Why do we Sing?
Last session, we talked about worship—what worship really is according to the Bible. After all, there’s often a lot of confusion about what worship really is and what it looks like for our church. In John 4, Jesus describes the need for worship like thirst—that our souls are thirsty and there is only one Living Water that will satisfy our need. That is Jesus Himself. In my quiet time this week I was reading John 7 and Holy Spirit opened my eyes up even more to this reality: “37 On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” 39 Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” This was when He had begun preaching in public, and even though the Jews were hunting Him to kill Him, the need is so great that He just yells it out in the crowd! “You are thirsty, and only I will satisfy—I will give You living water, which is my Holy Spirit.” The Holy Spirit is the Living Water—He is the companion of our souls, walking with us each day, satisfying the longing of our hearts to know and treasure God even now on our way to our home with Him in heaven.
We were designed by God to treasure Him—the orthodox Shorter Catechism puts it this way: “Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy Him forever.” Worship is our proper response to the Gospel: the good news that God created us for Himself and sent Jesus to die on the cross in our place after our rebellion, so we could be restored to right relationship with God and enjoy Him forever. To worship is to value or treasure something—to worship God is to value and treasure Him above all other things. There is no other proper response to the Gospel than this.
We also talked about how worship is scattered and gathered. We worship Jesus as individuals—treasuring Him as our constant companion through the Holy Spirit in our everyday lives. We also worship Jesus as a people, a kingdom, a church. We gather together to glorify God and to encourage one another to treasure Jesus more. That looks like encouraging one another to put sin to death more and more so we retain our confidence to walk in step with the Spirit—let me encourage you that intimate, daily walk with Holy Spirit is worth so much more than anything else. Corporate worship also looks like comforting those among us that are suffering—or sending out the whole church to share the Gospel in our community, or send individuals and families to other places to share the Gospel. The point is that our lives, contrary to the American ideal of independence, are not just individual but also and especially corporate.
Lastly, we talked about how there were five things that we do when we come together as a church: we read God’s Word, pray God’s Word, preach God’s Word, sing God’s Word, and see God’s Word through baptism and communion. So here’s what we want to do today: we want to see what God’s gift of singing is in the bible and understand why we sing as a New Testament church.
Why do you sing? And when do you sing? We sing more often than we might think: birthdays, corporate events, weddings, around the house, when we workout, at sporting events, in the shower—everywhere! Maybe the most regular time you sing, other than in the shower, is at church! Why do we do that? Is it different from singing at a wedding or around the house or at a concert? Yes, it is different!
The Bible has a lot to say about singing. It was a regular part of the life of a Jew in the Old Testament, and the apostles carried it over into the New Testament church.
References: The English Standard version has:
· over 180 different verse references for "worship"
· over a 100 different verse references for "song"
· over 200 different verse references for "sing"
· 73 or more references to "cry out"
· 96 references to "shout"
Song was a regular, valued part of life as a Jew.
Here’s what I want to do today: I want us to see from the Old Testament why the Israelites sang so much, and then apply that as the apostles did to the New Testament church. We’re going to answer the question, “Does the Bible say we should sing?” and then next week we’ll talk about what singing ultimately “does.”
Song from the Exodus (Exodus 14-15)
Open your Bibles to Exodus 14! Exodus 14 has the Israelites finally leaving Egypt after four hundred years of slavery. Let’s read some excerpts to set the stage.
“10 When Pharaoh drew near, the people of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them, and they feared greatly. And the people of Israel cried out to the Lord.”
… And Moses said to the people, “Fear not, stand firm, and see the salvation of the Lord, which he will work for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall never see again. 14 The Lord will fight for you, and you have only to be silent.”
15 The Lord said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Tell the people of Israel to go forward. 16 Lift up your staff, and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, that the people of Israel may go through the sea on dry ground. 17 And I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they shall go in after them, and I will get glory over Pharaoh and all his host, his chariots, and his horsemen. 18 And the Egyptians shall know that I am the Lord, when I have gotten glory over Pharaoh, his chariots, and his horsemen.”
