Singing has become more of a performance than worship because most churches have lost any concept of biblical singing. Singing was not intended to be something performed by the few to be witnessed by the multitudes. All of God’s people ought to sing, but how shall we sing? According to 1 Chronicles 13:8, God’s people should worship the Lord in song “with all their might.” In agreement with that passage, the Bible suggests that God’s people should be singing aloud (Nehemiah 12:42; Psalm 51:14). This is further confirmed when the Bible likens singing to a breaking forth (Isaiah 14:7). This breaking forth should come from an overflowing heart (Ephesians 5:19).
Throughout history, various motives have moved men to sing unto the Lord. Some men sang as a testimony of some specific thing God had done for them (Exodus 15:1; Psalm 126:1-2). Others sang in order to teach truths set forth in the word of God (Colossians 3:16; Psalm 101:1). Some even sang songs that would testify against them in times of disobedience (Deuteronomy 31:19). Though some things have changed throughout history, God’s people still should sing songs of personal testimony like My Jesus, I Love Thee; songs that teach like Holy and Reverend Is the Name; and songs that witness against disobedience like He Was Not Willing.
God gave us the Bible to serve as our final authority in all matters of faith and practice. This certainly includes the types of songs that should be sung. In fact, the Bible contains an entire book of songs, the Book of Psalms. According to Colossians 3:16, the psalms is only one of three categories of songs to be sung by New Testament believers. Basically, psalms are scriptures set to musick, hymns are doctrinal songs speaking specifically of the Lord, and spiritual songs deal with the Christian life and practice. A diligent study of history yields evidence that God’s people have been singing songs from each of these categories since the church’s inception.
Singing may involve one person, but there are always a minimum of two parties involved in any song: the person singing and the person receiving the song. Exodus 15:1, among many other passages, teaches that God’s people are to sing “unto the LORD.” This indicates that a song is much like an offering to the Lord. The person singing offers the song and the offering is received by the Lord. Singing serves as an important act of praise and worship; however, modern Christianity has lost much of its focus. This especially applies to singing. Every week, individuals and groups in churches stand up in worship services and sing unto the people rather than to the Lord. This should not be the case. God’s people need refocused to learn that the singing should be “unto the LORD” and not man.
Rarely does man have the opportunity to participate in heavenly activity while still on earth. Singing is one of those rare events that enables the Christian a glimpse into a heavenly behaviour. Job chapter 38 sheds light on some of the events surrounding creation when it proclaims that “the morning stars sang together, and all the sons of God shouted for joy” (Job 38:7). These spiritual beings saw the creation of God and could not help themselves but to burst into song. The origin of singing is heavenly, though it has been more often used in unholy ways. Not only is musick’s origin heavenly, but long after the world has sung its last song, heaven will continue to enjoy God’s gift of musick (Revelation 5:9). For this reason, God’s people should never take this for granted but enjoy this heavenly benefit as often as possible.
Worldly meditation primarily focuses upon clearing the mind and making it devoid of thought. The Bible reveals the opposite process. Today’s passage comes from a more extensive letter that Paul sent to his son in the faith, Timothy. In this letter, Paul encouraged Timothy to be an example to those around him. As a young man, Timothy was instructed not to allow his youth to hinder his service to the Lord. In Paul’s absence, Timothy was to major upon three things: reading, exhortation, and doctrine (1 Timothy 4:13). Paul told Timothy to “meditate upon these things” (1 Timothy 4:15), or give himself wholly to them. In doing so, Timothy’s profiting would appear to all.
When a believer meditates upon the things of God, those truths become more firmly planted in the heart. Eventually, the contents of the heart become evident from the words that escape the mouth (Luke 6:45). Therefore, the meditations of our heart will eventually be the words of our conversations. This is exactly the truth conveyed by Asaph in our passage from Psalm 77. He understood that meditation upon the work of God would eventually cause him to talk of God’s doings. It is right for God’s people to speak truth, especially when it concerns testifying to the truth of God’s holy words. Yet, this is not possible unless a believer first hides the words of God in his heart (Psalm 119:11), and one way to do so is through meditation.
Psalm 119 is filled with statements promoting the necessity of the word of God. Seven times in this psalm we find a statement declaring the writer’s desire to meditate upon the words of God. Three of these times he states emphatically that he will meditate in God’s statutes or His precepts (Psalm 119:15, 48, 78). Not only was meditating upon God’s words something that the psalmist desired to do in the future, but he had formed this habit long ago (Psalm 119:23, 99). The writer of this psalm, like other successful believers in the past, made it common practice to meditate in the words of God both day and night (Psalm 119:97; Psalm 1:2; Joshua 1:8).
Meditation can be a godly practice, but can also express the exact opposite connotation. Nonbelievers go to great lengths to push their concept of meditation upon the world, but their meditation remains ungodly in every aspect. Rather than asking whether or not we should meditate, we should ask upon what we should meditate. Perhaps the Christian’s most important question in this matter should be, “Is my meditation pleasing to the Lord?” Interestingly, David, a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22), prayed, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD” (Psalm 19:14). David wanted to insure that his meditation was acceptable to the Lord.
The Bible’s built-in dictionary defines meditation as taking thought. The world most often thinks of meditation in its own man-made context which is pagan in origin and practice. However, Bible-believing Christians should not allow this to discourage them from practicing scriptural meditation. Notice the phrase in today’s verse: “take no thought beforehand” followed by the word premeditate. The prefix pre means beforehand, while the word meditate means “to take thought.” Thus, a person who takes thought on something, perhaps a Bible verse or some particular truth in a sermon or a hymn of the faith, is said to be meditating. Unfortunately, far too many of our busy lives have choked out the quiet moments of meditating upon the things of God.
