The Vocal Coach

Psalms - The Book of Songs

Well it is February 2010. I have taken a few months off from writing. I have been so involved with family that I have not had time to catch up with other things.

In November 2009 Dorcas and I spent about 10 days at the first of the month in Illinois with her mother. Dorcas mother was 100 yrs old. We knew that she was fading quickly, and went to be with her in the first week of November. On the 7th of November she went home to be with the Lord. I was asked to officiate and preach at her funeral. So we had to stay a few more days to wrap that up.

By the time we arrived back in Nashville, we only had time to catch up on mail and errands for a few days, and our two grandsons and our daughter came to visit us for a few days lasting up through the end of the month. Then in the first week of December, we went to New Hampshire, where my daughter and her family live, to visit with them for about 10 days and help her with some business matters. Came back home for a week and then went to Florida to be with my mother through the Christmas holidays. This was a miracle trip. On Christmas of 2009 my mother had a severe heart attack. She is 87 years old, and her doctor told her she would not live a year. Well she is still living. Although her activities are very limited, she is still able to take care of feeding herself, and she can get up from bed and go to the kitchen table to eat. She also can sit up in the living room to read and watch TV. I wanted to spend Christmas with her in 2009. Dorcas and I went there , came home for a week and then I went to Denmark for 7 days to do some singing. The day I arrived back in Nashville from Denmark ,we received word that Dorcas oldest brother, Paul ,80 years old and in a nursing home, was fading. The next day after we received this word, we had a call that said that Paul, Dorcas’ oldest brother, had died. We immediately went back to Illinois for 7 days and I preached and sang for his funeral.

This rehashing of my time is probably getting boring to you by now. I said all of this to say, that I have been so busy with personal things the last couple of months, that I didn’t feel like I could write anything for this column. I appreciate the prayers that all of you have prayed for us, and the patience of Deon for allowing me to take this time off from writing. Thanks to all of you. May God richly bless all of you.

This month I would like to write a little about what the theme of our songs should be , according to the word of God. What kinds of things are said about singing in the book of songs , “Psalms”.
I believe that all of our songs should be written to bring glory and honor to the Lord. David, in the book of songs, “Psalms” started several chapters with the idea of singing and what he would be singing about. For instance Psalm 96 begins “O sing unto the Lord a new song, sing unto the Lord, all the earth” (vs 2)” Sing unto the Lord, bless his name; show forth his salvation from day to day” I believe that David is telling us here to sing our songs about the what God has done for us, by making us new creatures. When Jesus saves us we have a new life therefore a new song to sing. That new song we write or sing should do two things 1. Bless His name 2. Show forth His salvation.

We can’t do that by singing songs that emphasize our good traits more that they do Him and what He has done. Our songs should be written and sung strictly about the Lord and His power to change everything. This especially shows up in the phrase “Bless His name”. The word name here is very important because it is translated in the Hebrew to mean “ a definite, and conspicuous position” implying “honor, authority, and character” Therefore, our songs should be written and sung about the conspicuous position that He holds in our lives, as well as in the earth. They must be written and sung with great respect for His “honor, authority, and character.” I would like to bring this to the attention of our industry, because some times our songs dwell on us, as individuals, more than they do on the Lord. Our songs will do more for God and win more people to Him when they extol His “honor, authority, and character”. The point is we shouldn’t write and sing songs that glorify man or extol man’s character, even though God has changed that character in the salvation process. If the song you write or sing talks more about what you have done than it does about God’s greatness, then you should ask yourself , is this what God would want me to write or sing. In other words, PRAY that God would always lead you in picking the words to go into a song that you are writing, so that those words would glorify Him and not you or any other man or woman. Telling the story of what God has done, can do, and will do is the key to writing and singing songs in the manner that the Psalmist taught, and that will minister to mankind in the manner that would win them to the Lord.