19 Then the angel of God who was going before the host of Israel moved and went behind them, and the pillar of cloud moved from before them and stood behind them, 20 coming between the host of Egypt and the host of Israel. And there was the cloud and the darkness. And it lit up the night[a] without one coming near the other all night.
21 Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the Lord drove the sea back by a strong east wind all night and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. 22 And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left. 23 The Egyptians pursued and went in after them into the midst of the sea, all Pharaoh's horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. 24 And in the morning watch the Lord in the pillar of fire and of cloud looked down on the Egyptian forces and threw the Egyptian forces into a panic, 25 clogging[b] their chariot wheels so that they drove heavily. And the Egyptians said, “Let us flee from before Israel, for the Lord fights for them against the Egyptians.”
26 Then the Lord said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the water may come back upon the Egyptians, upon their chariots, and upon their horsemen.” 27 So Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its normal course when the morning appeared. And as the Egyptians fled into it, the Lord threw[c] the Egyptians into the midst of the sea. 28 The waters returned and covered the chariots and the horsemen; of all the host of Pharaoh that had followed them into the sea, not one of them remained. 29 But the people of Israel walked on dry ground through the sea, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
30 Thus the Lord saved Israel that day from the hand of the Egyptians, and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. 31 Israel saw the great power that the Lord used against the Egyptians, so the people feared the Lord, and they believed in the Lord and in his servant Moses.
I want you to see this very clearly because this song is going to set a pattern for us that we will see throughout the rest of scripture about WHY we sing. Exodus 15 begins by saying, “THEN Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord…” What happened before this? The Hebrews had been slaves in Egypt for four hundred years before God raised up a deliverer for them—Moses—and brought them out of Egypt. To go out of Egypt, they had to cross the famed Red Sea, which was impossible: but God intervened, holding back the Egyptians pursuing them, and parting the SEA into two walls—one on either side of them—as they walked across the seabed on dry land as if it was a road. I remembered that they did this in Pirates of the Caribbean 5—I don’t know if you’ve ever seen Pirates of the Caribbean 5, that wonderful sequel to the first four Pirates of the Caribbean movies before Disney FINALLY realized no one had made it past Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End—in this movie, they parted the sea and it looked like this. But the animated movie Prince of Egypt actually showed this, so let’s watch it: (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avShZS2GJMc).
Do you see their relief when the Lord closed the sea again? The Bible tells us how palpable their relief was: they started to sing! This is what they sang. I could have tried to write this to music, and maybe I will someday, but for now let’s read it together:
“Then Moses and the people of Israel sang this song to the Lord, saying,
“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider[a] he has thrown into the sea.
2 The Lord is my strength and my song,
and he has become my salvation;
this is my God, and I will praise him,
my father's God, and I will exalt him.
3 The Lord is a man of war;
the Lord is his name.
4 “Pharaoh's chariots and his host he cast into the sea,
and his chosen officers were sunk in the Red Sea.
5 The floods covered them;
they went down into the depths like a stone.
6 Your right hand, O Lord, glorious in power,
your right hand, O Lord, shatters the enemy.
7 In the greatness of your majesty you overthrow your adversaries;
you send out your fury; it consumes them like stubble.
8 At the blast of your nostrils the waters piled up;
the floods stood up in a heap;
the deeps congealed in the heart of the sea.
9 The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake,
I will divide the spoil, my desire shall have its fill of them.
I will draw my sword; my hand shall destroy them.’
10 You blew with your wind; the sea covered them;
they sank like lead in the mighty waters.
11 “Who is like you, O Lord, among the gods?
Who is like you, majestic in holiness,
awesome in glorious deeds, doing wonders?
12 You stretched out your right hand;
the earth swallowed them.
13 “You have led in your steadfast love the people whom you have redeemed;
you have guided them by your strength to your holy abode.
14 The peoples have heard; they tremble;
pangs have seized the inhabitants of Philistia.
15 Now are the chiefs of Edom dismayed;
trembling seizes the leaders of Moab;
all the inhabitants of Canaan have melted away.
16 Terror and dread fall upon them;
because of the greatness of your arm, they are still as a stone,
till your people, O Lord, pass by,
till the people pass by whom you have purchased.
