Why do we sing in church?
One of the strangest things for newcomers to church to grapple with is a group of people singing aloud together. If you’ve been a churchgoer for a long time, maybe that doesn’t strike you as unusual. It is just something churches do. But think about it: where else in our cultures do groups of people sing together? It happens (briefly) at birthdays perhaps or at the new year. Some might sing at sporting events. The national anthem is sung at official gatherings. Yet communal singing of a range of different songs is unusual.
Music, of course, is very common, and most people listen to music in some form during the week. But this is a very individual activity in most cases, with headphones ensuring that your music stays with you, and mine stays with me.
The Old Testament is full of songs intended to be sung by God’s people. The Psalms, in particular, contain 150 different songs that believers could sing at different times. Some were used in official events or for specific festivals, but others could be sung depending on the situation. There are songs that praise God, that cry out to God in pain, that ask God for things, or that recount God’s past goodness. And the Psalms are not the only place we find songs either; God’s people sang when God saved them (as in the Song of Miriam) and at other key times.
Why is this? Well, poetry and music have a way of expressing emotion in a way that saying something directly does not. There is something special about singing that helps us to express what is in our hearts.
Yet the New Testament doesn’t have that many references to singing. There are passing mentions, like Jesus and his disciples singing a hymn at Passover, or James telling those who are joyful to sing a song of praise (James 5:13). This doesn’t mean singing was not done often by believers! Yet it does mean that singing and style of music and the like did not have the controversy that it has in the modern church.
There is one passage in the New Testament that gives a little more detail on why we sing:
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.
(Eph. 5:17-21 ESV)
Paul says that being “filled with the Spirit” includes speaking to one another through song, singing to God, giving thanks for everything, and submitting to one another. In other words, being a believer and having the Spirit should lead us to these actions and attitudes. While there is a lot to explore here, let’s focus on the singing bit.
There are two aspects to singing listed here: a horizontal and a vertical dimension. Horizontally, we sing to one another. That’s something we don’t think much about, but we should. We are not all just singing between us and God, we are singing together, so we hear the words others sing too. The words remind us of God’s goodness and grace, which we need. So singing has a teaching function, an encouragement function. The vertical aspect is singing to the Lord with our hearts. We’re not just saying words, at least we shouldn’t be; we should mean what we sing, and the songs should be expressing to God what is in our hearts.
We don’t sing to create an atmosphere where God is present; He is always with us. We don’t sing to feel a certain way or have a certain experience, though singing is always tied with emotion. We sing to one another and to God as a response to God’s grace to us in Jesus.
Singing in a local church is a great blessing. Think hard about the words next time you sing with others, and thank God for the gifts of poetry and music.