but it should always be a response to
the great objective truths about God.
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