21 Days of Prayer: Day 9
Worship - Singing to God
"...Singing psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs..."
READ COLOSSIANS 3:1-17.
Worship takes many forms… Yesterday, we looked at how the preaching and receiving of the promises found in Scripture are the primary means by which we worship. If the Church is to flourish, then it must be built upon and centered around the Scripture. The life and godliness of the Church to a great extent depend upon its knowledge of the promises of God received through the preaching of the word on Sunday mornings… But there is another way in which we worship as a church, isn’t there?
We, as a church body, also worship God by SINGING praises to His name… In our text today, Paul admonishes the Colossian church (and us today) to seek the things of God. Paul says we do this in two ways: 1) by putting to death the earthly, sinful desires within us (vv.5-10); and 2) by putting on the good desires of God (vv.12-17). Indeed, if we are to lay hold of the things of God, we must daily put to death our old selves with all its wicked desires, and put on our new selves with all its good desires… Those may seem like rather vague commands but, if we look more closely at the text, Paul gives us specific instructions about putting on the new self.
Paul writes: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom…” There is the primacy of preaching the word of God… But then Paul writes: “… singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” Now why would Paul give the command to sing songs to God directly after he gives the command to preach the word of God? Could it be that there is more to singing songs to God than just the noises that erupt from our mouths?
I believe that Paul intentionally put the command to sing songs to God directly after the command to preach the word because there is something about worship that teaches us. Whenever we sing as the gathered people of God, whatever we sing teaches us something about God. Think about this – what do people remember most about worship on Sunday mornings? Is it not (most of the time) the songs that were sung?... Why is this? There is something about human nature that is meant for singing praise to God. Indeed, singing God’s worship will be something done in eternity (see Rev. 7:9-12) … While the word of God is the foundation for the Church, singing the praises of God is its apex.
And because the Church’s singing of God’s praise is the apex of human experience, whatever is sung has an effect. Whatever we sing on Sunday morning transforms us to be like whatever we are singing about… That naturally raises the question – “What do we sing about?” … Do we sing about the holiness of God, His sovereignty over all things (even our suffering), and the riches of His grace in the gospel of Jesus Christ (despite our sin)? Or do we sing about some fluffy, tame god who is like some genie in the sky, who lives to serve our every whim, and who is all grace (a.k.a. a god who does not punish sin)? … The answers to these questions are important because, whatever we sing about, that is the image we project onto God and how we view ourselves…
Yet there is another aspect to our worship on which Paul narrows in. Paul says, “… [Sing] psalms… with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Paul says we are to sing with THANKFULNESS in our hearts to God… But what are we thankful for? Of course there are the basic needs that God meets every day – food, water, clothing, shelter, etc. But there is something more important that we thank God for – the gospel! We sing praises to God because, in Jesus Christ, He has rescued us from an eternity of experiencing His just wrath! We sing because He has forgiven us the sin debt we owed and replaced that with true life spent with Him in eternity – and all because the shed blood of the Son! Praise God!... The realities of the Gospel are the most awesome things we know… And they should influence how we express worship…
If we truly know in our minds and hearts what we have been redeemed (bought) from and what we are going toward, then it will physically move us when we sing to God… But, if we are being honest, we often half-heartedly (or do not) express our worship in song. Too often we stand like frozen statues on Sunday morning while the awesome majesty of God is being sung. Too often do we mumble a few words while the beauty of the gospel is being praised… Yet we find it so easy to physically express ourselves during an SEC football game, an argument with a family member, a “secular” music concert, etc., ... I am not bashing any of these activities, but I am asking why these activities seem to affect us more that the singing of praise to God?
Why is it so hard for us to physically express ourselves in song to God? I believe it is one of two things: 1) We do not know how ugly our sin is and how holy God is (we have an ignorant mind); or 2) Though we know the truth, we do not let the truth seep into our hearts (we have a cold heart)… That is not the way the apostle Paul is calling the Colossian church to worship God. And that is not the way Paul commands us to worship God today either…
We need to put on the new self by singing the truth about God and His gospel with an informed mind and an enflamed heart.
Personal Questions:
Why does Paul put the command to sing songs to God directly after the command to preach the word of God?
Why does it matter what we sing about (what does worship in song do to us in our thoughts about God and ourselves)?
Do you worship God with an inflamed mind and an enflamed heart? Or do you attempt to worship him with an ignorant mind or a cold heart?
Prayer Points:
Pray that you and our church would recognize the absolute importance of worshiping God in song on Sunday mornings.
Pray that you and our church would have an informed mind when worshiping God in song (that our minds would be filled, not by false ideas, but with the truth about God).
Pray that you and our church would have an enflamed heart when worshiping God on Sunday mornings (that the truth of God would penetrate our hearts and be outwardly expressed).