Message for THE LORD'S DAY EVENING, February 2, 2014 Christian Hope Church of Christ, Plymouth, North Carolina by Reggie A. Braziel, Minister O, Sing To The Lord! Psalm 96:1,2 (NKJV) Please turn with me in your Bibles to PSALM 96, and let's read verses 1, 2. P R A Y E R 1 Oh, sing to the LORD a new song! Sing to the LORD, all the earth. 2 Sing to the LORD, bless His name; proclaim the good news of His salvation from day to day. ********************************************************************* ** ILLUSTRATION I N T R O D U C T I O N Can you imagine what it would be like to come to a worship service where there was no SINGING?. Back in the days before the Protestant Reformation there was a terrible period in Church history called The Dark Ages. During the Dark Ages all congregational singing was prohibited. Instead, when people came to worship they were expected to stand in total silence as sacred music was performed by those deemed professional singers like priests or cantors. The monotone chanting of the priests in the unfamiliar Latin language did nothing to move to hearts and spirits of those who gathered to worship. Instead worship became nothing more than a cold, meaningless ritual. WHAT WOULD WORSHIP BE WITHOUT SINGING? This evening as we think about this marvelous subject of singing there are three thoughts I would have you to consider.
First of all... I. Why We Sing In Worship 1. There are several reasons... (A) First and foremost, we sing in worship BECAUSE GOD COMMANDS US TO SING. God doesn't recommend that we sing, or suggest that we sing, God commands us to sing. In fact there are over 120 commands to sing in the scriptures. Let's look at just a few... If your Bible is still opened to Psalm 96, I want you to look on that same page PSALM 95:1 Oh come, let us SING to the LORD! Then look again at our text in Psalm 96:1,2 Oh, SING to the LORD a new song! SING to the LORD, all the earth. SING to LORD, bless His name. the Next look at the opening verse of PSALM 98, Oh, SING to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things... Then flip over one page to PSALM 100:1,2 Make a joyful shout to the LORD all you lands! Serve the LORD with gladness; come before the LORD with gladness, come before His presence with SINGING. In the New Testament, in EPHESIANS 5:18,19 the apostle Paul writes: And do not be drunk with wine, in which is dissipation; but be filled with the Spirit, speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the LORD. And in COLOSSIANS 3:16 Paul writes: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the LORD.
If you were to read all 120+ commands to sing that are recorded in the Bible, you wouldn't find a single one of them that says, O Sing to the LORD, all you with good voices. Or Thou shalt not sing if thou cans't carry a tune in a bucket. God commands ALL HIS CHILDREN to sing! (B) There is another reason why we sing in worship and that is because SINGING FOLLOWS THE BIBLICAL PATTERN. From GENESIS to REVELATION, the Bible is full of music and song. In Genesis 4:21 we are introduced to the very first musician in the Bible, a man by the name of Jubal, who was the father of all who play the harp and flute. In EXODUS 15 we find The Song of Moses and The Song of Miriam that they sang after crossing the Red Sea and gaining the victory over Pharaoh's army. In JUDGES 5 we find The Song of Deborah that she sang after the defeat of Sisera. In I SAMUEL 10 King Saul met a band of prophets who were singing and playing musical instruments. THE BOOK OF PSALMS is often called The Hymnbook of Israel. It contains the songs the children of Israel sang as they made their way to worship at the Temple. THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL also sang songs when they returned to Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity. And they sang songs of worship as they built the second temple in Jerusalem. In LUKE CHAPTER ONE we find The Song of Mary that she sang after receiving news from Gabriel that she would bear the Messiah. In MATTHEW 26 we read that after the Lord instituted the Lord's
Supper on the night He was to be betrayed, He and His disciples sang a hymn before going out to the Mount of Olives. Of course we remember that familiar account in ACTS 16 where Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns at midnight while incarcerated in the Philippian jail. And throughout the Book of Revelation we are told there will be plenty of singing and worshiping in heaven. WHY DO WE SING IN WORSHIP? Because GOD HAS COMMANDED US TO SING...And because SINGING FOLLOWS THE BIBLICAL PATTERN. (C) Another reason why we SING in worship is because... SINGING HELPS US TO EXALT GOD. If you will pay real close attention to the words in the songs we sing in worship you will notice the words help us to remember one of three things about God. (1) Some songs help us to remember THE WORTH OF GOD. In Revelation 4:11 we find the song of worship that will be sung by the twenty four elders who will bow before the throne of God. They will sing... You are worthy, O LORD, to receive glory and honor and power; for You created all things, and by Your will they exist and were created. The next time we sing Majesty, or We Will Glorify... or Great Is The LORD think about the words you are singing. Those songs help you and me to remember the worth of GOD. (2) Some songs help us to remember THE WORK OF GOD. Psalm 98:1 O sing to the LORD a new song! For He has done marvelous things. Think of the words of that first verse of How Great Thou Art.
