Have you ever left Sunday morning worship thinking, “I just didn’t get much out of the singing today”?
Perhaps the songs weren’t familiar. Perhaps they weren’t your preferred style. Perhaps they simply didn’t resonate with you the way you hoped they would. I have.
Sometimes I’ve concluded that I simply preferred different songs. Churches don’t always make the same musical choices, and not every song will resonate with every believer in exactly the same way.
But sometimes the problem wasn’t the songs. Sometimes I just forgot what congregational singing was actually for. It’s very easy to evaluate worship by asking questions like:
– Did I enjoy those songs?
– Did they move me emotionally?
– Did I connect with them?
Those aren’t unimportant questions, but perhaps they may not be the first questions.
The Apostle Paul gives us a different perspective in Colossians 3.16. He tells us that as God’s people sing, “the word of Christ” dwells richly among them. Their songs teach. They admonish. They encourage. They fill hearts and minds with truth.
That means congregational singing is doing far more than creating an emotional experience. God is using it to shape His people.
I’ve found myself increasingly grateful for faithful congregational singing. Not because every song has been my favorite, or because every arrangement has reflected my personal preferences, but because I’ve been reminded what God is doing through it.
Faithful congregational singing doesn’t simply accompany worship; it quietly helps shape the hearts of those who participate in it. Congregational singing is the weekly rehearsal of reality.
Every Sunday the church helps one another remember what the rest of the week conspires to make us forget:
– God is still holy.
– Christ is still worthy.
– The gospel is still true.
– Our hope is still secure.
We are not teaching God these things. We are reminding our emotions of them.
The world spends six days pulling our attention in a thousand different directions. It quietly teaches us to measure life by our circumstances, our emotions, our successes, our disappointments, and our fears.
Then the Lord’s Day comes.
God gathers His people, and together they sing truths that gently reorient their hearts toward what is eternally true.
That also helps explain why the songs we sing matter. The question isn’t whether a song is old or new. Nor is it simply whether it is musically excellent or emotionally moving. The better question is this: Where is this song directing my attention?
Some songs primarily magnify the greatness, holiness, faithfulness, and worthiness of God. Others spend most of their time occupied with us – our feelings, our experiences, our commitments, and our responses.
To be sure, there is a proper place for singing about what God has done in our lives. Scripture itself does that often. But biblical worship has a remarkable way of lifting our eyes beyond ourselves to the One who is worthy of our praise.
The next time you gather with God’s people, don’t begin by asking, “Did I enjoy the singing?”
Rather ask: Did these songs help me see God more clearly?
Because perhaps the greatest gift of congregational singing isn’t that it simply gives expression to our hearts. It’s that, week after week, it gently teaches our hearts where they belong.
Pastor Clegguart Mitchell 