Why Sing, part 2

If you made it through and survived part 1, here’s part 2:  #4-6 of the top 10 reasons we sing praises to God.

#4 – Singing is an excellent way to declare God’s promises

This life is hard.  We constantly face issues that discourage us, wear us down and mess us up.  And then as the storm is passing, we start to see the light.  But just when we “get it” and allow God to deliver us (and I’ve experienced this many times) that’s when the devil comes to steal, kill and destroy and he messes us back up again.

Have you ever felt that tug between flesh and spirit?   Do you realize that there is battle out there between good and evil, fighting for your very soul?  It’s like there’s an angel on one shoulder and a devil on the other and with all the tension you just feel too weak to stand!

My friend, here is the answer -- you stand on God’s word!  When Jesus was tempted by Satan, He used scripture to resist the devil.  When the Israelites marched into the battle, the musicians led the way.  Singing can be used as spiritual warfare as we claim ground in our hearts for God.  As we advance His kingdom with our actions, we sing, rejoicing because we know that we have the victory in Christ.

So when you’re discouraged, sing God’s truth!

#5 – We sing because God does

This is probably not a reason you’d think of, but did you know that God sings?  And we are made in His image – we are God-imitators.

There are Biblical references to each person of the Trinity singing! 

• Zephaniah 3:17 (an awesome passage about the intimacy of the father) says, “He will quiet you with his love.  He will rejoice over you with singing.”
• Hebrews 2:12 quotes Psalm 22:22 saying Jesus is not ashamed to call them [believers] brothers. He says,   I will declare your name to my brothers; in the presence of the congregation I will sing your praises.”
• Ephesians 5:18-19 states when we are filled with the Holy Spirit we sing Psalms, hymns and spiritual songs.

Knowing that God sings causes us to be aware of a couple things:

#1)  We often sense His presence with us when we’re singing together because we’re actually joining Him in song!

#2)  We reflect God’s glory in being more like Him.  He sings so we sing.  And it all points to Him, making Him look good, giving Him all the glory!

#6 - Singing expresses the unity we have because of what Christ did on the cross

Christ died once and for all (Romans 6:10).  If we have put our faith in him, we each have a song of salvation, a song of thankfulness, a song of testimony.  These songs are unique to you and tell your faith story.  If you set it to music it would likely be a country song...although hopefully not because that might not sound too good (just sayin’)

When we sing the same truths together, expressing our gratitude for the gospel, and declare our commitment to follow Christ our king, it unifies us; no matter how good or how bad we’ve been.  No matter who we’ve offended or who has offended us -- we all stand at the foot of the cross, fully forgiven and fully loved.

Being united in Christ gives us the ability to accept, forgive and love each other just as Christ has done for us.  Keep this in mind when you, your spouse, your kids and your parents all like different musical styles.  You all go to church on Sunday having your own favorite songs.  And no one seems to appreciate your unique musical love for the songs that no one else likes! 

As a worship leader, I constantly get song suggestions from the congregation.  Nearly every week someone approaches me and requests a song.  Sometimes it’s a song that we have done before and I like it and other times it’s a song I’ve never heard of.   Many times they’re obscure songs that have been forgotten (or never discovered) and even if I don’t prefer them, that’s okay!  Each person has different connections with various songs.  My hope as a worship leader is to see everyone in the church, whether they “like” they song or not, unified under the power of declaring the gospel and the truth about God.

With all our musical preferences, let’s remember that part of the reason we sing our worship is to unite us in Christ.

Check out all the musical & unifying references in Romans 15:5-7

May God, who gives this patience and encouragement, help you live in complete harmony with each other, as is fitting for followers of Christ Jesus  Then all of you can join together with one voice, giving praise and glory to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Therefore, accept each other just as Christ has accepted you so that God will be given glory.

- Rich 

Why Sing, part 1

Some people love to read – it’s in their DNA.  And if they’ve been reading since early childhood, chances are they’re pretty fast readers.  This describes my wife.  She’ll casually blow through 50 pages while I watch TV for 20 minutes.  Other people read slower than they talk.  Guess what kind of person I am?  I have to painfully force myself to read.  So when I take time to really digest something, I make it count.


So when gave it my all to digest an article in Worship Leader magazine titled “Why We Sing” by Bob Kauflin, I had to stop and get out my pen and mark it up.  It spurred me on to make a list of the top 10 reasons why we sing in church as our primary form of corporate worship.  It’s like there are 2 entites: “singing” and “worship” yet how come the two intersect every time we go to church?


So here’s the top 10!
We sing because…
#1 – God commands us to
#2 -  it enables us to respond to God’s grace
#3 – it enables us to remember God’s word
#4 – it’s an excellent way to declare God’s promises
#5 – God does
#6 -- it expresses the unity we have because of what Christ did on the cross
#7 – it offers us a glimpse of Heaven
#8 – it prepares our minds to hear God’s teaching
#9 – it plants seeds in our heart for life transformation
#10 – it reminds us of the importance of the Gospel, thereby encouraging us to live on mission for Jesus


I’ve had a chance to share on each of these points.  So this will get kind of long and will span a few blog entries, but it’s worth diving into scripture to see how music is important to God and how it should be life-changing for us when we worship.




