There’s just something about music! Every culture throughout history has valued singing and musical instruments as a way of expressing what means the most to them. Happy songs, sad songs, retelling real or fictional events – all have this wondrous capacity to touch people’s hearts. It seems to be wired into our DNA.
We shouldn’t be surprised, then, that singing and music are very prominent in the Bible. There are many examples of songs praising God in Scripture: Moses in Exodus 15, Hannah in 1 Samuel 2, Mary in Luke 1 and Zechariah later in the same chapter. But of course, the vast majority are found in the Psalms: the songbook of ancient Jewish worship. What is perhaps most striking about the Psalms is their variety: there are songs of praise, lament, confession, petition, retelling stories from Scripture and much, much more.
In today’s church, we have no less variety of worship songs and hymns to sing: almost 2,000 years of them! This naturally raises questions about which songs we should sing. Do we focus on praise or theology? Should we favour innovation or stick to the tried and true? It’s important to remember that the Bible sets no limits on style or substance: it only tells us to “sing a new song” (Psalm 96:1) and “make a joyful noise to the Lord” (Psalm 100:1). The important question is: do the words and music draw our hearts nearer to God? If it does, then the music is doing its job!
James.