Word of Encouragement (07/06/2022)

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. The LORD is a man of war; the LORD is his name....” (Ex. 15:1-3)

Here, we have Moses and the people of Israel singing a song to the LORD after the Egyptians, who were chasing the Israelites, were drowned in the Red Sea. Some say that this is the first song recorded in the Bible. I think that the words that came out of Adam when he saw Eve—“This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man”—were the first song. But I see what they mean: this song (which is called “the Song of Moses”) is the first one to be actually called a song.

Why did they sing? Is this a normal response? The Bible says, “Oh sing to the LORD a new song, for he has done marvelous things” (Ps. 98:1)! It commands us to sing as a proper response to the marvelous things that God has done. This is not the only proper response, of course. We are to praise Him, bow down and worship Him, give thanks to Him, and even shout for joy! But is there anything special about singing?

We are surrounded by singing and music. We listen to songs while driving, walking, working, and studying. We sing (or, hum) along (when nobody is around!). I hope some of the songs you sing are hymns and praise songs. But isn’t it amazing that, in our civic, social life, there are few occasions on which we sing together as a community? At professional sports games, we may have a singer or a singing group come out to sing the national anthem and some people may sing along. When we watch European or Latin American soccer (for football, as they call it) games, we see the fans singing songs together. Even in our country, there may be spontaneous singing that breaks out among a group of people for whatever reason or occasion. But, we don’t normally sing together other than the birthday song on someone’s birthday.

So, the Christian practice of singing is unique, even among religious groups. In this regard, we can say that Christianity is a singing religion. Why is singing so important in Christianity? We all know that there is something very powerful about singing. Who of us has not been awed or touched to tears by a moving song? The combination of the poetic lyrics and the moving melody, which buoy up the words that are already so beautiful, makes a song so touching and inspiring!

Is singing a human invention? We are told that Jubal, one of Cain’s sons, “was the father of all those who play the lyre and pipe” (Gen. 4:21). But we are also told that the angels sang as they witnessed the marvel of God’s creation (Job. 38:7). Not only that, as Bob Kauflin points out, “...all three persons of the Trinity sing (Zeph. 3:17; Heb. 2:12; Eph. 5:18-19)” (“The Three R’s: Why Christians Sing”). These verses may be anthropomorphic expressions but singing may have its origin in the very being of the triune God! Think about that! No wonder singing is such an integral part of our religion!

We will dwell on this point a bit longer later. For now, I hope you will appreciate the importance of singing in Christianity and this renewed appreciation will cause you to take the singing in our worship service more seriously. I also hope that singing will be an important and uplifting part of your Christian life as well. Let’s get more acquainted with the songs of our faith so that we can make them our own songs to God!

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