Have you ever been with a group of campers and been asked to join in singing? Chances are that your experiences were close to those of a columnist who wrote that “One of the most pathetic sounds in this country is a group of ordinary Canadians trying to sing together.” The result was that this “massed effort amounted to nothing but an unhappy, quavering squeak” (B. Draine in The Globe and Mail, 2 September 1989). By and large singing has become a lost art for many people. How is that with us? As those who go to church twice each Sunday we undoubtedly sing considerably more than those who do not worship on the Lord's Day. However, is singing still an integral part of our life as Reformed people, whose heritage includes singing as a regular feature of family worship?

The Command to Sing⤒🔗

It is striking how often Scripture exhorts us to sing. Why is that? The reason can be the need to praise God because He is God! For example:

O come, let us sing to the LORD;
Let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving;
Let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise!
For the LORD is the great God, and the great king above all gods. Psalm 95:1-3

As is already clear from the above, a closely related reason is thanksgiving and gratitude that we may know Him as merciful and gracious, as God who saves and redeems His people. For instance:

Praise the LORD! For it is good to sing praises to our God;
for He is gracious, and a song of praise is seemly.
The LORD builds up Jerusalem; He gathers the outcasts of Israel,
He heals the brokenhearted, and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:1-3

God's work continues in the lives of His children and so the Psalms can exhort us to sing a new song! Indeed, as renewed creatures in Christ, the incentive to do so is all the greater! In singing we can also tell others of the great works of God.

O sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD all the earth!
Sing to the LORD, bless His name; tell of His salvation from day to day!
Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous works among all the peoples. Psalm 98:1-2

For all these reasons, one can therefore also call on the LORD in trouble and difficulty and thus the Psalmist exhorts:

Sing praises to the LORD, O you His saints, and give thanks to His holy name.
For His anger is but for a moment, and His favour is for a lifetime.
Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning. Psalm 30:4-5

The above can be summarized by stating that songs must be sung to God for He is God!, the God of our salvation, the God of the covenant who in mercy has come near and saved us and who therefore hears the cries of those who call on Him. After the cross and resurrection of our Saviour Jesus Christ the exhortation to sing to the LORD can only be more pressing upon us. Is it enough to leave such singing to one day per week? The answer, I am convinced, is No!

Daily Singing←⤒🔗

How can we restrict our thanks and praise to God by song to one day a week? Singing is speaking in an intensive manner. Does God not expect the most intensive form of thanksgiving and praise that is possible with words when we have the opportunity to not only speak, but to sing to the LORD? When we want to recount the great deeds of God, what better medium is there than song, also for remembering these acts of strength? (Consider, for example, Psalms 105-107.) And who cannot but be moved when hearing the cry of Psalm 42 vocalized in the singing of a person or family in anguish and distress as the downcast soul is poured out before God? Indeed, is singing not a powerful form of prayer, be it of thanksgiving or of supplication with thanksgiving? Does singing to the LORD not underline the beautiful covenant bond that we are privileged to have with the living God because of the work of Christ?

The world is full of ungodly music and songs which are absorbed by countless people to their detriment. But we are not of the world, although in it. Is the singing of God's praises not a good place to start in asserting the special style of God's people? Listen to what God's Word has to tell us. “Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with all your heart, always and for everything giving thanks…” (Ephesians 5:18-20).

Singing and Family Worship←⤒🔗

As a beginning of reaffirming or rejuvenating the eminent place of singing in our lives, should singing not receive renewed attention or be introduced in the family worship where it has either disappeared over time or never existed? What better way is there to experience together as family something of the joy in Christ and give expression to our communal gratitude for the many blessings received? Such regular prayers (for that is what singing to the Lord is) also help bind a family together. Together we raise our voices and souls to God. What a joy for the Spirit and what anguish for Satan and his cohorts when the songs of the covenant are sung! Then the Spirit receives more and more room to work in our hearts and lives and the danger of grieving Him is lessened. Then the family, young and old, is strengthened for their task as children of God in His world. All are reminded again of the new reality in Christ! “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teach and admonish one another in all wisdom, and sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God” (Colossians 3:16).

And Finally…←⤒🔗

There is also something else. Singing the praises of God can and should be an integral part of the renewal of our tongues and language. It belongs to what we could call Christian lifestyle and culture. Consider in this context how often the exhortation to sing is an appeal to sing a new song to the Lord (for example, Psalm 33:1; 149:1).

Now we have only a small beginning of the new obedience. Later we will be able to obey in perfection. That will also involve much singing. Remember how the redeemed, the great family of God, are described as singing new songs in the book of Revelation (for example 14:1-3)! Isn't it great to be able to savour now already in the way we conduct our family worship a small foretaste of that future thanksgiving and joy in the Lord?