Creation Sings: The Power and Purpose of Singing in Our Worship to God

I know I'm gonna lose some cool points on this one, but I'm a closet Celine Dion fan. I mean, it would be on my bucket list for me to go see her live. Well... it used to be closet. Now, it's out there, I guess.

Music is such a subjective thing, isn't it? For every song that you think is bad, others have not only put it in their favorite playlist but have also gone to see the artist or band in concert. I would imagine that this subjectivity doesn't stop short with songs that we sing in the church either. It is always amazing to see how many views there are on music for the church. I would argue there are as many diverse opinions on songs as there are personalities in the church.

I know that every Sunday, week after week, churches from all over the world gather to sing, joining their voices together collectively to praise and worship God for who He is and what He's done. But have you ever stopped to wonder why we sing in church services? What makes music so special? Again, lots of different answers floating around in our heads on all this. Let's try and clear some of the subjectivity up, shall we?

From the beginning of time, when "the morning stars sang together, and all the heavenly beings shouted for joy” (Job 38:7), to the end, when "every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and in the sea, and all that is in them” will sing to the Lamb on the throne (Rev. 5:13), creation sings - it makes music to God. For the sake of getting too music-geeky on you, there is something that happens automatically in nature whenever a sound is created - a "chord of nature," in which notes from the overtone series join together to make the nuances of everything we hear around us. And this overtone series goes on infinitely, like the numbers of Pi in math. Creation started way before you and I, declaring the praise of God. We're kind of late to the party.

Music also, from the beginning of human history, has been the vehicle for important information to be remembered and passed down from one generation to another. I mean, why are the A B C's a song? Because it's now stuck in our heads through letters, melody, harmony, and rhythm.

Music requires more than just one facet of who we are as well. It pulls on our hearts, our minds, our souls, and even our energy. When you think about the greatest command that Jesus echoed, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength" (Mark 12:30), it seems pretty clear that music can be a great way to do that.

But probably the biggest reason that we sing is that God commands it. Throughout the Psalms, we read, "Sing praises to the Lord with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody!” (Psalm 98:5 ESV) How about this one"Serve the Lord with gladness! Come into his presence with singing!” (Psalm 100:2 ESV). And not just in the Psalms, but Paul says in Ephesians, "Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts " (Col. 3:16 NIV). We actually enthrone God in our hearts when we praise Him (Ps. 22:3). You can't deny that God loves to hear every one of us sing to Him, no matter how great we sound.

Truth be told, I'm always so honored and blown away that I get to experience what God does each and every week at NMC, and to quote the great Celine Dion, I know "my heart will go on" to champion the singing of God's people to Him, all for His glory. Yeah... I went there.

If you are a current worship Tablesetter, from Shift to adults, or interested in becoming one, we invite you to join us at our upcoming open workshop with Rooted on Sunday, August 13. Learn more and sign up at northmetro.org/events.

In addition to leading our Sunday worship teams, Clark also has organized a partnership between NMC and Rooted Music Coaching, a company providing individual and intentional music lessons to help students of every age thrive in music and in life.

For more information on what Rooted is about, feel free to reach out to Clark at clark@rootedmusiccoaching.com or visit their website: rootedmusiccoaching.com/westcobb.