an okay singer because I’ve had lots of help along the way. But more im- portantly than all of this, I want you to think about why football stadiums and concert crowds spontaneously burst into song. This frequently hap- pens, even despite the fact that the vast majority of people in attendance would be considered horrible singers.
It’s because of joy.
Human beings can’t help but be bitten by that infectious bug known as joy. And for Christians, we know something far deeper than the world will ever know: the joy of the LORD. This reality proves far more power- ful than any joy from a sports team - ence. I wonder if you remember that verse from Nehemiah 8? The joy of the LORD is your strength (Neh. 8:10). I recently heard a preacher explain care- fully that the verse does not say what we often think it says: the strength of the LORD is our joy. Rather, it says that the joy of the LORD is our strength. I could be tempted to think that it is our grand theological system (and I am convinced ours is the best) or our vi- sion for planting 50 churches by 2050 or the hipness of our newest program in the local church . . . we could be tempted to believe that these things are our strength. But they are not. The joy of the LORD is our strength. Indeed, it is the strength of our song, a good indication as to the overall strength and health of our churches. So, if we want to know what causes singing, then we need to ask our- selves what causes joy. Let’s go back again to Nehemiah 8. It’s a won- derful scene in the history of God’s people. The walls of Jerusalem are Ezra gets up in front of the people and reads the Law of God for about six hours straight while everyone stands (talk about a long worship service!). He explains what it means (preaches the Gospel), and then commands the people to be quiet and grieve not (be- cause they are weeping). What do
May/June 2024
with joy even through tears. My dear friends, whoever you are, wherever you are, you cannot help but sing in the presence of God and his Word. Each and every Christian has the high privilege and command to gather on the Lord’s Day in the very presence of God Almighty. And for those who gather, we must sing. Each and every congregant–not simply the choirs. Paul explains that God uses our singing to make the Word of Christ to dwell richly in our fellowships? We do need to teach and admonish one another in all wisdom (Col. 3:16a), but I would argue that this cannot function properly unless we are singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in our hearts to God (Col. 3:16b). Maybe this is how the maybe it was their love and joy that had grown cold (Rev. 2:2-7). The Word of Christ dwelt in their midst, but did it dwell richly? Could this be because they did not sing? I do not know.
What we do know is that God bids us to come to him and sing. He delights over us himself in song. And the joy of the LORD (both his joy over us and the joy given to us) is our strength. It is precisely this joy that works itself out in our midst through song. Could it be that many in our churches do not sing (read: refuse to) because they do not have joy? And the vicious cycle, here, is that it is precisely this infectious joy that often spurs us on to sing. Well, what is the way out, then? As one esteemed theologian of our day once said:
Just start singing again.
However feeble or odd-sounding it may be, take up this great God-given and He sings His Word over us. And He has uniquely created and equipped each one of us to bear his Word on our lips as we sing the Scriptures already revealed (again, I am in NO way positing that we could or should add to His Word). What a great privilege!?
Here are a few practical tips for the journey: • Take the time. Commit yourself to singing at least one of the songs from your Lord’s Day Worship service every single day of the week. Do this privately and also with your families.
• Have the right tools. Get yourself a hymnbook and a psalter. There is literally no excuse not to own one. If you can’t afford it or don’t know where to start, then reach out to me personally, and I’ll be more than happy to help (
philip@fayettevillearp.org). Also, there’s an app for that. Just search your respective app stores for hymnals or psalters.
• Use the talented. Go ask your minister or Session to teach you how to sing hymns and psalms. If you have a choir director, ask them to give you help in becoming a better singer.
• Just sing. God looks upon the heart, not the outward beauty of a voice. We are called to sing and make melody to the Lord with our heart anyways (Eph. 5:19).
So you see, in order to understand the priority of what understand who we are and why we sing. We sing as image bearers of Almighty God. We do not add to the glory of God, but we declare His glory among the nations as we take up His Word and sing it through all the earth (Psalm 96:1- 6). Though I do love my Tiger Rag, may it never eclipse the joy I express when bearing the Word of God on my lips in song.
Rev. Philip Bunch is the pastor of Fayetteville ARP Church in Tennessee. 7
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