I have been discussing ,for the last two months, things that the Bible says about singing. I believe that this is the fundamental basis for Gospel Music. Which is, I think, the only music that is truly valuable to Christians. I know that by saying that I am making some, who like other kinds of music, scratch their heads and say "What does he mean by that"? I also enjoy listening to some country music, some opera, a lot of bluegrass, and some pop music.
However, when I want my soul fed, and when I need a blessing or a lift in life, I'll pick Gospel Music every time. The main reason being that the MESSAGE is what counts. The message of the love and the redeeming grace of Jesus always fills that empty spot that I have after listening to any other kind of music. The story of Jesus never grows old. The stories mostly told by other kinds of music are sometimes so sad, or let you down by the outcome of the story so much, that it leaves you wanting something to lift you up. Gospel music lifts me up. "Love Lifted Me", never grows old. The power of the "Old Rugged Cross" never grows old. I could go on and on about songs of the Church and songs sung by my favorite Gospel singers. Do you ever tire of hearing the story of "How Great Thou Art". I don't. I am always in awe of God's greatness, power, love and lovingkindness. Singing about all of those things brings forth the most wonderful music on earth.
Now, more this month about Bible occasions for singing. I would like to mention a couple more occasions for singing in the Bible.
1. Singing for Joy. Or singing because you have Joy in your heart. In James 5:13 the Bible says" .....................
.............. Is any merry? Let him sing psalms."
since the words merry and joy basically mean the same and that is someone who is cheerful and happy or joyful, I chose to say singing for Joy. The meaning of this passage is that James is saying, those who are merry, happy, joyful can sing for joy, or because of this joyfulness. I like the old song that we used to sing in the church when I was growing up. It was call "Joy Unspeakable". The words are " It is joy unspeakable and full of Glory" . The verses talk about someone finding Jesus and the joy that he gives to us. I truly believe that when we discover who Jesus is and what He has done for us. I don't mean here when we just hear the story. What I mean is that when we truly discover Him through salvation, by asking Him into our hearts, then we find the joy unspeakable and full of glory that the old song talks about. Then, is the time that we can be merry, joyful and glad enough to "sing for joy" I believe that there are other times after we become Christians that we have wonderful things happen to us, that we know could only come from the Lord, and we , at that time, can truly sing about the unspeakable joy that Christ brings to our lives.
One occasion that comes to my mind, is when a first child is born, and all that are born after that also, is an occasion for great joy. Knowing that God is the giver of all life we can be of great cheer and have great joy about the gift that he has given to us.
The most joyful occasion and time for singing, to me, is when a lost sinner comes home to Jesus and his or her life is turned around and set on a new path that changes their entire world for the better.
These couple of things and many more that I am sure that you can think of and name are times for us to be merry in the Lord, and sing Psalms (or songs of joy) to Him and for Him.
2. Singing was done at "The Lord's Supper" in Matthew 26:30. "And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives." the word hymn here actually means in the Greek - singing a religious ode, which celebrates God in song or singing praise to God.
When we sang for Joy in the previous paragraphs, we sang for merriment, happiness of our own soul. That was called a "Psalm". Here in this passage, the Bible says they sung a "Hymn" which,as our definition has said, is a religious ode, which celebrates God in song or singing praise to God. This hymn was sung upon the completion of their celebration of communion or as we call it "The Lord's Supper.
As we talked about last month we are to sing Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs. To worship the Lord and keep our souls in tune with Him. These are two examples of fulfilling that scripture also.
The point here, that I want to make, is that when we are in a celebratory spirit we need not only celebrate our own happiness about our own feelings at the time, by singing Psalms , but we need also to always remember to sing the song or songs,(Hymns) that literally praise God for who He is, and not just for what he does for us.
The next scripture references to singing will talk about the "Manner of Singing". How do we sing for the Lord?
1. Back to Ephesians 5:19 - We sing in our heart- this scripture says "singing and making melody in your heart".
The heart is that innnermost part of you. The place that Jesus wants to dwell and comes into when you are saved. It is that compass that guides your every thought, activity and action. When the Lord comes in you will want to make Him constantly feel welcome to be there. Therefore, singing and making melody "in your heart" is important. It is one manner of singing. What does all of this mean to me? I think it means that I should feed my spirit Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, to keep my spirit healthy and make it a wonderful place for the Lord to dwell. If I feed these things into my spirit, then in turn I will grow a healthy spirit. It is kind of like "what kind of food you eat can make your body feel well or ill". So it is that what kind of spiritual food that you feed your heart can make your soul and spirit "well or ill".
Singing with the heart is when you catch yourself singing a song about the Lord at times when your surroundings have nothing to do with church or worship.
If you have fed your heart (spirit) the good things of Psalms, Hymns, and spiritual songs, then your heart (spirit) will bring forth the strength that you have fed it. If you have fed your spirit the music of the world, then your spirit will bring forth thoughts and actions of the world. Have you ever awakened in the night or in the morning and started singing a gospel song, psalm, or hymn? I do this quite often. What is in your spirit is what comes out when you least expect it to.
And what is in there, thoughts, actions, peace, turmoil, etc. will come out in direct proportion to what amount of each that has been fed to your spirit. The point is in order to sing, things that bless and magnify God, with the heart and from the heart , those kinds of things must be put in there by you and they must dwell in there and live in there.
There is an old saying about computers that says "garbage in and garbage out". A computer will only regurgitate what has been put into it. Your spirit is somewhat like that. Put God in and God will shine. Put the world in and the world will shine. Get the point? Therefore, when we dwell on God by singing Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, we will have in us what the Lord wants to bring out of us in order to carry His message to the world. Therefore, SING WITH YOUR HEART!
Next month, I will address more manners of singing, from other scriptures. Until then, May the Lord bless you real good.
Remember - Psalm 118:6 says "The Lord is on my side"
He is on your side too, just let Him be and you will be blessed beyond your fondest expectations.
Until next month-
In Christian Love
Bill Baize
Author: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
Written: 02/01/2009
| 
Category: The Vocal Coach
Comments: 2
RSS Feed
| (What's an RSS feed?)
|
Ads Sponsored by Southern Spin
Another great article, Bill.
Deon Unthank
SoGospelNews.com
My Blog
Some people are like Slinkys… Not really good for anything, but they
still bring a smile to your face when you push them down a flight of stairs - Author Unknown
Great article Bill. It was great to work with legends like you and Ed this past week. I enjoyed the conversations.
Page 1 of 1 Comment Pages
