Hello, again! Thank you for this opportunity to share some thoughts from God’s word. I edited an older article, shared a year or so ago with some of my sisters, and I pray you find it useful as well.
Thinking back in my earliest memory, I have an image of myself standing on the end of the pew at church, clutching a hymnal and singing, “Bringing in the cheese, Bringing in the cheese..." after everyone else had finished. My childish mind changed the words to something I could understand. I love cheese and had no idea what sheaves were, so I just made it so.
Next memory; I’m standing on the floor behind the driver's seat of my parents old car. We are flying down a dusty country road, and I’m belting out songs at the top of my voice, one after the other. . . Jesus Loves Me, Count Your Many blessings, on and on I sang.
Fast forward to one more memory. This one is during my college years. I attended a youth rally in Seattle and I learned the 5th Psalm, verses 1-3, set to song;
Give ear to my words, O Lord.
Consider my meditation.
Harken unto the voice of my cry,
My King and my God.
For unto thee will I pray
My voice shalt though hear in the morning.
O Lord, in the morning will I direct my prayer
Unto Thee and will look up.
I believe this was when ‘singing the scriptures’ became a great love of mine. This love of singing Bible words has continued and grown through the years.
For me, the easiest way to talk to God is through song. Like the shepherd boy David, I love to sing. It was simple for me to translate my love of music into my Christian walk. But what about those who didn’t? Those who were perhaps told in music class, “You be a listener.” Or perhaps when the music teacher heard them, gave them the triangle and asked them to watch quietly and intently for her nod. :) We just aren’t all made the same.
I know the joy of sharing whats in my heart with God. Imagine my grief at looking out and seeing more than a few of my sweet sisters sitting mute during ladies days or during worship. I look over those assembled and wonder at the mouths that sit silent! I’ve asked many why they don’t sing. Answers range from, “I just can’t sing,” “I have allergies,” “I croak like a frog.,” “My neighbors won’t appreciate my voice,” or the most perplexing, “I hate to sing.”
Forgive me, but this prompts another memory of a wooden sign I saw on my music professors desk, it read: '"If only the bird with the loveliest song sang, the forest would be silent.” (John James Audubon.)
What does this have to do with worship? What does this mean to us as individual worshippers? Did God just randomly choose this form of worship or did he have a purpose in what he asks of us?
We understand that not all of us grew up with musical parents or opportunities. God is not interested in our ability to impress our fellow worshippers with our talents. He is in the business of hearts and souls. Keep that in mind as we read the following passages and discuss them.
Let's read Colossians 3:1-2,
“If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things
which are above, where Christ is, seated at the right
hand of God. Set your minds on things above,
not on things on the earth.”
Where are the eyes of our hearts to be turned, but up?! Set your hearts-eyes on God the Father and his son Jesus. Stop worrying or thinking about our own abilities or gifts. Focus on Him. It makes all the difference in the world when our eyes are set above. When we focus on God and His plan for us, it changes everything. Stop thinking, "What will others think?" Or even, "What do I think?," and respect God's wants and our hearts and minds can be at peace in giving him due praise and honor.
I’m going to skim some of the next verses and just point out that we are new in Christ. . . we are to put off the old nature of sin and anger and uncleanness. These are no more a part of our life. Let's jump down to verse 12 (still in Colossians 3) here I’m going to quote from the English standard Version:
12) “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved,
compassionate hearts, kindness, humility meekness, and
patience,
13) bearing with one another and, and if one has a
complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the
Lord has forgiven you, so you must forgive.
14) And above all these put on love, which binds everything
together in perfect harmony.
15) And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which
indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
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.
“Put on then…” it’s the idea of clothing ourselves, our hearts with compassion, kindness, humility, meekness, patience. . . .there’s the heart again. It’s at the center of it all. . . What is in my heart? I want to focus on the compassionate heart. Websters II New College Dictionary defines compassion as a noun, from the Latin ‘to sympathize, to suffer” The Greek word is “oiktirmos” which is: compassion, pity, mercy
as in : a) bowels in which resides a heart of compassion
b) emotions, longing, manifestations of pity.
