Worship through Singing
Ephesians 5:19 - Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord
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Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
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Good morning.
We are truly blessed to have been gifted with a talented worship team that is able to lead us in musical worship to the Lord.
Praise the Lord for them.
Well, we have been talking this month about worship and last week we spoke about worship through sacrifice. We are going to take an opportunity to continue to worship the Lord through our sacrifice this morning.
I want us to take a moment and truly have our hearts challenged to worship through this act.
So let’s just pause a moment and I will pray.
Pray for offering.
Announcements
Transition to Message
Ok, this morning we are going to be talking about what most people initially think of when they hear the word worship, and that is music or singing.
Now we have seen that it is not the singing that is necessarily worship, but it is an expression of our worship.
Now there may be some here who think, I don’t express my worship very well through singing because I can’t sing, and if I can’t sing, why would God want me to worship Him through singing?
Why Worship through Singing?
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Well, we are going to take a look at why the Lord wants us to worship Him through singing this morning, even for those who are unable, like me, to sing very well at all.
I want to begin with a couple of verses of Scripture this morning that indicate that this is something that the Lord wants us to do.
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Ephesians 5:19 - Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord
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Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
The first and most important reason that we should sing is because
Worship through singing Glorifies God
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Through our Obedience
He tells us to sing in these verses. We are to sing and make music, sing with gratitude in your hearts to the Lord.
We need to sing to be obedient and to glorify Him.
And it is not just in these verses that we are told to sing, but I could list verse after verse. Here is a sample of what we find throughout Scripture.
Chronicles 16:9 - Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.
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1 Chronicles 16:23 - Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim his salvation day after day.
Psalms 47:6 - Sing praises to God, sing praises; sing praises to our King, sing praises.
God is glorified as we worship Him through singing because He tells us to do it.
Transition
So, first and foremost, we should worship through singing because we are told to and our obedience brings Him glory, But we should also
Worship through singing because it Glorifies God through
helping us Remember the word of Christ Intellectually
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Look with me at Colossians 3:16 again.
Colossians 3:16 - Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God.
Christ’s words can dwell in us richly as we sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs!
Music has a powerful pneumonic effect in helping us remember God’s words and teaching.
Example – ABC’s
For example, if I asked you to recite the ABC’s, I would bet almost everyone here could recite them together with the same singing type recitation.
(sing ABC’s)
That is how we learned them and that is how we know them. The ABC song helped us to learn our ABC’s
Singing can also help us better remember God’s word as well.
There are songs that teach us Scripture.
I remember doing a VBS where the kids learned Romans 16:19.
Romans 16:19
Romans 16:19 says, be excellent in what is good, Be innocent of evil.
And the God of Peace will soon crush Satan underneath your feet.
There are other songs, that while they don’t teach us Scripture word for word, teach us the story and the Lesson of the story.
Blessed by Your Name
For instance, the song Blessed be your Name teaches us how Job responded to difficult circumstances and how we should respond.
When Job found out his kids had been killed, and he had lost all of his wealth it says in Job 1:20-21 that, “Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. 21 And he said, "Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." ESV
The song teaches us these truths:
When the darkness closes in, Lord
Still I will say
Blessed be the name of the Lord
Blessed be Your name
And as we sing those songs, they have a tendency to stay with us in our memory, unlike just memorizing something.
And when we know God and His word, we can be strengthened in our walk and walk in ways that glorify Him. That too, is what His word tells us
Psalm 119:9, 11
9 How can a young man keep his way pure?
By living according to your word.
11 I have hidden your word in my heart
that I might not sin against you.
Teach us doctrine
But Music helps us remember not only Scripture and particular stories, but it can teach us doctrine as well. This is why it is important that we understand what music is teaching us.
The Stand
For example, listen to these words in the song, “The Stand”
Listen to these words of the song
You stood before creation
Eternity in your hand
You spoke the earth into motion
My soul now to stand
You stood before my failure
And carried the cross for my shame
My sin weighed upon your shoulders
My soul now to stand
In this song, we are taught about
God’s sovereignty and power in creation,
my sin,
the atonement that Christ made for me, and
my response through the Spirit to live my life for Him.
Spiritual songs and hymns are powerful because they can truly help us in remembering His word, his works and his promises to us and strengthen us to live to His Glory.
That is worship and it brings glory to God.
Transition
But Worshiping through singing also Glorifies God
Through helping us Engage with Christ Emotionally
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We are not created just as intellectual beings, but we are created in the image of God with intellect, emotions, and a will and worshiping the Lord helps engage and connect with the Lord emotionally.
It has been said that
words are the language of the mind while
music is the language of the heart.
Music can speak to us and connect us to certain emotions unlike just words can.
I am sure that most of us here, that there are certain songs from the past that you hear that evoke certain emotions, because they are tied to and emotional event in your history.