17 You will bring them in and plant them on your own mountain,
the place, O Lord, which you have made for your abode,
the sanctuary, O Lord, which your hands have established.
18 The Lord will reign forever and ever.”
19 For when the horses of Pharaoh with his chariots and his horsemen went into the sea, the Lord brought back the waters of the sea upon them, but the people of Israel walked on dry ground in the midst of the sea. 20 Then Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women went out after her with tambourines and dancing. 21 And Miriam sang to them:
“Sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously;
the horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.”
I love how that last verse says then Miriam, in the midst of all this, summed it up by singing this: “Sing to the Lord, for He has triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider He has thrown into the sea.” This is the pattern that the rest of scripture is going to follow when we hear about people singing: the Israelites sang to respond to God’s goodness in saving them.
God’s Glory
There’s another song I want to talk about, but I need to detour for a moment for a very, very important point. We can’t talk about singing without talking about glory. Look at the hook of the Song at the Red Sea—“He has triumphed GLORIOUSLY.” Glory is a big, big word for us.
Here is one of my favorite passages about God’s glory, in Exodus 33-34. For so long before arriving in the Promised Land, and even more so after, the Hebrews thought the prize was the Promised Land itself. It wasn’t—the prize was God’s presence with them. Moses got this when he said to God in Exodus 33:15 that if God wouldn’t go with them into the promised land, they would stay there on the cusp. They were God’s people—they would go nowhere without Him. Look at Exodus 33:17-19.
17 And the Lord said to Moses, “This very thing that you have spoken I will do, for you have found favor in my sight, and I know you by name.” 18 Moses said, “Please show me your glory.” 19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
Now, Google defines “glory” like this—magnificence or great beauty, splendor, majesty, renown, fame, honor. John Piper defines God’s glory as this: “Intrinsically holy, and the whole earth is full of his glory — from which I stab at a definition, by saying that the glory of God is the manifest beauty of his holiness. It is the going-public of his holiness. It is the way he puts his holiness on display for people to apprehend. So, the glory of God is the holiness of God made manifest” (Piper, What is God’s Glory?). When Moses asked to see God in all of His glory, he was hungry in his soul to see the glory of God—and God said, “I will show you my goodness.” God in Exodus 33 equates His glory to His goodness.
And that goodness is seen in the next chapter when God describes Himself to Moses in Exodus 34:6-9. “6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands,[a] forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children's children, to the third and the fourth generation.” 8 And Moses quickly bowed his head toward the earth and worshiped. 9 And he said, “If now I have found favor in your sight, O Lord, please let the Lord go in the midst of us, for it is a stiff-necked people, and pardon our iniquity and our sin, and take us for your inheritance.” Even to rebellious Israel, God was good. They were His people, and He was their gracious, forgiving God. He was always the root of their obedience, not them.
This is the glory of God: His goodness. So when we say we glorify the Lord, we make much of His goodness. His good deeds, His good attributes and character—so not just what He has done but who He is. Ultimately, to glorify the Lord is to proclaim His holiness—and I think ultimately to cherish His beautiful goodness. This is important for us because God’s glory is the focal point of our singing, as we saw in the Red Sea song—but we see it in another song for Israel soon after.
The Song of Moses (Deuteronomy 31-32)
So what is the second song in the Bible? Next we have Deuteronomy 31. You may have been more familiar with the Red Sea, but I think this song is just as important. Israel was about to go into the Promised Land, and God handed over the people of Israel from Moses’ care into Joshua’s. God told them in verses 16-18 exactly what was going to happen: they would eventually give up on Him (God) and worship other gods than Him. Remember, they’re standing on the precipice of the Promised Land after wandering in the wilderness for forty years because they had rebelled against God again already! So, God told Moses and Joshua this:
31:19-22 "Now therefore write this song and teach it to the people of Israel. Put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the people of Israel. 20 For when I have brought them into the land flowing with milk and honey, which I swore to give to their fathers, and they have eaten and are full and grown fat, they will turn to other gods and serve them, and despise me and break my covenant. 21 And when many evils and troubles have come upon them, this song shall confront them as a witness (for it will live unforgotten in the mouths of their offspring). For I know what they are inclined to do even today, before I have brought them into the land that I swore to give.” 22 So Moses wrote this song the same day and taught it to the people of Israel."
