Directions for Singing: Part 7 - Sing Spiritually

Wesley concludes his Directions for Singing with this crowning jewel:

7. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your Heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and reward when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

This last point rises above the rest. Not that it abolishes all the rest, but fulfills them. Without this point you can chalk the rest up to legalism. I’ll admit, I've had to dip into this point to expand on the others. Wesley’s pastoral insight in each of the previous points all lean upon this one.

His encouragement to sing spiritually reflects Christ’s teaching that those who wish to worship the Father must do so in spirit and truth. And in a few short sentences Wesley does a pretty good job getting the heart of what it means to sing spiritually; having an eye to God in every word you sing, seeking to please Him more than yourself, attending to the sense of what you sing (that is, truth). It is for this reason Wesley encourages his people not only to sing certain songs, but how to sing them, in order that they might worship God rightly while they sing together.

Wesley offers his people a further incentive; your spiritual singing is pleasing to God now and such faithfulness will be rewarded at Christ’s second coming. Add to that our understanding that we cannot do such things on our own, but that our worship is mediated through a perfect Intercessor, making our imperfect worship perfect and acceptable to our Holy God, then the implications are rather staggering. The Father is pleased with our singing now and will reward our song because of Christ! What a glorious motivation to gather and sing!

I hope that this series has been an encouragement to you, whether you sing in front or sing in the pew. My real hope is that these instructions will help us will come away with a fuller understanding of what it means to sing, what is happening when we sing, and how our singing together reflects the truth of the gospel.

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Previous installments of the Direction's for Singing series

Introduction

Part 1 - Learn These Tunes

Part 2 - Sing Them Exactly

Part 3(a) - Sing All

Part 3(b) - Sing, Weary Singers

Part 4 - Sing Lustily and with Good Courage

Part 5 - Sing Modestly

Part 6 - Sing in Time

What's The Real Issue?

When it comes to leading congregational singing in the worship of God there are a number of factors a Pastor and Worship Leader (not to mention the worshipper) must be aware of. Much of the debate about “worship” today usually centers on a “contemporary verses traditional” type argument. I believe that pitting one against another is wrong and that our attention on congregational singing—what many singularly classify as “worship”—should be focused elsewhere. The question isn’t, “Which one is right?” instead, we should take a step back and ask, “What’s the real issue?” To say that the terms “contemporary” and “traditional” are loaded is an enormous understatement. Then we throw in the term “blended” to solve all our problems when in reality it just becomes contemporary vs. traditional vs. blended!

When we argue for “our side” we are in affect telling another Christian that “we know that we are right and we definitely know that you are wrong.” And what do we base it on? If we are honest we see that it is based on our own ideas or desires. The weirdest (and dumbest) thing about this debate is that all sides seem to agree that Scripture has nothing to do with it (unless they find a verse they believe supports their argument!). The common argument is, “Oh, well Scripture is silent on the whole matter.” In one sense they seem right, which might be a reason for the never ending-ness of the debate. Scripture doesn’t tell us what “style” to play our music. But is that what God really cares about? Don’t you think that if God was only to be worshiped in one particular style of music He would have commanded us to do so? “Thou shalt only play thine organ.” What God does care about is that worship to Him is to be done in “spirit and truth” through Christ. And essentially what that means for those leading the people of God is that we are to guard the worship of God from “flesh and error” and from “worldliness and falsehood”. Otherwise God is not glorified.