WHY CHRISTIANS SING IN WORSHIP AND MUSLIMS DON’T
I). INTRODUCTION
It’s a theme seldom aired in debate with Muslims, but song as a part of worship is one of the starkest contrasts between Christians and Muslims and a striking illustration of why we don’t worship the same God.
# Have you ever wondered why God desires for his people to sing?
# What role should singing play in the life of a Christian?
# What is it about worshiping through song that is so important to God?
# You may not know it, but God has already answered these questions in the Bible. The seven reasons below in Section 3). answer these questions and declare the more important truth about singing in the life of an individual Christian and the church as a corporate body.
In answering these questions it will become apparent why Muslims do not sing as a part of worship.
2). GOD’S PEOPLE SING
The people of God sing. After escaping from the Egyptians and crossing the Red Sea, the people of Israel sang a song to the Lord (Exodus 15). Singing was part of Israel’s formal worship in both tabernacle and temple (1 Chronicles 6:31-32, 16:42). The Psalms bear rich testimony that in joy and sorrow, in praise and lament, the faithful raise their voices in song to God. Hymn singing was practiced by Jesus and his disciples even in the solemnity of the Last Supper. (Matthew 26:30).
“Now all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves regardless of their divisions. When the priests came out of the holy place, the Levitical singers dressed in fine linen and carrying cymbals, harps, and lyres were standing east of the altar, and with them were 120 priests blowing trumpets. The Levitical singers were descendants of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun and their sons and relatives. The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the Lord with one voice. They raised their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments, in praise to the Lord : For He is good; His faithful love endures forever. The temple, the Lord ’s temple, was filled with a cloud. And because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled God’s temple.” (2 Chronicles 5:11-14)
See also Nehemiah’s description of the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. (Nehamiah 12:27-43)
Is God glorified by worship with music singing and making a joyful noise? Does He respond to heartfelt exuberance? Imagine the sound a combined 120 trumpets along with cymbals harps and lures and a full chorus is going to make and you have an idea that God responds to corporate worship as if with one voice in unity of purpose.
This scene paints a picture and provides a model of how temple worship should be.
God’s people have sung hymns in honor of the Almighty since the time of Moses and before (Exodus 15:1). David sang the “new song” God gave him and taught others to sing “a hymn of praise to our God” (Psalm 40:3). Jesus and His disciples sang a hymn together at the Last Supper (Mark 14:26). The early church sang hymns as part of their regular gatherings (1 Corinthians 14:26). Paul and Silas, with their feet in stocks in a Philippian jail, were “praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25).
There is a direct connection between being filled with the Spirit and singing: “Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:18 -19)
Let’s not mince our words or be shy of saying so — a Spirit-filled Christian is a singing Christian! Music is the natural overflow of a heart in fellowship with the Lord. The songs the church sings are not to be simply a musical exercise; they must be in the heart and not just in the mouth. The hymns the Spirit prompts are a means by which believers edify, encourage, and teach each other (Colossians 3:16).
This is worship “in the spirit” the first half of what Jesus was speaking of when He told the Samaritan woman by the well:
“But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)
What true worship is not and cannot be is mere lip service:
“These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men.” (Matthew 15:8-9)
Jesus was quoting Isaiah 29:13 which goes even further:
“The Lord said: Because these people approach Me with their mouths to honor Me with lip-service — yet their hearts are far from Me, and their worship consists of man-made rules learned by rote” (Isaiah 29:13).
Read it again … “Their worship consists of man-made rules learned by rote”.
Hmm now which religion is it that prides itself in learning by rote? 🤔
Again which religion is it that makes music taboo and frowns on any sort of musical accompaniment in worship? That would be Islam.
Music is a gift of God and part of the created order. From its inception, “when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy” (Job 38:7), to its consummation, when “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them” will sing to the Lamb on the throne (Revelation. 5:13), creation is musical. “All nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres.” Human music-making participates in the music of creation and reflects the order, beauty, and diversity of God s creation.
Stepping back for a moment, how did Jesus tell us we are to love God?
When asked by a Pharisee “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest? ” He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command.” (Matthew 22.36-37)
3). SEVEN BIBLICAL REASONS WHY SINGING MATTERS
(i). Singing is an act of obedience.
Singing isn’t an option in Scripture. It’s a command.
Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Ephesians 5:18-19: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but 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…”
God’s people are more than just invited to sing – we are commanded to sing. When we sing, we’re doing what God asks of us!
(ii). Singing taps into the Word.
Paul lays out this exhortation to let God’s Word dwell in us richly, and then, he tells us how to live out that command. The first, of course, is teaching. But the second, is singing.“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly…singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…”
Singing is one of the two chief ways that the Word of God dwells in us richly.
The command to worship comes with a promise: as we sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs together, we are promised that the Word of Christ will dwell in us richly – which is what we should crave as believers.
Our singing is more than a warm-up for the sermon or a filler in the service. Colossians 3:16 is clearly laying out for us that: Singing stands alongside of preaching as one of the two great ways that God has ordained for His Word to dwell RICHLY in each one of us!
C.J. Mahaney calls church singing “Take Home Theology,” because the best songs we sing together end up serving you as a 3 minute, easily memorised, deeply biblical summary of important truths from Scripture. Take for example, “In Christ Alone.” There, in easily memorable form, we’ve got a thorough theology of the cross of Jesus Christ with clear and practical applications that we can use for our lives for the ensuing week!
(iii). Singing edifies the church, challenges unbelievers and welcome strangers.
Firstly, we build up fellow believers when we sing:
“addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…” (Ephesians 5.19)
When we do what the Bible says and sing together as a church family, we are hearing confessions of faith all around! We are hearing hundreds join with us and sing, “In Christ alone, MY hope is found!” Where else can we hear hundreds of testimonies of faith simultaneously all around us?!
Also know that as you sing, you’re welcoming strangers and helping unbelievers. Rousing songs of worship can simultaneously challenge, encourage and inspire the unbeliever. In Psalm 105:1-2, the Lord is calling the Israelites to be a light unto the nations, and to do this He tells them: “Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all his wondrous works!”
Think of the impact on someone who doesn’t know Christ to hear those hundreds of testimonies, those hundreds of confessions of faith as we sing together! This is why Pastor Tim Keller says: “Good corporate worship will naturally be evangelistic.”
(iv). Singing is a declaration of spiritual warfare.
Praise as a weapon is a theme visible in Scripture. The Psalmist declares:
“Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.” (Psalms 8:2) God will empower even the weakest and most vulnerable who will praise Him.
Again in Colossians chapter 3, Paul challenges the Colossians to literally put sin to death in their lives – to kill sin. He follows that with: “Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3.16). And so all the commands to love and peace and forgiveness and teaching and SINGING, are therefore, sound Bible principles that shape the attitudes and habits of the believer that will kill sin!
We see the same thing in Ephesians 5, the command to address one another in song comes right on the heels of “[make] the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).
And the more you think about this, it makes total sense: What posture must be more hated by the evil one than the posture of a believer who is singing? I can’t think of any stance you can take that identifies you with Christ and against Satan more than the eyes, heart, mind and voice lifted to heaven in song!
It’s very hard to lie, be greedy or to be tempted by something inappropriate when, you’re “singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (Ephesians 5:19). Simply, a heart that’s doing that will not easily give in to temptation.
A singing heart is a heart at war with the work of the evil one and the power of sin.
And this truth is nowhere better illustrated than by the complete absence of song in Islam. Not only absence of it but hostility towards it. Hence why Muslims will scorn and attack Christians for employing “instruments of the devil” to try and portray our worship as satanic! It is no coincidence that Islam’s founder Muhammad hated music and forbade it. Music is haram for Muslims. It is associated with the sins of intoxication and fornication as a snare to be avoided.
We find this Hadith quoted by those who are opposed to music:
Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 69, Number 494v: Narrated Abu ‘Amir or Abu Malik Al-Ash’ari: that he heard the Prophet saying, “From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments, as lawful. And there will be some people who will stay near the side of a mountain and in the evening their shepherd will come to them with their sheep and ask them for something, but they will say to him, ‘Return to us tomorrow.’ Allah will destroy them during the night and will let the mountain fall on them, and He will transform the rest of them into monkeys and pigs and they will remain so till the Day of Resurrection.”
(v). Singing is spiritually strengthening for trials.