O LORD MY GOD, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the works Thy hands have made. I see the stars. I hear the rolling thunder. Thy power throughout the universe displayed. (3) Some songs help us to remember THE WORD OF GOD. If I were to ask you to quote Psalm 8:9 I doubt many of you could do it, but I'll bet you could SING it: O Lord, Our Lord how majestic is Your name in all the earth. If I were to ask you to quote Psalm 42:1 probably most of you couldn't do it. But I think you could sing it: As the deer panteth for the water, so my soul longeth after Thee. And I doubt that many of you could quote Philippians 4:4 but I think you could sing it: Rejoice in the LORD always, and again I say rejoice. Why do we sing in worship? Because God commands us to sing. Because singing follows the Biblical pattern of worship. And because singing helps us to exalt GOD by remembering His worth, His works, and His word. The second thing we need to consider is... II. How Should We Sing In Worship? 1. Every time the choir sings a cantata, Mona teaches us a lot about the proper techniques of singing. She talks to us about controlled breathing, and using our diaphram, and the proper enunciation of our words. 2. When it comes to how we should sing in worship it has nothing to do with the proper mechanics and techniques of singing. It has to do with our HEART and SPIRIT. EPHESIANS 5:19 (NKJV) Speaking to one another in psalms,
and hymns and spiritual songs, (now listen) singing and making melody IN YOUR HEART TO THE LORD. I CORINTHIANS 14:15 (NKJV) What is the conclusion then? I will pray with the spirit, and I will also pray with understanding. (now listen) I will SING with the spirit, and I will also SING with understanding. 3. In his commentary on EPHESIANS, John MacArthur writes: ILLUSTRATION The first consequence of the Spirit-filled life that Paul mentions was not mountain-moving faith, an ecstatic spiritual experience, dynamic speaking ability or any such thing. It was simply a heart that sings. Joyful, exuberant, heart-felt singing is one evidence that a Church is Spirit-filled. Lifeless...listless...apathetic worship is not worship at all. That reminds me of the story about the little boy who was sitting in a worship service one Sunday when he noticed a large flag mounted on the wall with a bunch of GOLD STARS sewn on to it. The little boy whispered to his dad, Why does that flag have all those gold stars on it? The dad whispered back, Each of those stars reminds us of people who died in the service. The little boy whispered back, Did they die in the morning service or the evening service? 4. From time to time I remind you to sing from here (heart) not just here. (your lips) When we sing to the LORD there ought to be something going inside of us. God never intended for our worship to be the dull, boring, lifeless ritual that many Churches have made it. God desires that our worship be vibrant and alive. That means we should sing with all our heart and all our spirit. And we should sing with understanding. That means we should think about the words we are singing and think about the ONE we are singing to.
5. The next time you sing in a worship service, I want you to think about that little kid on the front row in the Christmas program. You know the one I'm talking about. I'm talking about that little kid who sings out with all his heart and all his spirit and he's not ashamed of who hears him or what anybody thinks. He's belting out that song for the LORD with everything he's got! 6. We ought to sing to the LORD with that same kind of passion and zeal! We have considered WHY WE SING IN WORSHIP. We have consider HOW WE SHOULD SING IN WORSHIP. Finally, let's consider... III. What We Should Sing In Worship Listen again to that scripture I read earlier from Colossians 3:16... Paul writes: Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the LORD. 1. Paul mentions three types of songs that are appropriate for worship; PSALMS...HYMNS...and SPIRITUAL SONGS PSALMS - Would refer to Psalms from the Old Testament. The common theme of a PSALM would be to praise God for His mercies and deliverance. A psalm is scripture set to music to be accompanied by
a musical instrument. HYMNS are songs that honor and praise to GOD. Whereas as Psalm praises God for His mercies and deliverance, a hymn praises GOD for His Holy attributes: His love, His power, His grace, His kindness, His tenderness, and so and so forth. SPIRITUAL SONGS emphasize a spiritual truth that is in agreement with the word of God. While all three styles of songs had their own unique characteristics, they shared three things in common: They all agree with the scriptures, they all exalt GOD, and they all edify GOD'S PEOPLE. That should be the same criteria we use in music we sing in the Church today. 2. Sadly, music has become one of the most divisive issues in today's Church. In fact it is commonly referred to as, The Worship War. The Worship War consists of two camps: The Contemporary Camp and The Traditional Camp. Those in THE CONTEMPORARY CAMP have stopped singing the great hymns of the past. In fact, they often demonize those who love the old hymns as being old-fashioned and out of touch with the times. Those in THE TRADITIONAL CAMP refuse to sing any of today's contemporary praise music. They demonize any worship songs written since the 1960's or '70's as the devil's music. 3. Who is right? The Contemporaries or The Traditionalists? The answer is: neither one! To divide a Church over music is unscriptural for at least two reasons: One, because the LORD'S will for His Church is that we be united as one. And secondly, it is unscriptural because worship is not about what kind of music
I like, worship is about what is pleasing to GOD. 4. The bottom line is this: It doesn't matter if its a grand old hymn or a new praise song...it doesn't matter how pretty the song is...or how catchy the beat is...if the song doesn't line up with the word of GOD...and it doesn't EXALT GOD... and it doesn't EDIFY GOD'S PEOPLE...then its not appropriate to sing in worship. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> C O N C L U S I O N ILLUSTRATION: Most of you have been a member of Christian Hope Church of Christ all your life. And I'm sure as you reflect back over the years, you can probably remember certain singers in this Church who really stand out in your mind; some because they could sing beautifully and others because...well, you know. We had a man in my home Church by the name of NORMAN NEWKIRK. Norman could have passed for Barney Fife's brother. In fact, we called him Barney. Norman loved to sing, in fact he sang special music about once a month. Now I'll be honest, it was hard to keep from laughing when Barney, I mean, Norman sang, because he was always out of sync with the piano player. When I preached a revival in my home Church about five years ago, Norman Newkirk sang that Sunday morning. He was more out of sync with the piano player than ever before, in fact he lost his place and apologized as he walked off the platform without finishing the song. But you know something, I looked at Norman with different eyes that day than I had as an immature teenage boy. That day I saw a 92 year old godly saint who was still singing songs of praise to the GOD who had been faithful to him all the days of his life. Norman has since gone to be with the LORD, and he will continue to sing praises to HIS LORD forever and ever. Revelation 5:13 says one day we will all join with the heavenly choir singing, Blessing and honor and glory and power be to Him who sits on the throne,
and to the Lamb, forever and ever. Until then let us SING...SING...SING to the LORD!