Congregational Singing
On Sunday, we included a bulletin insert with the lyrics of two 19th century hymns traditionally set to the same melody (“Ebenezer”): “Once to Every Man and Nation” (1845) and “O the Deep, Deep Love of Jesus” (c. 1890), to which I linked a recording in last week’s newsletter. My aim is both to help us learn songs with which we might not be familiar and to get us thinking more deeply about the songs that we sing.
In Ephesians 5:19, we are commanded to “address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart” (cf. Col 3:16). We have been created in the image of God, who rejoices over His people with loud singing (Zeph 3:17). Part of His design for His people, as we increasingly bear His image, is to be a singing people.
You’ve heard me discuss the priority of prayer in the life of a healthy church, and how every great revival that the world has seen since the Reformation have all been ignited by Christians committing themselves to gather weekly, if not daily, for prayer. A point that is not as frequently discussed is that a renewed focus on congregational singing has always accompanied this renewed focus on congregational prayer.
In an interview a few years back, the two primary songwriters with City Alight in Australia put it this way:
- The sound of a church singing has preceded almost every great revival in church history. The church is God’s witness and representative on earth. And is there any wonder that a tremendous power comes about when the representative voice of God in the earth is singing?
It would take numerous lengthy articles/sermons to adequately speak to the role and importance of a commitment to whole-hearted, full-throated congregational singing to the health of a church, as well as to speak to the many factors that either help or hinder the achieving of this aim, most notably the criteria for selecting appropriate songs.
For now, I’ll just commend to you this interview with City Alight (authors of “Christ is Mine Forevermore”) and this article from Matt Boswell (author of “His Mercy is More”).
(See a related article here.)