Often times, we think only of singing when we’re happy and times are good, but singing bringing strength for trial comes out in Acts 16. Paul and Silas are unjustly imprisoned for the sake of the Gospel, and what do they do while they’re in prison? They sing! (Acts 16:25)
And this truth is confirmed in the lives of persecuted believers throughout history. Hear the words of one pastor who was imprisoned for his faith:
“…When we were in prison we sang almost every day because Christ was alive in us…they put chains on our hands and feet. They chained us to add to our grief. Yet we discovered that chains are splendid musical instruments! When we clanged them together in rhythm, we could sing, ‘This is the day (clink, clank), this is the day (clink, clank), which the Lord has made (clink, clank), which the Lord has made (clink, clank).”
Our persecuted brethren display the truth we see in Acts 16 with Paul & Silas. Singing strengthens you and helps you persevere in the face of trial. If it can strengthen them in the face of these trials – what can it do for you?
Even in suffering, SING!
(vi). Singing is a God-designed pathway to joy.
Here is a sample of what the Psalms say about singing:
# Psalms 5:11: “Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.”
# Psalms 9:2: “I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”
# Psalms 51:14: “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.”
# Psalms 59:16: “I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.”
# Psalms 63:7: “For you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.”
For the doubters, here’s a clincher from James 5:13: “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.”
A study of Scripture reveals that sometimes singing gives birth to joy and sometimes joy gives birth to singing. But persistently in Scripture, joy and singing are bound together. You can’t study one of those two biblical themes without encountering the other.
If you struggle for joy – SING! If you are joyful – SING! In God’s perfect design and in His perfect understanding of the human condition He has bound joy and singing together for His people.
The first 6 reasons get summed up with this:
(vii). Singing is glorifying God.
Truly obedience, deep roots in the Word, building up others, making war against Satan and sin, persevering, finding joy in God – all of these things bring glory to God – each person’s chief goal and chief purpose in life.
Colossians 3 & Ephesians 5 bring this out simply but powerfully telling us to sing “to God” and “to the Lord” because He is the object of our praise. Ephesians 5:19: “singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” It is to HIM and about HIM that we sing!
Singing has such a unique way of bringing your heart, soul, mind, and strength together to focus entirely and completely on God. In an age of distraction – singing grabs the attention of all our senses and focuses us on God.
In Revelation 7:9-10 we see a glimpse of eternity with a great multitude of people from every tribe, peoples, and languages singing before the Lamb, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
4). CONCLUSIONS
Eternity awaits. The choirs of the heavenly host will tell us when we are home.
Muslims think about how much you are missing. Satan hates the sight and sound of praises to our Lord. Its no coincidence that Islam employs no music or song in worship. Music and song are diametrically opposed to the controlling spirit of Islam. Singing releases the spirit which Muslims suppress or even deny exists. How can you hope to join the chorus of worship in the next life when song is a stranger to you in this?
Will you on that day be one of the great multitude that no one could number, singing the song of the Lamb, singing His praises? I hope you’ll be there, singing the song of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Honouring by lips is zero worship. True worship is from the heart and full of joyful expression. Its essence is a heart that treasures God above all things. What James said bears repeating: “Is any one [among you] cheerful? Let him sing” (James 5:13).
Was Paul wrong to say: “I will sing with my spirit, and I will sing with my mind” (1 Corinthians 14:15). And, again, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).
Make no mistake we cannot fulfill the command of Jesus to worship “in spirit” unless we give full rein and expression to the joy of knowing Him as our Lord and Saviour. Just as we shall worship Him in heaven so we should be doing here and now on earth.
I wish all my brothers and sisters in Christ a blessed day. May worship songs be in your heart and on your lips. To our Muslim friends I invite you to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). Amen.
Sing now. Sing forever. Singing matters. Let’s sing together.
Sent from Outlook for Android<aka.ms/AAb9ysg>
I). INTRODUCTION
It’s a theme seldom aired in debate with Muslims, but song as a part of worship is one of the starkest contrasts between Christians and Muslims and a striking illustration of why we don’t worship the same God.
# Have you ever wondered why God desires for his people to sing?
# What role should singing play in the life of a Christian?
# What is it about worshiping through song that is so important to God?
# You may not know it, but God has already answered these questions in the Bible. The seven reasons below in Section 3). answer these questions and declare the more important truth about singing in the life of an individual Christian and the church as a corporate body.
In answering these questions it will become apparent why Muslims do not sing as a part of worship.