32:1-3 “Give ear, O heavens, and I will speak, and let the earth hear the words of my mouth. May my teaching drop as the rain, my speech distill as the dew, like gentle rain upon the tender grass, and like showers upon the herb. For I will proclaim the name of the Lord; ascribe greatness to our God!"
The song is beautiful, just like the song the Israelites sang before the Red Sea. Look what Moses says to Israel after they learn the song:
32:44-47 “44 Moses came and recited all the words of this song in the hearing of the people, he and Joshua[o] the son of Nun. 45 And when Moses had finished speaking all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words by which I am warning you today, that you may command them to your children, that they may be careful to do all the words of this law. 47 For it is no empty word for you, but your very life, and by this word you shall live long in the land that you are going over the Jordan to possess.”
Again, we see that Israel sang to respond AND REMEMBER God’s goodness to them in saving them. He was bringing them into the Promised Land, which He had told them long ago would be theirs, but which their rebellion had kept them from.
So in Deuteronomy when God gave them a song so that they would remember His goodness and what their response should be—worship, like Moses in the cleft of the rock hungry to behold God’s glory—God giving them a song was an act of loving grace. If, like we talked about last session, our primary purpose is to worship God—to treasure Him—look at the beauty of God’s gift of singing. God gave Israel a song so that they would treasure Him more—and their children, and their children’s children. God gave the a song so that when sin and rebellious wanted to creep back in, they could sing and glorify Him—they could proclaim His goodness, and remember His goodness, and be changed again and again by beholding His glory. The Israelites sang to respond to and remember God’s goodness.
This is the pattern of singing in all of Scripture: God is good, and we have to respond to it, so we’re going to sing. There are a lot of other passages we could look to: The song of Barak and Deborah when Israel was saved from King Jabin of Canaan, the Psalms that David and others wrote, the Prophets and especially Isaiah and Zephaniah.
Jesus sang, notably at the Last Supper! After washing of feet, Peter’s stubbornness, the discourse at the table, and then going out to pray—they sang before they left to pray! Romans and Hebrews also point to Jesus singing still--this will be very important later!!
Paul and Silas sang while they were imprisoned in Acts 16, before God rescued them—another example for us.
Revelation features important songs and singing:
· Revelation 4-5 -- singing in the throne room, singing in response to Jesus being worthy
· Revelation 14 -- singing a new song before the throne
· Revelation 15 -- "singing the song of Moses" an old song, and "the song of the Lamb" a new song!
Why do we sing?
Finally, Paul writes that we should sing in church. We’ve seen why the Israelites sang—here’s why we—the New Testament church waiting for Jesus to come back—here’s why we sing.
Christians sing to respond to and remember God’s goodness. Corporate singing is the thankful and joyful response of Christian hearts to glorify Christ. Why do Christians sing in church? Here are the two main texts for why we, like the Israelites, sing in church: Ephesians 5 and Colossians 3.
Ephesians 5:17-21 “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, 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.
Colossians 3:15-17 “15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful. 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. 17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.
We’re going to break down these passages to their very bones over the next three sessions, so keep them close. For today, we’re going to keep Colossians 3 open to refer to.
To help us understand why we sing, I like to use Keith Getty’s three points to describe this—Keith is the main writer behind the beloved hymn “In Christ Alone”. Keith writes in his book “Sing” that we are created to sing, commanded to sing, and compelled to sing.
First, we are created to sing.
No matter how good your singing voice is nor how bad you think your singing voice is, God has designed each and every one of us with the same tools to speak and sing—you have the same vocal equipment that God has given to your worship leaders like me or Grace or Caleb, the same vocal apparatus that He gave to Beyonce, Bono, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, and every great singer there has ever been. Probably the greatest hindrance to finding our joy in singing—and the single most common excuse I hear every week—is someone saying, “But I can’t sing” or “I don’t sing.” It makes me sad when I hear people say that, because we don’t sing because we’re good at it—we sing because it is God’s gift to us!
