It’s time to take another look at how we treat singing in this society, not from the aspect of listening to others (which is obviously very popular, enjoyable, and easy)… but in singing individually, personally. This commentary (lengthy, but worth the read) is written from a religious perspective, but the content applies to our society at large.
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Whatever Happened to Singing? (Music: Not a Spectator Sport)
By T. M. Moore, December 5, 2003
I was struck recently by an observation made by Joan Oliver Goldsmith in her book, “How Can We Keep From Singing“. She wrote:
“Much everyday singing has been lost because of Thomas Edison’s phonograph, that great and terrible invention. With it we have captured the voices of great folk singers like Odetta, accessible for all time. The listener doesn’t have to be within hearing range of the singer. The singer doesn’t even have to be alive. Yet these days fewer people know all the verses to “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands” – or any of the songs we used to sing to pass the time on journeys”.
What got my attention about this observation was that I have been giving a great deal of thought to the role of singing in the life of faith in recent months, and had come to pretty much the same conclusion myself. We love music – can’t seem to get enough of it. It’s with us everywhere we go – in the car, on hold on the phone, in the restaurant, underlying every TV script, in our CD players, and on our radios. We love listening to music. At least, we have given up trying to escape it. What we don’t do much is sing. In fact, singing with any degree of enjoyment, satisfaction, or overt delight is becoming more and more the practice of a select few.
Oh we may belt out a few bars in the shower, or sing along with a favorite oldie; and we participate (more or less) in the obligatory singing that comes with worship on Sundays. But singing as an activity we enjoy, one that exercises our faith, draws us nearer to God, and puts the world on notice regarding our most basic life convictions – well, it simply isn’t much done.
C hristians in previous generations sung on all sorts of occasions. David was an accomplished musician and wrote songs for a variety of situations. Paul and Silas sang to strengthen their faith in the dungeon of a Philippian jail. Spirit-filled believers sang to one another and made melody in their hearts to the Lord. The early Christians sang psalms as they went about their daily chores. Celtic Christians considered singing an important spiritual discipline for making progress in the life of faith. Their spiritual descendants of the 16th to the 19th centuries wrote songs for everything from lighting the fire to milking the cows to heading out to sea. They set those songs in the form of prayers to God for blessing, guidance, and help.
Martin Luther considered singing as second only to theology in its potential for strengthening the soul. John Calvin recommended singing as a source of comfort, joy, and affirmation of faith. John and Charles Wesley fomented a revival and probably saved a nation on the back of lusty songs and hymns.
Christians in previous generations sang much of the time. They sang in their homes as well as their churches; in small groups and large; alone and in mixed company. They sang for an evening’s entertainment or to encourage one another in some common task. Many of them – like the “Uganda Martyrs” of the late 19th century – sang as they went to their deaths. Our forebears in the faith regarded singing as more than a diversion; singing was an important part of their life in the Lord, for it served to affirm and express their faith, and to proclaim it to the world.
Perhaps this is why the Bible has so much to say about singing. It’s curious, but Scripture gives us no specific guidance in how to listen to music. Music, according to the Bible, is not the spectator sport we have made it to be. Scripture knows nothing of the concert or music festival where thousands throng to listen to music. Indeed, the only person recorded in Scripture as having music played merely for listening was King Saul. Music in Scripture was intended for active participation – for playing, singing, dancing, and shouting, even for prophesying and teaching, so as to call down the Spirit of God, encourage others in the faith, and declare our beliefs to the world.
Believers are called to sing new songs to the Lord, to sing in the morning and at night, to sing God’s words back to Him, to sing in order to remember His glorious deeds and unchanging truths, to sing before the unbelieving world, and to sing within their hearts. According to Scripture, singing creates an environment in which the Spirit of God is wont to tarry, and where His filling can more easily occur. Singing to the Lord is a fundamental discipline of the life of faith, yet it is sadly neglected in our day.
Why is this? Probably for a number of reasons.
- First, it’s so much more enjoyable to listen to others making music than to hear our own voices. In our day, if we don’t enjoy something, what’s the use of spending time at it? Most of us have merely passable singing voices, at best, and we find much more delight and enjoyment in listening to others sing, than in exerting ourselves in this way. With all today’s sophisticated instrumentation and slick studio production, it is often difficult to find motivation on our own.
