Word of Encouragement (07/07/2022)

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)

Why is singing so important in Christianity? Yesterday, we saw the reason in the being of God Himself. Therefore, when we sing, we reflect something of God! No wonder Paul commands, “...be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart...” (Eph. 5:18-19). One of the things we do when the Holy Spirit fills us is to sing spiritual songs of worship and gratitude to God.

We also noticed how rare it is to sing together in our civic life. That may be an indication of how divided we are as a society and nation. What makes us sing together as a community is when we share something common to sing about and the song reflects our shared experiences and beliefs. Also, the occasion must be significant enough to elicit something more than just conversations and talks. We don’t normally talk to one another in songs as in musicals. Singing requires more effort: we must know not only the lyrics but also the melody. Also, because the tune often breaks out of our normal range of pitch, we can strain our vocal cords. That is why most of our voices change when we go from speaking to singing—we tighten up when we are about to sing. This may be the reason that we don’t sing together very much.

But, for the very same reasons, when we do sing together as a community, it shows that the occasion is important enough for the extra efforts we must put forth. And sure enough, when we sing together, we notice that our participation in an event or our experience of that event is heightened. This is due to the heightened diction and more articulate expression of the words we sing as well as the emotional element added by the beautiful melody. And there is something profoundly moving about hearing the others sing what you sing, sharing that moment and experience with us,

When Moses sang with the people of Israel, it showed how significant the occasion was. Can we not see it? The Lord just parted the Red Sea to bring the Israelites safely to the other side from the pursuit of the Egyptian chariots. And when the Egyptians followed Israel, God closed the sea to drown them right in front of their eyes! Awestruck by the mighty act of God, Moses and the people could not help but sing to the LORD! And when the Bible tells us to sing to the LORD for His mighty deeds, it is a clear reminder that God’s mighty acts of grace and mercy deserve more than just a casual response of gratitude.

We must also keep in mind that this is a corporate call. God’s mighty deeds of grace are done for His people as a covenant community. For that, we have the responsibility to join with our fellow saints to sing our corporate praise to God. This is why we sing together in our worship. It is not just to add variety to what we do in our worship so we won’t get bored. We shouldn’t come to church just to listen to the sermon. We come also to sing to the Lord for the wondrous works He has done for us in Jesus Christ. “Worship” is a compound word, made up of “worth” and “-ship”: it is an act of acknowledging the worth of the One, before whose presence we stand.

May the Lord increase and deepen our joy of salvation and renew and restore to our hearts the songs of praise to God! And let us look forward to joining our hearts and lips together to sing to the Lord our songs of praise!

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