We sing to an audience of One, but we also sing for each other and for ourselves.
// Sing to and for Each Other
18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
Ephesians 5:18-19
19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart
Don’t get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery (sin). There is something better than wine. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, and how? By addressing one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
Oh, that is really important. Do you see that horizontal orientation of singing? Address one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.
It is God’s design that your singing encourages your neighbor. It’s not just you and Jesus. It’s us and Jesus. You don’t sing so others can hear how good your voice is, you sing so others will be encouraged to lift their voice.
I’m going to say something that indicts us a little bit. I sincerely believe you can tell something about a church’s health (not everything, but something) by how they sing in worship. I know we have a huge space for a currently small congregation. I get it. And I know the logistical challenge that comes with that. But if someone who had no experience with church or church singing came into this space, I would want them to be most impressed with the volume of the congregation than just the quality of the band.
Growing up, music was less about the church and more about self-expression or personal preference, which is sad, because singing together is meant to bring us together.
When we sing the truths of the gospel together, we remind each other of the gospel.
So, it’s incumbent on church leadership to select songs that both remind us of truth (good doctrine) and are accessible for the congregation to sing. If every single week we did all new songs, then you can’t really sing them ever. Because you’re just learning them.
Our songs rise heavenward, yes, but the Scriptures teach that we should address one another with song. They also ring out horizontally. Whether or not you engage in worship says something about your commitment to the church.
You may not like every song. We may not nail every song perfectly. But give me a congregation who sings with the people on the stage over an insane production every single day and twice on Sunday.
May this place be filled with the praise of God coming from the lips of the people of God. And may that move you deeply.
// Sing for Ourselves
Music speaks to our hearts. God designed it that way. Singing engages our brain and our hearts. Music is sticky, too. It helps us remember things. I remember things I have no business remembering because of some stupid jingle. Local folks: Jan Dils? Ballard sausage? Bobby Warner?
When we sing, truth is internalized. How do we make head knowledge heart knowledge? Well, I mean, singing is one good way.
I remember being at Davidson in a weekly worship time–a time we just got together in chapel to sing. Students who were not Christians would come because it was so peaceful. I’m wrestling with these decisions to move to Charleston and pursue ministry and if God was calling me to leave now, and all these sorts of things.
And I just remember singing, “I lean not on my own understanding, my life is in the hands of the Maker of heaven…”
I have so often sung that old hymn A Mighty Fortress is our God when I just need to be reminded of that truth. When we sing, we are professing things outside us that we need to internalize inside of us.
Notice the command in our text to sing and its connection with the filling of the Spirit. Sing to be filled with the Spirit. You’re addressing God and one another, and you are being filled with the Spirit.
If you’re not doing that, then you are missing a vital input to your spiritual life.
Singing reminds our hearts of truth we need to know. Singing takes what we know and moves it to our hearts.
And in some ways, I think singing keeps us honest. It’s hard to sing with a full voice and an unclear conscience. You never feel more like a hypocrite than when you sing to the Lord with sin in your heart.
Let’s commit to singing.