#1 – God commands us over 50 times in the Bible to sing His praise.  


Psalm 47:6 is pretty emphatic -- it says, “sing praises to God, sing praises!  Sing praises to our King, sing praises!”  God evidently wants us to do just this!  So let’s make the number one reason we sing is because we desire to obey.


You don’t have to know too many Old Testament stories to notice that it’s a good idea to obey God.  There are many examples of what NOT to do.  God told Jonah to go to Nineveh but he didn’t, and ended up stuck in the belly of a whale as alternative to drowning.  Yeah, he should have obeyed right?


Realize, though, that singing is not for God’s benefit.  His commands are always for our benefit.  There’s a lot that happens in our hearts when we sing praise.  Declaring truth with your lips refreshes your spirit, reminds you of what’s really important, and connects you to your Creator.


Just remember, worshipping God in song is not simply a suggestion.  It’s a commandment, repeated over and over in scripture so we don’t miss out!




#2 – Singing enables us to respond to God’s grace


Music is an emotional language.  It’s meant to affect and move us.  That’s why people love Christmas carols, pep rallies, national anthems, Broadway musicals, and rock concerts.  Singing gives our praise a powerful platform.  It effects us emotionally for the right  reasons.  It puts our heart in the right place before God.


He has given each of us a song – it’s a song of thanks from the redeemed to the redeemer.  We have been forgiven and shown undying love, so we should naturally express that love back to the Lord. God isn’t glorified from half-hearted grumblings and mumblings;  making a joyful noise unto the Lord only happens when you do it with all your heart.  It comes from deep inside and is a reflection of your faith.


Nothing is more compelling than the grace God has shown us in delivering us from condemnation through the sacrifice of His son.  We have been given new life in Him.  We are greatly loved.  We are called His children and He chose us even though we didn’t deserve it!  How can we not sing!


In scripture the emotion most commonly connected with singing is joy.  May we constantly and joyfully remind ourselves that Jesus Christ has defeated the powers of hell and now reigns victorious as our redeemer and king.

“Sing joyfully to the LORD, you righteous; it is fitting for the upright to praise him.”   Psalm 33:1

#3 - Singing enables us to remember God’s Word


You’ve heard of John 3:16, right?  It’s the most commonly memorized verse in the Bible. Well every good singer should also memorize Colossians 3:16: “Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly as you sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs to one another.”
This is really much more about the words than the music.  Music is a mnemonic tool and when combined with scripture, it helps us to remember God’s truth.


A while back I made a blog entry titled “Am I the only person who likes this song?”  Here’s a little excerpt:

We did a newer song this Sunday that I absolutely love, but I wonder if others shared my enthusiasm.  As I looked out on Sunday I got mixed facial expressions to the point that I questioned if I may have been the only person who liked the song!  It starts with  "Create in me a clean heart O God" (from Psalm 51:10) and in a Tuesday conversation I heard, "I've really been praying this week that God would create a clean heart in me."  This is SO VERY encouraging to me!

Okay that’s the first 3.  The other 7 will be posted soon so stay tuned!


- Rich

worship everywhere

My kids are awesome.  They’re at the age when they get overly excited about anything their little minds can comprehend.  The enthusiasm over a single grape or a 5-minute ride in the car just astounds me.  Last week my 3-year old son Jacob came home from church just crazy about his memory verse they learned, jumping up and down doing the motions they learned.  Not to be outdone, Emma (the 5-year old) simultaneously shouted her verse at the top of her lungs.

Once the chaos died down, I asked the kids if they knew what those words meant.  We talked about the Bible, God’s plan to save us and how much He loves us, all in preschooler terms.  Emma’s verse was Psalm 122:1, “I rejoiced with those who said to me, ‘Let us go to the house of the LORD.’”  Here’s the 5-year-old version:  I’m happy to go to church with my friends.

I explained to Emma that in the older part of the Bible that people went to church (tabernacle/temple) to be with God because that’s where God lived.  But then Jesus came and He changed everything!  Now He lives inside of us and so He is with us everywhere we go.  We can pray and talk to Him anytime and we go to church because we are so happy.

That night at worship team practice as we were discussing how we live our lives as worship I shared my Emma story in 5-year old language.   I received the warm response of, “we like the 5-year old version!”

How quickly we forget that we are temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Cor 6:19) and that we are God’s house (Heb 3:6).  It’s not Biblical to go to just go to church to meet with God, we never stop meeting with God and should talk to him every day!  We go to church to grow in community, celebrate together the amazing grace we’ve been given, to learn and to encourage each other.

I led this trendy song in 2005 to start the worship service: “I’m here to meet with you, come and meet with me.”  As good as it sounds, it’s just not true!  Don’t come to church to be with God.  Instead BE the church every day to the world around you, sharing the love of Christ with everyone you come in contact with.  That is New Testament worship!  2 of the best NT worship verses to always remember:

Romans 12:1

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."

Colossians 3:16

"Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts."

- Rich