I confess I’m not a big music guy.
I’m more into podcasts than music, lectures than concerts, and though I love how Charleston comes alive in the summer, I have less than no desire to go to Live on the Levee. No offense, it’s just not my thing, but you should totally go.
It’s not that I hate or even dislike music. I actually like music. I listen to it while I write or research. I really enjoy a good concert from a band I like. I sing my heart out here in worship. Music is tied to so many great memories; it evokes strong emotion and is a universal language of the human experience.
I begin with this confession that I’m not a music enthusiast because I don’t need to convince those of you who love to sing that singing is important. No, I need to help the ones who can take or leave music see that singing in worship is important. So, if singing is not really your thing, if you’d be content with prayer and a sermon, then I empathize with you. I get it.
But I think we’ll see together that we don’t just sing in worship because it’s what we’ve always done, what people expect they’ll do, or because we just love music. I think we’ll see that music and song has always been a vital part of the worship of the one true God and that this biblical component of corporate worship is not something to take lightly. We neglect musical worship to our spiritual detriment.
15 Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is. 18 And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,
Ephesians 5:15-21
19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, 21 submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ.
// Sing to and for God
One of the frustrating, pervasive misunderstandings of the church is that it’s something you can watch–that it is primarily content. Though there is content, it’s easy to fall into thinking that a service is half concert and half sermon/lecture/Ted Talk. You watch the concert, you listen to the speaker, you like or dislike the content and bam–you’ve had a church experience.
You know what, I guess we could say the music is a concert. But if we’re going to say that, then it’s a concert for one–and we’re all in the show. Let’s consider the vertical dimension of our musical worship. Look at verses 19 and 20: 19 addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, 20 giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ…
We sing songs and make melodies to the Lord with our hearts, with a spirit of thanksgiving always and “for everything to God the Father in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
This isn’t a concert, but if we said it was, it’s a concert for One. We are singing to the Lord with a spirit of thanksgiving always and for everything. We sing in worship to give praise and adoration to God. Our song is a confession that simple prose and language is an insufficient response to the beauty of God. We respond to infinite beauty with our own best shot at beauty. God reveals himself to us by his Spirit and we respond in the Spirit. We worship God by song in the service because he is great and mighty to be praised. He is worth our song. He is worth our adoration. He is worth our praise. Glorifying him satisfies us.
This is foundational for us. Because if we don’t get the vertical orientation right, we lose sight of the object of our worship. We don’t worship our feelings. We don’t worship the people on the stage. We worship God.
The point of the people on the stage is to help us sing beautifully together to the Lord. Our focus when we sing is heavenward–it’s Godward.
Brother, sister, sing to God because he commands it (over 200 times in the Scriptures) and because he desires it.
You might say, “I’m not a good singer.” Listen, you are probably right. You are probably not. But let me ask one simple question. Who gave you that voice? Give it back to him! He knew you couldn’t sing before he commanded you to sing! Your voice may be bad, but when it joins the voice of all the saints around the world it comes before the Lord as a beautiful sacrifice of praise. And if that heavenly choir does not include your voice, man, no one else can provide it.
God wants to hear your voice. And guess who else does? The people in the room.
