Singing and Worship

Sunday Sermons

Mark Dunagan
03/25/07 - Sunday Evening

Singing and Worship

Enthusiasm in Worship

· “I will give Thee thanks with all my heart, I will sing praises to Thee” (Psalm 138:1).

· “Bless the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless His holy name” (Psalm 103:1).

The expression “all that is within me” would include all my love, all my conviction, all my zeal, all my gratitude and all my respect.

· “The true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father sees to be His worshipers. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23-24).

This means that “true worship”, the only kind of worship that honors God and which He accepts, needs to be spirited and needs to accurately reflect a heart completely given to God. When Jesus said that we need to love God with allour soul, mind and strength (Matthew 22:37; Mark 12:30), we understand that God wants to see our complete dedication and love reflected in our worship.

Obstacles

· The Casual Culture:

We are surrounded by an environment that among other places has even made most religious services very casual, yet loving God with all one’s mind, heart and strength is anything but casual, rather it sounds quite intense. When we are willing to go out of “our way” in not only dress but attitude, it communicates to God that He is worth that effort.

· A Nation of Spectators:

Many activities in our modern culture are more spectator oriented rather than actually participation oriented, and if we do get to participate we are often confined to a very small role, yet the various acts of congregational worship found in the New Testament demand participation from every member (Acts 2:42 “They were continually devoting themselves..”; 1 Corinthians 11:28 “…let a man examine himself, and so let him eat”; 14:16; 16:2 “…let each one of you”; Ephesians 5:19 “…speaking to one another in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs”). “Because we are so accustomed to being entertained in today's society, there is a tendency to approach the worship in like manner. We become observers rather than participants. (The Spiritual Sword. 'Improving Our Worship'. Alan E. Highers pp. 2-3, January 1993).

· A Nation of Specialists:

I see this in the attitude that the average person needs to step aside and let the “expert” handle this or that. We might even feel that we are not going to sing out because our voice does not measure up to professional standards. Yet God values the singing even by the “average member”. God does not merely value “big” givers, but cheerful givers (2 Corinthians 9:7). The value is not necessarily on professional quality singing, but rather in those who make melody in their hearts (Ephesians 5:19).

· The Feeling that “Singing” isn’t a big deal:

There is the temptation to feel that after a week of listening to secular music with all its instrumental grandeur, that congregational singing is rather simple and out dated. Yet singing praises to God is not an inferior form of music, in fact, according to the context of Ephesians 5:18-19 singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs is a demonstration that one is filled with the Holy Spirit. Seeing that singing is the music that God commanded when Christians come together (Ephesians 5:19; 1 Corinthians 14:15,26), it is very important to God and can be therefore to us as well, if we decide to focus on the words, remember God is listening, and feel what we are saying to Him.

Ephesians 5:19

· “Speaking to one another”:

This passage gives us some necessary details for meaningful singing. First of all, such singing is to be mutual, that is, every Christian is to sing. For those who are embarrassed to sing or feel they do not have good voices we need to remember that singing is a direct command, and God is the audience. We cannot opt out of singing any more that we can opt out of the Lord’s Supper or the command to be baptized. If one feels shy or embarrassed to let others clearly hear their voice, remember that even when one’s voice is off key, Jesus died for us; we should never be timid in either talking about Him or singing to Him. If one feels that it is not “manly” to sing, one needs to realize that the opposite is the case. It is not manly to be timid or shy when it comes to the things of God (2 Timothy 1:7).

· “Making melody with your heart”:

Instead of saying the words of a song and kind of following along quietly, sing that song which the conviction that the words deserve. Making melody with our heart would include:

1. Singing the song the way it was written, that is, if it calls for sections of greater intensity or softness, we will do so.

2. Realizing that God feels that songs that come from our hearts and are sung heartily create a far more beautiful melody than instrumental accompaniment.

3. Getting into the song and making the song your own.

4. Practicing the song outside the assembly, singing in the car, or when alone, and making singing a normal aspect of one’s life, “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praises” (James 5:13).

5. In addition, others have pointed out that if people really want to improve their singing ability, they will invest the proper time, effort and expense towards that end. Voice lessons and teachers who can teach one how to read music are readily available.

Colossians 3:16

· “Let the word of Christ richly dwell within you”:

This verse seems to indicate that proper singing not only takes the right attitude but it also demands that individual Christians need to have a knowledge of the teachings of Christ, because the songs we sing are nothing more than a poetic expression of many truths that one finds in the Bible. Hence, the more you know the Scriptures, the greater benefit you will derive from the songs we sing and the more enthusiastic you will sing them.

· “With all wisdom”:

The songs we select to sing in the assembly or the songs that present and future Christians must be "wise" expressions of Divine truth, that is, let's not become so poetic or philosophical in our song writing that most people in the assembly miss the meaning intended by the lyrics. I am persuaded that good songs are like good sermons, they are aimed toward where people really do live.

· “Teaching and admonishing one another”:

The word admonish means “to put in mind” (Vine p. 30). Therefore songs that "warn" or are intended to shake people out of their lethargy or complacency, such as, Almost Persuaded, Prepare to Meet thy God, There's a Great Day Coming, Why Do You Wait, or Why Keep Jesus Waiting, have a proper place in the assembly. When we sing songs that were specifically designed to teach, exhort or admonish let’s sing them with the understanding that we are personally exhorting a brother, earnestly and intensely. I equally believe that the singing improves when we hear others singing out and we are encouraged to join them. I am very grateful at Beaverton we do not have the problem one writer expressed, “In recent years, I have noticed that a large majority of our teenagers go through the worship services without blending their voices in song or, if they do sing, they sing so softly that no one could hear them. I remember while working with a congregation, I performed a wedding. One of the teenagers had been requested to sing several special solo selections. As I heard her beautiful voice laud the praise of human love, I wondered why I had never heard that same beautiful voice during our worship services?” The application is that God needs to get our best, not just on other occasions, but specifically when we come together and worship Him. “What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits toward me?” (Psalm 116:12). Let us render to God the heartfelt glory due Him!

Mark Dunagan/Beaverton Church of Christ/503-644-9017