If we think of what this means, it will cause us to rethink our ideas of compassion or pity and not just voice our thoughts, but realize we must act on them. If I manifest something, it is going to be visible to others in my character and actions. It’s not just my view of my voice. I honestly don’t think God cares about the sound of my voice as much as the manifestation of my heart.
One of my favorite verses, learned from my mothers instruction:
“Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring
the issues of life.” KJV Proverbs 4:23
God goes on in the next section to encourage us to put on, above all else, LOVE, which binds everything together in “perfect harmony.’ It’s beautiful how his very words here, inspire us to act out our faith in real time with our brothers and sisters in perfect harmony. Now, our ears may say one thing, but our hearts will say another. And I dare say that our practice in righteousness will win out over the physical! This love is the agape form, and it tells us that our fellowship with our brothers and sisters will show itself to them, as well as to God in our desire to please our Him.
We move on to see that peace will rule in our hearts. We know that living in this world we will have persecution and tribulation. But he promises us peace in our hearts. Let it rule! I like the idea of the authority that peace has here. In a world that’s out of control, peace in our hearts is the answer. . . .But then we also have some other responsibilities. That may be an difficult word sometimes. It means I must drag myself out of bed each morning and tend to the responsibilities of the day. And in my spiritual life, those are not burdensome, or heavy. Because God has promised us help and hope along the way. Remember the words in verse 16? You knew I was getting there eventually. . . Let the words of Christ dwell in you richly. . . here is another adverb, don’t neglect them! It tells us how his word is to live in our hearts. . . Richly! You know, I pulled out my dictionary again. it means; “having great value or worth; magnificent, luxurious, abundantly supplied.” Now physically speaking, we love luxury. . . lots of the good stuff, bubbles in the bath, sand by the sparkling sea, chocolate, coffee, or whatever your thoughts run to . . . Money in the bank?! Now, apply that thought to your time spent in the word. would 'richly' define your knowledge and time spent in the word, with the word around God’s word? If not, determine today to change that. Here is your motivation; God asks you to! Don’t we want to please God? I do and I hope you do too!
Now we are coming to my personal favorite part ". . . . in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord."
First let me mention that there is the heart again, it’s the instrument God wants us to use to glorify him and to encourage one another.
Lastly, I’d like to point out that there are two focuses. . . both spiritual. We are told to sing to the Lord. . . that was easy wasn’t it?
But we are told to teach and admonish one another in our singing. I know what you are thinking, “Wait a minute! I’m not a teacher.” Yes, you are. You teach in so many ways through your actions and your words. And now you know that one of the purposes of singing is to teach one another. You are participating in the teaching of the church when we sing together. Do you see, now, why it bothers me to see those who sit, not singing? It’s commanded here. I am no scholar nor an English major, But I do know when you can put the word “YOU” in front of a sentence and reading it makes sense, it’s an imperitive, which means strong suggestion or command. There is no doubt we ‘must’ do it. But not as a compulsion, for we act as loving, obedient children. We want to please our Father and help our brothers and sisters to be more Christ-like each day.
One more thought I’d like to share,
“Do not fear, Zion
Let not your hands be weak,
The Lord your God in your midst,
The Mighty One will save;
He will rejoice over you with gladness,
He will quiet you with His love,
He will rejoice over you with singing.”
Zephaniah 3:16b-17
God never asks us to do something He himself is not willing to do himself. Jesus came and lived on this earth, experiencing everything we do in this life. God asks us to teach and admonish through our singing from the heart. And here he tells us that he, too, rejoices over us, his faithful ones, with singing. Doesn’t that just make you smile? Perhaps you want to sing?
These words are not meant to guilt you into doing singing. I hope you understand the encouragement and admonition you find here is out of love for my sisters and my God. Search the scriptures daily to see if they are so, and I pray you find the song in your heart.
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