Here’s how Keith says it, and I hope this blows your mind like it blew mine: “If you can speak, you can physically sing. The truth is that God designed you to sing and gave you everything you need to sing, as well as He wants you to. He’s far less concerned with your tunefulness than your integrity. Christian singing begins with the heart, not on the lips” (3). Oh how I wish I could tell everyone in our church this, because this is the freedom people need when we sing. It’s not about how good you sing! It’s not even really how good any of us on the worship team sings. We put the best singers in the church on stage because people follow confident leaders, and the most confident singers are those who have the desire and training to lead it. But it’s not about successful performance. It’s not about me leading the songs because I’m some amazing singer—I get most excited when guys like Alex Ehrlich or Isaac Moody or Gail Merriman or Kira Thayer sing because you know them. They don’t sing for a living. They sing because they’ve seen it as God’s gift for our joy!
Christians sing to respond to and remember God’s goodness. The church is made up of farmers, businessmen, fry cooks, insurance agents, factory workers, craftsmen—not concert singers and rockstars. Every single one of us who has a voice has been designed by God to respond to His love by singing. That’s not excluding people who can’t sing because they don’t have any voice—our friend Maryah Galbert is in church every Sunday signing the songs because she has a heart for deaf and mute people to understand the Gospel!!
Let’s use the Word to encourage us further in this. Psalm 100:1-2 says to the congregants, “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the earth! Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” (ESV). Notice, the only descriptor is “noisy” and “glad.” Also, Psalm 33:1 says, “Shout for joy in the Lord, O you righteous! Praise befits the upright.” We are told to “shout” and “praise.” But for the worship leaders, the next verses say this: “Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; make melody to Him with the harp of ten strings! Sing to him a new song; play skillfully on the strings, with loud shouts. For the Word of the Lord is upright, and all His work is done in faithfulness” (Ps. 33:2-4, ESV). Do you see the connection? Because God is faithful in all of His work, the people should be faithful to praise Him--and the worship leaders should be faithful to lead well. The people just have to make a joyful shout: the worship leaders ought to play skillfully. This can encourage and remind us that it’s not about our performance—it’s about our heart!
Has any of your kids ever brought you a drawing? Someone tell me about the last drawing your kid brought you. Tell me really, really straight: was it any good? It’s not really meant for an art museum. Art museums are great—but your child’s art get’s the most special place in the house: the refrigerator door. Why? Because it’s not about the quality of the drawing—it’s about the joyful heart of your child that just wants to bring you something because they love you so much. That is why God made us to sing. We have never had anything to bring Him—no righteousness, no good works, nothing without His very hand helping us. So why do we let ourselves think that when we sing in church it’s about how good we sing? It’s not. And it’s up to us to encourage those in our church that when we sing, it’s because God made us to. It’s because God loves the joyful, messy, heartfelt gift of His children. Your singing is on God’s fridge whether it sounds good or not.
We are not just created to sing, we are commanded to sing.
Getty writes this, “Kristyn (his wife) remembers being in the kitchen with her mum as a teenager having a conversation with her about prayer. Growing up in a Christian home, she had been taught about, shown, and helped with praying. But on this day, she was dragging her feet over the idea of praying… After a little while, her mum, with her kind, strong eyes, very simply said, “At the end of the day, we are commanded by God to pray—so we must do it!” The same is equally true of singing. We are commanded by God to sing—so we must do it. Not to sing is to disobey” (Sing, 13).
Now, if God designed us all to sing no matter how good we are at it, like a little child’s drawing, why then does God command it? Because we don’t always feel like singing! We’re too tired. Too distracted. Too embarrassed. Too frustrated at our spouse and kids for taking so long to get ready. Too afraid of what people will think. Too ashamed of our most recent sin to want to engage at church. Maybe we don’t like the songs. Maybe we don’t like the style. Maybe, although I’m sure this has never happened at Rock Point, we don’t like the worship leader.
Do you know what you need most to do when you feel any of those things? You need to sing. We were commanded to sing, because singing shapes the singer and the church who sings. We’re commanded to sing because we need to sing. Getty writes, “It is of course not a clinical obedience, without warmth of conviction or joy of relationship. But it is a matter of obedience. As the great hymn-writer John Newton once wrote, ‘Our pleasure and our duty, though opposite before; since we have seen His beauty, are joined to part no more’” (Sing, 14).
