No one sings like the saved. We Christians are known for our singing. No one sings as much, or for as long, as we do! Whatever your tastes, preferences or musical delights, whether you can hold a note or sing off key, like it or lump it, churches of every shape and doctrine gather and sing. Silence and solitude have a vital place in our spiritual growth, but sung praise resounds from hearts that have grasped how great is our salvation.
Isaiah 54 responds to the breathtaking revelation of Isaiah 53 with unbridled exuberance: God himself has borne our sins and conquered evil! So,
“Sing, barren woman,
you who never bore a child.
burst into song, shout for joy,”
Isaiah 54:1
The Hebrew is a lot less polished than our English translations and exhorts us not to choral, pitch-perfect expression but uncontained joy: “Shout” “yell” or “cry out” more correctly reflect the language. It seems that God can translate the most out-of-tune cacophony into the hymns of heaven!
Geoff Grogan who was a member of QPBC for many years was a keen Isaiah scholar and begins his commentary on this text with the words:
“The only appropriate response to a great work of God is joyous praise, which is exactly what we find here”.
Such a great salvation gives us endless riches to give thanks for, even in the toughest of times. Indeed, songs can express and carry the deepest lament for the hardest days of our lives and remind us that our salvation is large enough to bear our deepest losses.
Christians have sung, at all times and places. The bible encourages it, here’s a small sample:
May the nations be glad and sing for joy, (Psalm 67)
Jesus sang before Gethsemane and the cross, (Matt 26:30)
Paul and Silas sang in a Philippian jail. (Acts 16:25)
Believers are exhorted to:
Speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, Eph 5:19
Songs not only help us respond in praise; songs shape us. What we take on our lips ends up forming what we believe in our hearts.
In his inimitable and outspoken style Stanley Hauerwas says:
“One reason why we Christians argue so much about which hymn to sing, which liturgy to follow, which way to worship is that the commandments teach us to believe that bad liturgy eventually leads to bad ethics. You begin by singing some sappy, sentimental hymn, then you pray some pointless prayer, and the next thing you know you have murdered your best friend.”
OK that’s extreme – but it makes the point! There is a consequence to the words we take on our lips.
This week we have guest preacher Kenny Innes with us. Kenny has been deeply involved in leading the WTC Theological Training hub which we have been helping set up here in Glasgow and which Josh has been studying with. Kenny is now the WTC podcast host on “TheoDisc”.
You may also want to join with us for WTC Kingdom Theology lecture at Newton Mearns Baptist on Tuesday 28th April when WTC Principal Ben Blackwell, will be speaking about the reality of the Kingdom and how the Spirit transforms us. Sign up for FREE tickets by clicking here.
Kenny has been a worship leader, is a church leader and has really helpful insights about how praise and worship disciples and forms us. I heard him speak on this at a conference last autumn and found it very helpful. I am sure you will too.
So, whether you can sing like an angel or cannot hit a note…
16 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