It’s Saturday night, walking towards Windsor Park, the Northern Ireland football team’s stadium, and the roar of supporters fills your ears before the lights of the stadium are even in sight. Thousands of green and white shirts, all making their way through the streets, singing their hearts out, shoulder to shoulder, as they prepare to support their team through a gruelling 90 minutes. Sitting in the stands, the noise is deafening as fans stand, arms wide open, giving every breath in their body to sing for the team they love. It’s an incredible experience to be a part of.
Sunday morning arrives, you make your way through the front doors to gather with your local church, and the first song begins. Maybe you glance to your left, someone’s yawning their way through the song. To your right, another person’s lips are barely muttering the words under their breath.
Ask yourself, do you, do we, approach singing in the local church with the same enthusiasm and earnestness as you do with other things in life that we love? Are we doing this out of repetition or tradition? What’s the point?
Why do Christians sing in church?
Here are 4 reasons why God’s people sing when they meet together:
Because we have always sung
From the beginning, we see throughout both the Old and New Testament, God’s people lifting their voices to sing to the Lord. Singing songs of praise, of lament, and of joy. Songs with friends around a meal, songs while imprisoned.
Exodus 15:1-2
“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 he has thrown into the sea. 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.”
Psalm 145:1-3
“I will extol you, my God and King, and bless your name forever and ever. Every day I will bless you and praise your name forever and ever. Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.”
Luke 1:46-49
“And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant. For behold, from now on all generations will call me blessed; for he who is mighty has done great things for me, and holy is his name.”
Mark 14:26
“And when they (Jesus and his disciples) had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.”
Acts 16:25
“About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them,”
Singing is woven through the story of God and his people, whatever the circumstance because singing in worship is built into us from creation.
Because we are created to worship
As the crown of God’s creation, made in the image of the invisible God, we have an in-built desire to worship. Before creation, God the Father, Son, and Spirit have been in perfect union of love and praise with one another. As an overflow of this perfect love, God created all things, including mankind to rule over his creation and to delight in him as the Trinity delight in eachother.
Isaiah 43:21
“the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.”
And so mankind does and will worship, because that is what we are made to do. Mankind will worship whatever its heart is set on, our own desires, or God.
Romans 1:25
“because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”
It’s not a question of if we will worship, but what or who. Worship is inevitable.
Because God commands us to sing
And so to help God’s people correctly direct their worship, the Lord has commanded his people in his word to give their praise to himself. Through the words of kings and faithful followers of Christ, God has told the church repeatedly how to address one another and himself as we meet together.
Psalm 96:1-4
“Oh sing to the Lord a new song; sing to the Lord, all the earth! Sing to the Lord, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples! For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.”
Ephesians 5:19-20
“addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart, giving thanks always and for everything to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ,”
As the church meets together and sings songs of praise, lament, truths about God, responses to his word, the gospel, we are participating in Spirit-filled Christian living which we have been commanded to do. Teaching and building one another up, and giving God the glory he is due. Our singing primarily vertical (to God), but also horizontal (to one another).
Because God is worthy of our song
And finally, the church sings because God is worthy of our worship and song for who he is, the Creator and the Sustainer of all things, and also for what he has done for us. The Son has made himself as one of his creation, becoming man like us, in order to pay the debt and punishment for our sin which we could never repay. Without the intervention of God, we would remain his enemy, worship the world, the flesh, and the devil rather than give it to its rightful recipient.
Revelation 4:11
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
We have received unimaginable grace, and mercy, and riches through Christ alone. Our broken, putrid sinful state has been taken by Jesus on the cross, and he boar the wrath reserved for me. We sing because of the cross. Not only that, but we have been promised eternity in the presence of God, where every saint will join together and sing to the Lamb upon the throne, for he is worthy of all praise.
Psalm 145:3
“Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.”
Revelation 5:12
“Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honor and glory and blessing!”
Hebrews 13:15
“Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.”
We don’t sing because we feel like it, or out of tradition or expectation. We sing because God is matchless in his worthiness, and has transformed our lives through the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.
So as you prepare to meet with your church this week, remember this is more than lip service, this is the outpouring of a transformed heart which can’t help but sing praise to the only one worthy of our praise, our Creator, Sustainer, and Saviour, God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. And as we do this we want to encourage our brothers and sisters in their own walk with God, and the sound of our heartfelt worship and song might be heard more passionately than any sporting event could produce.
“Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the earth hear His voice;
Praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
Let the people rejoice;
Oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
And give Him the glory; great things He hath done.”
Fanny Jane Crosby (1820-1915)