It is interesting that several Psalms begin with how we are to sing. Psalm 98 begins , “O sing unto the Lord a new song, for he hath done marvellous things; his right hand, and his holy arm, hath gotten him the victory” This passage alludes to the passage in Exodus 15:6 where Moses speaks forth about the Lord’s right hand destroying the Egyptians as they pursued the Israelites across the Red Sea. . Notice here that David says “His right hand , and His holy arm, hath gotten Him the victory.” Each miracle He does, and each soul that He saves brings deliverance to the recipients, but we must realize the victory He brings is all His. He deserves the acclaim for saving our souls, for our healing, deliverance, and freedom from sin that He brings. Therefore our songs must acclaim He is the victor, and we are the delivered. We can not defeat the devil and his wiles with our own goodness, abilities or anything else we have. The only way that the devil is defeated in our lives is through the strong and mighty power of a loving God, and that is available to us only if we accept the sacrifice that He made by giving His only begotten son Jesus on Calvary, and ask Christ into our lives. OUR SONGS SHOULD DEFINITELY BRING FORTH THE THEME OF THE MIGHTY POWER OF GOD..

Psalm 101:1 “I will sing of mercy and judgement, unto thee O Lord will I sing” In this song David says he will sing “unto thee O Lord” “of mercy”. There are a couple of things that this brings out to me. One is that first of all our singing should be “unto thee O Lord” or unto God for His edification and honor.

When I traveled full time, back in the 1970's with The Stamps Quartet, it seemed like our main goal every night was to see how many standing ovations WE could get. Well that really boosted our egos when we got one or more. I believe our emphasis was in the wrong direction. SINGING GOSPEL MUSIC SHOULD NOT BE ABOUT ME AND HOW MUCH PEOPLE LIKE ME. IT SHOULD BE ABOUT CONVEYING THE MESSAGE ABOUT HIM, WITH SPIRIT, CONVICTION AND EFFECTIVENESS. We should not be singing to the people to be trying to get their praise and applause, but we should always sing UNTO THE LORD. As we sing unto the Lord, when the people are blessed , BY THE LORD, and want to respond to HIM in some way like shouting, standing, singing along etc, that is between them and the Lord. However, our job is as David described it “I will sing of mercy and judgement, UNTO THEE O LORD WILL I SING.”

When I went into the preaching and singing ministry in 1976, the Lord dealt with me about this.
Therefore, I am more concerned, when I am singing, about “SINGING UNTO THE LORD” than any standing ovation that I might receive. If the people stand at the end of the song. I believe they are STANDING FOR THE LORD not for me. I have done nothing to receive praise and accolades. The Lord has done everything. That is why I like to sing of His mercy. Paul Jackson has written a great song about Mercy. It has the kind of lyrics that edify God, in the manner that I believe David was expressing in this verse.

There is another word that we must sing about to the Lord and that is JUDGEMENT. Why would we sing about judgement? I BELIEVE THAT THIS MEANS TO SING ABOUT THE FAIRNESS OF GOD’S JUDGEMENT. GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD. HIS JUDGEMENT IS ALWAYS FAIR . . When we think about the word judgement we think of harsh things a lot of time. We seem to equate that word with harshness. I believe that David is saying it here to say ,God you are fair in your judgement. God could have judged and still could judge the world for its sinfulness, but He has a special trait called “loving kindness”.
If He wanted to judge us to eternal condemnation we would probably deserve it. But, He gave Jesus on the cruel cross of Calvary, that we might be saved. No matter where we have been or what we have done, the blood of Jesus is available to wash our sins away. That is why I can sing unto God of His judgement. Because, He wants me to be made whole through the blood of Jesus, and the only way that I will not be made whole is if I don’t accept Jesus as my personal Savior.
PRAISE GOD FOR HIS LOVING KINDNESS, FORGIVENESS, MERCY AND HIS JUDGEMENT.

I will close for this time, and write more next month.

Remember Psalm 118:6 says “The Lord is on my side” He is on your side too. He loves you.

Your Brother in Christ,

Bill Baize