Awakenings
Sing a Song
By REV. BOB GREER

There’s an ancient story  about creation. When God created the heavens and the Earth and all that dwell therein, the Host of Heaven praised God for such good work and marveled, “It’s all so very good!”

But God noted something was missing.  Creation was not complete. “How can you say it’s not complete?” asked Gabriel.  “Look at it.  It’s very good.”

Finally God exclaimed, “I know what is missing. There’s no music. There’s not one song.” 

So God gave certain birds of the air a song to sing, but God planted in humans the urge to make song. “Now there will always be music and new songs,” said God. 

And the Host of Heaven sang God’s praise and said, “Amen!”  

We were created to praise God.

In the book of Second Chronicles, there is a story of the power of music about which we preachers seldom preach.  Huge armies were invading tiny Judah, and King Jehoshaphat knew his people were powerless to defend themselves. So the king cried out to God for help. God’s answer came through the prophet Jahaziel, who said, “Do not be afraid . . . for the battle is not yours, but God’s.”

Jehoshaphat then appointed a chorus to lead his army into battle. As they came upon the enemy the chorus broke out in song: “Give thanks to the Lord, for His steadfast love endures forever.” 

With the sound of music Judah’s tiny force routed the enemy. 

Music is a powerful force for uniting people, inspiring confidence and forging solidarity and courage.

It seems that God’s gift of praise is unevenly distributed.  I have discovered that music especially abides in places of hills. The Welsh people, noted for living in rugged hill country, are geniuses when it comes to making song and singing harmonies. Many Welsh people immigrated to work the rugged coalfields of the Allegheny Mountains. They brought their gift for singing and their joy for music.  And our hills are alive with the sound of music. This is so true of our beautiful mountain home in Tioga County.
Christianity, perhaps more than any other religion, has excited, inspired, fostered, and highlighted music for God’s glory. This truth is especially illustrated with the advent of the Christmas season.  What would the season be without song?

We serve God with our praise.   If we get good enough at praising God on Sundays, then we will we be prepared to praise God throughout the week. Thus our lives will become living hymns.

In Romans, the Apostle Paul makes a kind of connection between the way we sing and the way we live. He suggests that getting our lives morally straight begins with getting our songs right and in good harmony.

Singing God’s praise honors the Lord, it edifies our brothers and sisters in Christ, and it brings us joy. 

Today in many of our churches Christians are actually fighting over the subject of worship and the kinds of songs they should or should not sing. We preachers call this “the worship wars.”

So what are we to do? First, the psalmist says that we are to sing with joy. “Let all that is within me praise God’s holy name.” 

Second, the Bible encourages us to “sing new songs of praise.” In fact, in Heaven we will sing new songs. So let us not be afraid of new songs. 

Third, our music should be done well; in our worship we should aspire to “sing and play skillfully and with understanding.” 

Finally, our songs should inspire reverence for God, and they must increase our awareness of God’s steadfast love. 

The only war we Christians are commissioned to fight is the war against evil. Satan so loves it when we allow our focus to get deflected and we engage in worship wars. 

The Christmas season is a wonderful time to connect with others and with God in our singing. And how do we sing the Lord’s song?

God has shown us what is right. For we shall and we must sing God’s praise together!