I Write The Songs...

"Beautiful words stir my heart.  I will recite a lovely poem about the king, for my tongue is like the pen of a skillful poet" (Psalm 45:1, NLT).   "You are always on their lips but far from their hearts (Jer. 12:2, NIV).  "Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness." (Psalm 29:2, NIV).  "To sing is to pray twice."  --Augustine

Barry Manilow was known in the '70s for his song that assumed the personification of music.  "I wrote the very first song.  I write the songs that make the whole world sing,  [I am music]..."    Music is symbolic language (NB:  musical instruments are symbols too and music isn't mentioned until Gen. 4:21) and those who speak the language know that it can be interpreted in many lights too, it can soothe the savage beast and lift the spirits, as well as arouse to patriotism and warfare readiness.  They used to march into battle at the sound of a trumpet or horn's ram.

Music is essentially worship in essence and we all have this inclination to express this because our God is musical and invented it.  As man is the religious creature he is--hard-wired for worship, he will worship someone or something (even himself), if not God, to fill this gap and need of ours. Hero worship and celebrity enchantment or fascination are two examples prevalent today.

The Scripture, especially the psalms, exhort us to "sing unto the LORD," but not everyone has musical ability to carry a tune or sing in key and some may feel embarrassed at their voice handicap.  That's all right, because not every believer is called to be the voice of God or to bring Him praise in the same way.  We all must find our niche by virtue of exercising our gifting and make ourselves useful in God's service as unto the Lord (we must try out to test our gifting).

One thing I want to point out about interpreting the psalms is that poetry is another type of genre than teaching or didactive type found in the epistles.  And the principle is to interpret metaphoric poetry in light of didactive portions, not vice versa.  Don't try to base your doctrine solely on a poetic phrase.  When the psalm says to sing unto the Lord, it may mean in a symbolic or spiritual sense--singing in the Spirit and with one's spirit--which is much better than going through the motions and memorizing the song and dance routine of the pious!  After all, if the mountains can break forth into song and the seas can roar, we know it's metaphoric and not necessarily to be taken literally  The hermeneutic principle is that we take the Bible as literally true, but not everything is literal!

Everything we do is to be as unto the Lord and in His name; for instance, the writing of a hymn requires the filling and anointing ministry of the Spirit.  In that case when someone pens a song unto the Lord, he is the hand of Jesus that is worshiping God and not being inhibited.  In a sense, writing is a form of singing in the Spirit, just like playing an instrument is, and whistling and humming are, and one's spirit is singing aloud the praises of God realizing fulfillment in song.  That's why we believe in the freedom of expression.  A song is incomplete until sung!  A poem is incomplete until read.   That's what brings life to them and satisfaction and fulfillment.  The Jews used to believe that they had to read aloud to bring life to what they were reading.  We don't want our thoughts to remain that--just something in our head as head belief!

We must be careful not to judge another's worship or expression of it by whether he's audibly singing or voicing aloud his worship publicly. There are those who are inhibited and refrain from verbalizing their praise, but often to their regret:  One dying man said, "If I had the strength, I'd shout praise to God!" The reply by the chaplain, "It's too bad you didn't praise God when you had the strength!"  God doesn't look at the outward appearance, but the condition of the heart--He alone is in a position to judge and we don't have enough info to do it; for instance, it says to sing a new song, and they may not like the song it's not new to them and they would be just giving mere lip service hypocritically. Some are very discretionary as to what they will sing, and agree with.  But it's better to be silent than to pretend worship or do it without a heart after God or being after God's own heart.  

Corporate worship is complicated and involves input from instruments, writers, worship leaders, and even choruses--it's not a performance, but service and ministry of the Spirit.  Worship is done throughout the service (offering, the preaching, sharing, fellowship, gift usage) and when people know their niche, are edified, and feel part of the fellowship, they are worshiping in spirit and in truth. Singing unto the Lord is not just vocalization, but also instrumentalism and instrumentation, silent reverence and awe, and finally, even singing in one's spirit.

We don't need a list of dos and don'ts, for our faith is not a to-do list, because God wants us to want to sing unto the Lord, and not do it from compulsion. He wants it to be a natural response.  He seeks joyful and glad adoration from the heart; it's paramount that we be ourselves and act without hypocrisy--how you act alone might be indicative of your real identity.     Soli Deo Gloria!