Remember Colossians 3:16 — Let the Word dwell richly among you by teaching and singing together. There is no condition given by the apostle Paul. He tells the church twice to sing when they gather. While that implies the need for obedience, don’t get stuck on the fact that it’s a command. Like all of God’s commands, there’s a reason for that. In the same way that daily Bible reading is a command, so is singing. Our healthiest relationship with God involves reading our bible every day—whether we feel like it or not! As Danny puts it, it’s a cycle of discipline turning into delight. We hold fast to a discipline until it becomes a delight to obey. Psalm 37:4 says, “Delight yourself in the lord, and He will give you the desires of your heart.” When we delight in the Lord—when we treasure Jesus—He by the power of the Holy Spirit shapes our very desires. The command to sing is a command because the command demonstrates the importance and the delight. God says, “This is important because it will lead you closer to me if you let it.” I believe that God wants to shape your heart and head and hands by us singing together. More on that in the next session!
Last, we are compelled to sing.
We are compelled to sing by the goodness of God, remembering and celebrating His goodness together. This is why we read Exodus 15 and Deuteronomy 32. I have yet to find a reference in the Bible that does not have this model for singing: “Sing because God’s goodness is so compelling that you have to respond!”
Keith puts it this way in Sing: “We are not compelled to sing out of thin air. Something—or rather, someone—stirs us to. … Worship comes as a response to revelation” (Sing, 22). (examples: sports!) For Keith it’s this: “When Ireland beats England in rugby, Keith and his dad cheer until they are hoarse. When we stand on the precipice of the Grand Canyon or at the jazz festival of Montreux at the foot of the French Alps, our eyes and hearts feast upon it. When we hear that a couple whom we love has become engaged, we exclaim our joy out loud. Praise is prompted by—compelled by—the revelation of something glorious. And the Gospel is the revelation of the most glorious truth in history.”
Like the Israelites at the Red Sea or David on the battlefield, we are compelled by God to sing. But we have the whole picture now! We have Christ, crucified on the cross, the greatest news of all time to compel us to respond! And we respond uniquely as a church by singing when we gather. That’s why in Colossians and Ephesians the apostle Paul ties singing and gathering to thankfulness. Can you be thankful for nothing? No—thankfulness, gratefulness, is by nature a response. Paul says sing together so you will make thankful melody in your heart. We sing because when we see the goodness of God we cannot help but sing.
And, we sing because Jesus leads us to sing. Jesus, not me or Caleb or Grace or anyone on stage—Jesus is your worship leader. Let’s read Romans 15:8-13.
“8 For I tell you that Christ became a servant to the circumcised to show God's truthfulness, in order to confirm the promises given to the patriarchs, 9 and in order that the Gentiles might glorify God for his mercy. As it is written,
“Therefore I will praise you among the Gentiles,
and sing to your name.”
10 And again it is said,
“Rejoice, O Gentiles, with his people.”
11 And again,
“Praise the Lord, all you Gentiles,
and let all the peoples extol him.”
12 And again Isaiah says,
“The root of Jesse will come,
even he who arises to rule the Gentiles;
in him will the Gentiles hope.”
13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.
Christ came as a servant to the Jews to show God’s truthfulness, verse 8, but He came for the whole world (the Gentiles like you and me) that we would glorify God for His mercy. Jesus Himself is our eternal King and the one who leads our worship!
Keith Getty sums it up like this. “Singing gives voice to a heart that deeply knows the gospel of grace” (Sing, 31). Why do we sing? We sing to respond to and remember the goodness of God. We sing to joyfully and thankfully glorify God for who He is and what He has done.
Now that we know why we sing, we’re going to spend our next two sessions talking about what singing does in a church, and how we should sing! We’re going to look at how we ought to posture our hearts, heads, and hands when we sing. And I hope that next week, you want to sing even more now!
Further Reading and Sources:
Getty, Keith and Kristyn. Sing: How Worship Transforms Your Life, Family, and Church. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group, 2017.