Old hymn entitled For Me He Careth

    "Therefore the redeemed of the Lord shall return and come with singing unto Zion;      and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away." Isaiah 51:11

The above verse immediately follows something Isaiah said about it being God that "dried the sea" so that the "ransomed" could pass over. That of course is referring to the saving of Israel from certain death at the hands of the Egyptian army. The lesson point that I'm attempting to make by using this is - that the "ransomed," the "redeemed" sang all the way to "Zion" for the "everlasting joy" received from God.

I'd like to take that scriptural reference and use it as a basis for our lesson today. The operative word from that passage that ties in to this lesson is "singing." I'd like to offer a few short thoughts regarding our "singing" and perhaps we can look at this topic in sort of a question form, as in, Why do we sing?

Now of course we can divide these thoughts into our "singing" either individually or collectively. And, of course, I'm speaking here of "spiritual singing" and not the contemporary music of the world. As far as the "world's music" is concerned, I'm not sure how much of it can be classified as music as a lot of it is just profane chanting and the rest sounds like a collision between two trucks loaded with ducks and wash tubs.

If you run a reference on "singing" in a Bible concordance you'll find many, many scriptures relating to individuals "singing" praises to God for His benevolent care for them in some way. But, for our lesson here, I'm going to concentrate more on the collective aspects of "singing" rather than the individual. As, stated earlier, "Why do we sing" as part of our congregational worship service?

My first thought on this subject stems from a statement I heard in an interview with a noted person. He had, in talking about himself, said that he loved to sing in church because "it gives you a feeling of teamwork." Like a group of individuals joining together in a common effort with that effort being giving "praise to God."

And, at the same time "teaching and admonishing" each other by the "psalms and hymns and spiritual songs" being sung. In other words: fulfilling the command to Christians (the "ransomed/redeemed" of the New Covenant) found in Col. 3:16.

In discussing our congregational "singing," have you ever considered the thought that this is the only thing that we "collectively" do in our worship service? Think about it a moment. All of the other parts of the service are really and "individual" effort. Let me enlarge on that a bit further.

Only one "preaches" or "teaches" at a time, don't they? Only one offers "prayer" at a time. Even the "Lord's Supper," when you think about it, is done as individuals, seen in that we "examine ourselves" (1Cor. 11:28). We don't collectively "examine" each other. That's an interesting lesson topic in of itself, but we'll save that for a future editorial.

But "singing" is a whole different story, isn't it? It's a collective effort. It is not an individual or solo endeavor. Nor is it a worship effort to only be performed (and I use that term specifically) by the "good" voices of the congregation. I find nothing in the New Testament that authorizes or even infers that the "individual Christian" can subordinate their duties to a proxy.

Wouldn't it be true that, if we can have "others" sing for us, we might as well have "others" pray, give or even attend for us. To go back to the words of our interviewee, it's a "team effort" and all members, all Christians, are on the team.

When we consider the "Why" of our question, there's really a simple answer to it. With a couple of rare exceptions, all of the references to "singing" in the Bible are referring to praising God. That is first and foremost "why" we sing in our worship service. We're His "team" and we're recognizing His leadership and thanking Him for His benevolence.

But, our question has a two-phased answer, doesn't it? At the same time that we're "singing" praises to the Lord, we're teaching and encouraging each other by these songs. Our collective "singing" has an effect on us, doesn't it? Our spirits are lifted by the words and the tempo of the song, especially if it's a "spiritual song." On the other hand, when we sing "psalms and hymns" aren't our spirits reminded to be humble and penitent?

I don't see it to be a mistake on the part of Paul who penned the words of the Holy Spirit in Col. 3:16 and Eph. 5:19 where it mentions the three different styles of songs that we sing. The "psalms, hymns and spiritual songs." These three types of songs have a different tempo and meter to them thus, as mentioned before, should have different effects upon us, the singers.

Rather, I see those verses as corresponding with some other words of Paul in 1 Cor. 14:15 - "I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing with the understanding also." There is a "spirit," if you will, in each of the songs that we sing and we should offer our songs with the "understanding" of the proper "spirit" of the song. I also believe that a song leader's first duty is to recognize the "spirit" of the song he's chosen and lead it accordingly.

Before we close this lesson, I'd like you to consider one last thought: of all the things that we do in our worship service while on this earth, "singing" is the only one that carries over into heaven. Not going to be anymore preaching. Not going to be anymore teaching. Won't even be anymore observing of the Lord's Supper because that memorial has a scriptural time limit: "Ye do show forth the Lord's death til He come." (1Cor. 11:26)

But, when you read the passages in Revelation 5:9, 14:3 and 15:3 you'll see that we'll still be "collectively singing" before the throne of God. In other words, the Lord's "team" will be together in this effort.

There's an old hymn entitled "For Me He Careth" and the closing words of the last verse take me back to the words of Isaiah and the "redeemed of the Lord." "Thus I wait for His returning, singing all the way to heav'n; such the joyful song of morning, such tranquil song of ev'n."

Ron Covey