We’re taking time to go “back to the basics” in these Visits to the Pastor’s Study; we’re calling the series The Basic Disciplines of a Healthy Christian Life. In the same way that you need healthy practices for your bodies – especially food, exercise, and rest – you need healthy practices for your souls. (And we must never forget that healthy practices for your souls will also bring benefits to your bodies; but that’s for another program!)

Today let’s consider the place of singing in a healthy Christian life.

Now I may be wrong on this, but it seems to me that singing – not so much listening to singing as actually singing – doesn’t have the same place in our lives as it did in previous generations. Go back just a few decades and you’d find families gathering around pianos and other instruments and singing hymns or popular secular songs. Singing was very much a part of the activism of the 1960s – the hearts of young people were caught and formed by the songs of their day.

Now, people listen to a lot of music; but actual singing seems far less common. I see that in Christian homes; but I also see that in many Christian churches. Congregational singing seems to me to be increasingly replaced by musical performances; and the human voice aided by
the accompaniment of a piano, an organ, or a guitar seems to be drowned out by loud instruments and more or less professional “worship teams” and “praise bands”– as they’re called.

I want our time in today’s Visit to the Pastor’s Study to encourage you, your family, and your local church congregation to embrace singing as a vital part of healthy Christianity in your personal your family, and your church life. Believe it or not, singing as an outworking of our being made in the image of God! The prophet Zephaniah, in the Old Testament book of the same name, gives us a most touching and revealing description of God.

In chapter 3 of the book of Zephaniah you read that the Lord our God – the true and living God – exults over his people with singing. This, to me, is a “Wow!” passage. I don’t know how“singing” comes from God who is an eternal spirit; but there is a joy that God has – a delight; a deep delight– that cannot express itself in mere words. God loves His people so much that he expresses his exulting delight by singing. And because we’re made in the image of that God, we’re made to sing, too.

There are some things so very deep, and so very emotional that we must sing to express them. And, of course, God commands us to sing. Sing to the Lord a new song; his praise in the assembly of the saints (which refers to what we would call ‘singing in church”). The first recorded song in the Bible is in Exodus chapter 15. God had just delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians. The Lord’s people had passed safely through the parted waters of the Red Sea; then those same waters engulfed the pursuing armies of Egypt. The Lord’s people were so amazed that words just couldn’t adequately convey their surprise, their wonder, and their joy: 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 rider he has thrown into the sea.” That’s the very first song in the Christian’s hymnal. Wouldn’t you have loved to be part of that congregational singing.

Then, with the coming of Christ into the world – and with an even greater deliverance and an even greater victory over God’s and our enemies – the Christian Church, as the Israel of God, sings its praise to God. You can read some of the songs of heaven in the last book of the Bible – the book of Revelation. But, here on earth, we’re also commanded to sing.

With a completed Bible that tells us of God’s redemption in Christ(including the 150 Psalms of the Old Testament, which were meant to be sung) we’re told that, as part of a healthy Christian life, we’re to “let the word of Christ rule in our hearts” and “dwell in us richly” – how? – by “teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in our hearts to God. “ You can read that in the New Testament book of Colossians, chapter 3; and you read a similar command in the related New Testament book of Ephesians, chapter 5. (In that passage you’ll find out that the singing of the Word of God is directly connected with being filled with the Holy Spirit. Remember: He’s the real author of the books of the Bible!)

I hope that convinces you that we need to put a lot more emphasis on singing – and singing the right kinds of songs – as part of the diet for a healthy Christian life.

Today I’ve asked Pastor Charles Oliveira to be my guest pastor as we talk about singing and a healthy Christian life. He’s pastor of Westchester Orthodox Presbyterian Church in Mount Vernon, NY. I’ve been in his home; and I’ve had the privilege of hearing him and his entire family play instruments and sing to the glory of God. (In a few minutes, you’ll get to hear a sample!). But, for now, welcome Pastor Charles Oliveira….

Here’s a link to the full program:

Yours in the God who exults over us with singing,
Pastor Bill