Illustration
Whenever I hear the song “Cat’s in the Cradle” I get a little melancholy thinking of my father. Yes the song is about a father and a son, but that particular song, evokes a memory that is so vivid of me being about 9 or 10 and me and my sister and friends doing a variety show for my parents and I fake played and sang this song. How do I remember that and go right back to that moment and experience those emotions? Because that song is a powerful emotional connector and reminder for me.
On the other hand, whenever I hear “Can’t help falling in Love” by Elvis, I have feelings of joy because I think of my wedding day and the vows that Laura and I made to one another because that was the song that Laura and I first danced to as a married couple.
Music can evoke powerful emotional responses.
Scripture
Not only do we see this in reality, but Scripture often ties our singing with emotions such as joy and gladness of heart.
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Psalm 95:1 - Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Psalm 98:4 - Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music;
Psalm 100:2 - Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs.
Singing and an emotional feeling go hand in hand and helps us to connect with the Lord on not only an intellectual level through the words, but also an emotional level.
Spiritual examples
There are a couple of worship songs that always impact me emotionally because it helps remind me of certain aspects of the Lord’s character and will sometimes be associated with times in my life when God was demonstrating that characteristic in my life.
Here I am to Worship
For instance, whenever I sing “Here I am to Worship,” it impacts me on an emotional level and draws me closer to the Lord because I am reminded of the Lord’s love for me in a very real way, because this song is tied to a situation in my life where the Lord was really teaching me about obedience and His love and faithfulness to me.
That is because when that song first came out, I was pursuing my seminar degree and struggling with the direction the Lord was leading me in ministry and with the possibility of leaving my secular job and how in the world that my family would be provided for, and I was in church and we were singing this song, and we came to the line, “I’ll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that Cross” and that song impacted me so much emotionally as I was reminded of the goodness and love of God not in an intellectual sense, but in an emotional way that brought me to tears and still does at times. But they are tears of Joy over the love and care God provides for us.
Singing that song connects me to the Lord in a way that just words cannot.
The Stand
Another song, that we spoke of earlier, that impacts me emotionally, is The Stand by Hillsong United.
It is a song that continually reminds me of how I need to respond in surrender as I recognize truths of God’s sovereignty, of my sin and of Christ’s atonement, and that I serve a God who is a mighty and good God.
Not only does it speak truth in my mind, but it speaks emotionally to my heart and draws me closer to Christ for His glory and honor.
That is worship. That is one of the reasons why God wants us to worship Him through Singing, because of that important emotional connection with the Lord.
Finally,
Worshiping through music glorifies God
Through helping us Unite together as the body of Christ Corporately
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Now, understand that it is not music that is going to unite us, but that it is the gospel that unites believers, but when we sing together, there is something that is unique that happens when we are singing the truths of God’s word together as the body of Christ.
We are coming together in unity and singing the same thing in unity in a way that listening to the message or singing alone, just doesn’t do.
There is a powerful unifying work that goes on even despite differences between people.
If you have ever been to a conference and had worship with 1000’s of people, you know what I mean.
Promise Keepers
I remember back when Promise Keepers was big, being out in Washington, DC for an event and worshiping the Lord with near a million other men, and it was powerfully unifying and I believe glorifying to the Lord that men from all over the country had come together and were singing together in unity about our great and mighty God.
As we sing songs that
speak God’s word or
exalt God’s character or
remind us of God’s faithfulness to us,
we glorify Him as we unite together around those truths.
Unity among believers is something that is important to God.
Remember Jesus’ prayer before He went to the cross. In John 17, he says,
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John 17:20-23
20 "My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: 23 I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.
Unity is a high priority for the Lord and when we sing in unity, we glorify Him.
Preparation for Eternity
Our corporate worship through singing is also rehearsal for the unity of singing we are going to do in eternity. Listen to these words from Revelation about what is to come for those who follow the Lord.
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Revelation 5:8-14
And when he had taken it, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb. Each one had a harp and they were holding golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. 9 And they sang a new song:
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"You are worthy to take the scroll
and to open its seals,
because you were slain,
and with your blood you purchased men for God
from every tribe and language and people and nation.
10 You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God,
and they will reign on the earth."
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11 Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. 12 In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"
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13 Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing:
"To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb
be praise and honor and glory and power,
for ever and ever!"
14 The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.
We are going to be worshiping in unity in eternity and our corporate worship in unity now, is preparation for and a reflection of the unity that God wants us to have together, united not around music, but around singing His truths and bringing Him praise and worshiping Him together through singing.
Worshiping through singing is NOT about how good your voice is, it is about how focused your heart is on the Lord.
Conclusion
So this morning, I am going to invite the worship team back up and we are going close giving us opportunity to worship through singing corporately in unity singing truths of God’s word and engaging the Lord with the emotions He created us with.
It is my hope that as we worship through singing to close, that the Lord may be glorified and that this would be a sweet sound in his ear, so we are going to begin, as the worship team leads us, by singing I Love you Lord, because we do this out of our heartfelt and unified love for the Lord.
Let’s worship the Lord through our singing this morning.
I Love you Lord
Here I am to Worship
The Stand
