Is the singing of hymns necessary during worship service? There are many instances in the Old and New Testament where the bible tells us singing hymns is a part of congregational worship. When King David was preparing to build the temple of God, he assigned 288 Levites to worship God by playing and singing sacred hymns in their respective shifts (1 Chron 25). Psalms also frequently calls God’s people to worship God through hymns: “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song” (Psa 95:1-2). In Col 3:16, the apostle Paul said, “Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.”
In Revelation 5, the apostle John also gave us a glimpse into the glorious scene of saints and angels singing new hymns to worship God. It is evident that singing hymns during worship mainly serves to worship and praise God, and to greatly inspire and educate fellow believers. “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name.” (Heb 13:15) Singing hymns and prayers during worship service are the sweet incense that we offer up to God; their importance is no less than listening attentively to sermons during service.
When singing hymns, it is important to sing from our heart and sincerely. “Speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord” (Eph 5:19). To do this, we must understand what we are singing and to pay attention to the lyrics’ meaning. Most of the hymns we sing have lyrics that are easy to understand and are accompanied by a beautiful melody. It resonates with people’s hearts. When faced with a hymn that is more difficult to sing, we must put in some effort to understand and familiarise ourselves with the hymn. If you are willing, you can look up the name of the hymn on the internet and listen repeatedly to the melody and lyrics. You are also very welcome to ask the worship chairman or other brothers and sisters who are more familiar with hymns. Most importantly, we must ensure the praises we offer up to God are sincere and not reduce singing hymns to just a routine. God is pleased when we genuinely praise Him through hymns. With a correct attitude, we should also courageously sing these hymns aloud. Some may be reserved when singing because they feel that they could not sing correctly and are afraid of disrupting others or may be laughed at. In fact, we need not think like this. The hymns we sing during worship are for God and not for our own entertainment nor to perform for others. Through the lyrics’ guidance, we should place our focus on God and before long, you will find yourself singing hymns unabashedly and reveling in the joy of worshipping God through hymns. Of course, if there are opportunities to improve our singing abilities, we should take it up. Our church had plans to start a choir in the beginning of this year and one of the objectives was to improve the singing of hymns during worship. Unfortunately, with the outbreak of Covid-19, we were unable to start this area of work. Please do pray for this ministry and for the brothers and sisters in charge to have strength to lead it.
I am looking forward to a time when all can gather back in church, and worship God together through hymns. At that time, may the Lord help us to present sincere praises from the bottom of our hearts and that our praises be a pleasing sacrifice unto the Lord. Before this day comes, let us come to worship the Lord genuinely from our respective homes as we attend the online service. “God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).
Translated by Davina Seet