2). GOD’S PEOPLE SING
The people of God sing. After escaping from the Egyptians and crossing the Red Sea, the people of Israel sang a song to the Lord (Exodus 15). Singing was part of Israel’s formal worship in both tabernacle and temple (1 Chronicles 6:31-32, 16:42). The Psalms bear rich testimony that in joy and sorrow, in praise and lament, the faithful raise their voices in song to God. Hymn singing was practiced by Jesus and his disciples even in the solemnity of the Last Supper. (Matthew 26:30).
“Now all the priests who were present had consecrated themselves regardless of their divisions. When the priests came out of the holy place, the Levitical singers dressed in fine linen and carrying cymbals, harps, and lyres were standing east of the altar, and with them were 120 priests blowing trumpets. The Levitical singers were descendants of Asaph, Heman, and Jeduthun and their sons and relatives. The trumpeters and singers joined together to praise and thank the Lord with one voice. They raised their voices, accompanied by trumpets, cymbals, and musical instruments, in praise to the Lord : For He is good; His faithful love endures forever. The temple, the Lord ’s temple, was filled with a cloud. And because of the cloud, the priests were not able to continue ministering, for the glory of the Lord filled God’s temple.” (2 Chronicles 5:11-14)
See also Nehemiah’s description of the dedication of the wall of Jerusalem. (Nehamiah 12:27-43)
Is God glorified by worship with music singing and making a joyful noise? Does He respond to heartfelt exuberance? Imagine the sound a combined 120 trumpets along with cymbals harps and lures and a full chorus is going to make and you have an idea that God responds to corporate worship as if with one voice in unity of purpose.
This scene paints a picture and provides a model of how temple worship should be.
God’s people have sung hymns in honor of the Almighty since the time of Moses and before (Exodus 15:1). David sang the “new song” God gave him and taught others to sing “a hymn of praise to our God” (Psalm 40:3). Jesus and His disciples sang a hymn together at the Last Supper (Mark 14:26). The early church sang hymns as part of their regular gatherings (1 Corinthians 14:26). Paul and Silas, with their feet in stocks in a Philippian jail, were “praying and singing hymns to God” (Acts 16:25).
There is a direct connection between being filled with the Spirit and singing: “Be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord.” (Ephesians 5:18 -19)
Let’s not mince our words or be shy of saying so — a Spirit-filled Christian is a singing Christian! Music is the natural overflow of a heart in fellowship with the Lord. The songs the church sings are not to be simply a musical exercise; they must be in the heart and not just in the mouth. The hymns the Spirit prompts are a means by which believers edify, encourage, and teach each other (Colossians 3:16).
This is worship “in the spirit” the first half of what Jesus was speaking of when He told the Samaritan woman by the well:
“But an hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth. Yes, the Father wants such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” (John 4:23-24)
What true worship is not and cannot be is mere lip service:
“These people honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. They worship Me in vain, teaching as doctrines the commands of men.” (Matthew 15:8-9)
Jesus was quoting Isaiah 29:13 which goes even further:
“The Lord said: Because these people approach Me with their mouths to honor Me with lip-service — yet their hearts are far from Me, and their worship consists of man-made rules learned by rote” (Isaiah 29:13).
Read it again … “Their worship consists of man-made rules learned by rote”.
Hmm now which religion is it that prides itself in learning by rote? 🤔
Again which religion is it that makes music taboo and frowns on any sort of musical accompaniment in worship? That would be Islam.
Music is a gift of God and part of the created order. From its inception, “when the morning stars sang together and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy” (Job 38:7), to its consummation, when “every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them” will sing to the Lamb on the throne (Revelation. 5:13), creation is musical. “All nature sings and round me rings the music of the spheres.” Human music-making participates in the music of creation and reflects the order, beauty, and diversity of God s creation.
Stepping back for a moment, how did Jesus tell us we are to love God?
When asked by a Pharisee “Teacher, which command in the law is the greatest? ” He said to him, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and most important command.” (Matthew 22.36-37)
3). SEVEN BIBLICAL REASONS WHY SINGING MATTERS
(i). Singing is an act of obedience.
Singing isn’t an option in Scripture. It’s a command.
Colossians 3:16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
Ephesians 5:18-19: “And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but 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…”
God’s people are more than just invited to sing – we are commanded to sing. When we sing, we’re doing what God asks of us!
