Why Do We Sing? Three Reasons to Worship God in Song
by Kim Arnold
Jesus calls us from the worship
of the vain world’s golden store,
from each idol that would keep us,
saying, “Christian, love me more.”
“Jesus Calls Us O’er the Tumult,” - Cecil Alexander
If 2020 has shown us anything, it has revealed how vital congregational singing is in the life of the believer. Scott Aniol argues in his book, By the Waters of Babylon: Worship in a Post-Christian Culture that “when believers gather as the church, they exist in some special way as the dwelling place of God—the sanctuary of worship—so that, as Jesus promised, ‘where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them’ (Matthew 18:20),” and this gathering “should give indication of something sacred and distinct for the gathered church (p. 134).” I would like to mention three points to remember when we sing as a gathered congregation.
We sing in obedience.
Numerous times throughout Scripture we are commanded to sing praise to God. This is not a suggestion, but a command! This command should be followed with humility and supplication. We see the Israelites singing to the Lord under Miriam’s direction in Exodus 15:21, we see the barren woman charged to sing for joy in Isaiah 54:1, we see Psalm 81 sung in the Jewish Feast of Trumpets and we see four commands to sing praise to God in Psalm 47:6. These verses (and many others) show us the importance God places in singing his praises, and we even see in Zephaniah 3:17 that God sings over us! This sacred act of worship is something we are charged to do out of love and obedience to our Savior.
We sing to encourage others.
Have you ever noticed the horizontal aspect of worship? Our singing as a congregation can encourage new believers or those struggling with their faith. As we live in community, our congregational song unites us as believers, not only to our Lord, but to our fellow believer. Twice Paul exhorted New Testament Christians in continuing to “speak to one another (Ephesians 5:19),” and “teach and admonish one another with all wisdom (Colossians 3:16)” through the singing of psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. The triune God is the focus of our worship but gathering as a body of believers to lift our united voices encourages us, no matter where we are in our faith journeys.
We sing through God’s invitation to worship.
Something I always remind my students is that God initiates every act of worship. We choose whether we will accept God’s invitation to worship, but we do not initiate the act of worship itself. When we gather as a body of believers on Sunday morning, our worship only occurs because God invites us to join with the angels around his throne in heavenly worship (Isaiah 6:1, Revelation 4:1). Since God allowed Isaiah and John glimpses of heavenly worship, we know how to pattern our worship here on earth, which should always express the tension between Christ’s resurrection and his return. What happens in heaven and on earth happens in the heart, and congregational singing aids in this formation. So, sing!
Author Bio
Kim has been a member of Council Road for 28 years, where she loves singing in choir and helping lead worship on Sunday mornings. She is currently pursuing her PhD in Church Music and Worship from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary and enjoys teaching future worship leaders the importance of biblical training in worship leading. Kim and Jason have been married for 20 years and have one son, Nolan, and a yellow lab, Daisy. When not working, the Arnold family loves hiking in God's beautiful creation.