- Second, singing is hard work. Singing takes a commitment of the mind (in remembering the lyrics, melody, and beat), the heart (in summoning up the proper affections), and the strength (in exercising the voice and lungs). It’s just too much work compared to sticking in a CD and putting on the head phones. But precisely because singing is such a convenient way of engaging heart, mind, and strength in expressions of love for God, we ought to make more use of it than we do.
- Third, most of us don’t know many songs, not spiritual songs, and not all the way through, anyway. We can sing a chorus or stanza here and there, but it’s beyond what most of us are capable of to sing a whole hymn all the way through (with the exception, perhaps, of some of the newer praise songs, which seem to repeat the same phrases endlessly). It’s been a long time since we made the deliberate effort to learn a hymn, and since we only ever hear them intermittently, our memories are not sufficiently exercised to be able to retain a complete one.
But singing is one of those things that is good for us. Indeed, singing is essential to a healthy, growing faith. So, whether we’re good at it or not, and in spite of the fact that it’s hard work, faithfulness to the commands of Scripture requires that we take up the discipline of singing with renewed gusto and conviction (cf. Ps. 95:1-3; Ps. 96:1-4; Eph. 5:18. 19; Rev. 4, 5). In the face of so many unmistakable exhortations to sing to the Lord, not to do so amounts to nothing less than blatant disobedience, however we excuse ourselves. How can we expect to know the blessing of the Lord in other areas of our lives when this is our basic posture toward Him and His Word in an area of particular concern to Him?
It’s time for Christians to recover the spiritual discipline of singing to the Lord. Not just on Sundays – although, from what I have observed over the years, that could use some strengthening – but during the day and throughout the week. Turn off the radio in the car and use the time to learn a new song to sing to the Lord. Don’t just flop down in front of the TV; first, lead your family in singing the hymns from last Sunday’s worship service. Sing at your desk. Sing over lunch. Sing with a friend. Sing your prayers to the Lord in the morning (my father-in-law “croaks” his out each morning) or before you retire at night. Sing in the full expectation that, as you do, God the Spirit will bend to your joyful noise and seek you out as a vessel ready for His filling.
Especially let me encourage you to take up the discipline of singing the Lord’s own words back to Him (Ps. 119:54). It was probably a psalm (maybe 67) that gave Paul and Silas such comfort and strength in that dungeon in Philippi. The singing of psalms was the first step in winning Augustine’s heart for the Lord. Psalm-singing has been the practice of Christians from every tradition for nearly 2,000 years. The Irish saint Columba sang psalms before he could read. Celtic Christians were taught to sing psalms while they carried out their daily chores. The first book published on the American continent was not the Bible, but the Massachusetts Bay Psalter. By failing to take up this discipline in our generation we are in danger of throwing away one of the great traditions of our faith. Singing psalms deepens us theologically, gives guidance to our prayers, and creates a space where the Lord is pleased to come and dwell, right in the midst of our praises (Ps. 22:3).
Singing psalms puts us in the company of that great unseen host who have gone before us to glory and surround us as faithful witnesses to the Lord. Singing psalms gives us a common language with believers everywhere, and ensures that our praises to God will be precisely those He most longs to hear (since He wrote them). Learning to sing the psalms can be a most healthy addition to your spiritual disciplines. The men in my discipleship group have taken up the practice of learning a psalm you can sing throughout the day, and they are unanimous in reporting the benefits of singing psalms to the Lord.
Sing to Lord as an act of faith and obedience. Sing with all your mind, heart, and strength as an expression of your love for God. Make singing to the Lord more a part of your life, in particular, singing His psalms, and you will find your own faith strengthened and renewed on a daily and continuing basis.
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T. M. Moore is a fellow of the Wilberforce Forum, editor of Scripture Union’s daily Bible reading guides, and pastor of teaching ministries at Cedar Springs Church in Knoxville, Tenn.
Copyright 2003 T. M. Moore. Permission to reproduce granted with acknowledgment.
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Lake County Performing Arts (LCPA) 
Improv Playhouse Company Receives 2009 Best of Libertyville Award
Posted by lakecountyperformingarts on October 25, 2009
Our congratulations to David Stuart and his wonderful crew of professionals at Improv Playhouse in Libertyville!
(Improv Playhouse is an entertainment organization and full-service acting school that specializes in comprehensive improv-comedy and acting classes for adults and youth, corporate and private entertainment, business training and development, and talent management.
Located in Libertyville, Illinois in central Lake County with programming in Highland Park, Vernon Hills, Buffalo Grove and Round Lake Beach.)
http://www.improvplayhouse.com/
116 W. Lake, Libertyville IL 60048, (847) 968-4529
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