(ii). Singing taps into the Word.
Paul lays out this exhortation to let God’s Word dwell in us richly, and then, he tells us how to live out that command. The first, of course, is teaching. But the second, is singing.“Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly…singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…”
Singing is one of the two chief ways that the Word of God dwells in us richly.
The command to worship comes with a promise: as we sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs together, we are promised that the Word of Christ will dwell in us richly – which is what we should crave as believers.
Our singing is more than a warm-up for the sermon or a filler in the service. Colossians 3:16 is clearly laying out for us that: Singing stands alongside of preaching as one of the two great ways that God has ordained for His Word to dwell RICHLY in each one of us!
C.J. Mahaney calls church singing “Take Home Theology,” because the best songs we sing together end up serving you as a 3 minute, easily memorised, deeply biblical summary of important truths from Scripture. Take for example, “In Christ Alone.” There, in easily memorable form, we’ve got a thorough theology of the cross of Jesus Christ with clear and practical applications that we can use for our lives for the ensuing week!
(iii). Singing edifies the church, challenges unbelievers and welcome strangers.
Firstly, we build up fellow believers when we sing:
“addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs…” (Ephesians 5.19)
When we do what the Bible says and sing together as a church family, we are hearing confessions of faith all around! We are hearing hundreds join with us and sing, “In Christ alone, MY hope is found!” Where else can we hear hundreds of testimonies of faith simultaneously all around us?!
Also know that as you sing, you’re welcoming strangers and helping unbelievers. Rousing songs of worship can simultaneously challenge, encourage and inspire the unbeliever. In Psalm 105:1-2, the Lord is calling the Israelites to be a light unto the nations, and to do this He tells them: “Sing to Him, sing praises to Him; tell of all his wondrous works!”
Think of the impact on someone who doesn’t know Christ to hear those hundreds of testimonies, those hundreds of confessions of faith as we sing together! This is why Pastor Tim Keller says: “Good corporate worship will naturally be evangelistic.”
(iv). Singing is a declaration of spiritual warfare.
Praise as a weapon is a theme visible in Scripture. The Psalmist declares:
“Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have ordained strength, Because of Your enemies, That You may silence the enemy and the avenger.” (Psalms 8:2) God will empower even the weakest and most vulnerable who will praise Him.
Again in Colossians chapter 3, Paul challenges the Colossians to literally put sin to death in their lives – to kill sin. He follows that with: “Let the message about the Messiah dwell richly among you, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, and singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3.16). And so all the commands to love and peace and forgiveness and teaching and SINGING, are therefore, sound Bible principles that shape the attitudes and habits of the believer that will kill sin!
We see the same thing in Ephesians 5, the command to address one another in song comes right on the heels of “[make] the best use of the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:16).
And the more you think about this, it makes total sense: What posture must be more hated by the evil one than the posture of a believer who is singing? I can’t think of any stance you can take that identifies you with Christ and against Satan more than the eyes, heart, mind and voice lifted to heaven in song!
It’s very hard to lie, be greedy or to be tempted by something inappropriate when, you’re “singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (Ephesians 5:19). Simply, a heart that’s doing that will not easily give in to temptation.
A singing heart is a heart at war with the work of the evil one and the power of sin.
And this truth is nowhere better illustrated than by the complete absence of song in Islam. Not only absence of it but hostility towards it. Hence why Muslims will scorn and attack Christians for employing “instruments of the devil” to try and portray our worship as satanic! It is no coincidence that Islam’s founder Muhammad hated music and forbade it. Music is haram for Muslims. It is associated with the sins of intoxication and fornication as a snare to be avoided.
We find this Hadith quoted by those who are opposed to music:
Bukhari, Volume 7, Book 69, Number 494v: Narrated Abu ‘Amir or Abu Malik Al-Ash’ari: that he heard the Prophet saying, “From among my followers there will be some people who will consider illegal sexual intercourse, the wearing of silk, the drinking of alcoholic drinks and the use of musical instruments, as lawful. And there will be some people who will stay near the side of a mountain and in the evening their shepherd will come to them with their sheep and ask them for something, but they will say to him, ‘Return to us tomorrow.’ Allah will destroy them during the night and will let the mountain fall on them, and He will transform the rest of them into monkeys and pigs and they will remain so till the Day of Resurrection.”
(v). Singing is spiritually strengthening for trials.
Often times, we think only of singing when we’re happy and times are good, but singing bringing strength for trial comes out in Acts 16. Paul and Silas are unjustly imprisoned for the sake of the Gospel, and what do they do while they’re in prison? They sing! (Acts 16:25)
And this truth is confirmed in the lives of persecuted believers throughout history. Hear the words of one pastor who was imprisoned for his faith:
“…When we were in prison we sang almost every day because Christ was alive in us…they put chains on our hands and feet. They chained us to add to our grief. Yet we discovered that chains are splendid musical instruments! When we clanged them together in rhythm, we could sing, ‘This is the day (clink, clank), this is the day (clink, clank), which the Lord has made (clink, clank), which the Lord has made (clink, clank).”
Our persecuted brethren display the truth we see in Acts 16 with Paul & Silas. Singing strengthens you and helps you persevere in the face of trial. If it can strengthen them in the face of these trials – what can it do for you?
Even in suffering, SING!
(vi). Singing is a God-designed pathway to joy.
Here is a sample of what the Psalms say about singing:
# Psalms 5:11: “Let all who take refuge in you rejoice; let them ever sing for joy, and spread your protection over them, that those who love your name may exult in you.”
# Psalms 9:2: “I will be glad and exult in you; I will sing praise to your name, O Most High.”
# Psalms 51:14: “Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness.”
# Psalms 59:16: “I will sing of your strength; I will sing aloud of your steadfast love in the morning. For you have been to me a fortress and a refuge in the day of my distress.”
# Psalms 63:7: “For you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy.”
For the doubters, here’s a clincher from James 5:13: “Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise.”
A study of Scripture reveals that sometimes singing gives birth to joy and sometimes joy gives birth to singing. But persistently in Scripture, joy and singing are bound together. You can’t study one of those two biblical themes without encountering the other.
If you struggle for joy – SING! If you are joyful – SING! In God’s perfect design and in His perfect understanding of the human condition He has bound joy and singing together for His people.
The first 6 reasons get summed up with this:
(vii). Singing is glorifying God.
Truly obedience, deep roots in the Word, building up others, making war against Satan and sin, persevering, finding joy in God – all of these things bring glory to God – each person’s chief goal and chief purpose in life.
Colossians 3 & Ephesians 5 bring this out simply but powerfully telling us to sing “to God” and “to the Lord” because He is the object of our praise. Ephesians 5:19: “singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.” It is to HIM and about HIM that we sing!
Singing has such a unique way of bringing your heart, soul, mind, and strength together to focus entirely and completely on God. In an age of distraction – singing grabs the attention of all our senses and focuses us on God.
In Revelation 7:9-10 we see a glimpse of eternity with a great multitude of people from every tribe, peoples, and languages singing before the Lamb, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
4). CONCLUSIONS
Eternity awaits. The choirs of the heavenly host will tell us when we are home.
Muslims think about how much you are missing. Satan hates the sight and sound of praises to our Lord. Its no coincidence that Islam employs no music or song in worship. Music and song are diametrically opposed to the controlling spirit of Islam. Singing releases the spirit which Muslims suppress or even deny exists. How can you hope to join the chorus of worship in the next life when song is a stranger to you in this?
Will you on that day be one of the great multitude that no one could number, singing the song of the Lamb, singing His praises? I hope you’ll be there, singing the song of our Saviour, Jesus Christ.
Honouring by lips is zero worship. True worship is from the heart and full of joyful expression. Its essence is a heart that treasures God above all things. What James said bears repeating: “Is any one [among you] cheerful? Let him sing” (James 5:13).
Was Paul wrong to say: “I will sing with my spirit, and I will sing with my mind” (1 Corinthians 14:15). And, again, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).
Make no mistake we cannot fulfill the command of Jesus to worship “in spirit” unless we give full rein and expression to the joy of knowing Him as our Lord and Saviour. Just as we shall worship Him in heaven so we should be doing here and now on earth.
I wish all my brothers and sisters in Christ a blessed day. May worship songs be in your heart and on your lips. To our Muslim friends I invite you to “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Psalm 34:8). Amen.
Sing now. Sing forever. Singing matters. Let’s sing together.
Sent from Outlook for Android<aka.ms/AAb9ysg>