I will sing of lovingkindness and justice, to Thee, O Lord, I will sing praises.
Message: Music and Theology
Time: Psalms, a collection of lyrical poems, with multiple authors. David wrote 73 Psalms, though for 50 or so the author is unknown. Psalms means songs of praise. The writings span 1,000 years. They encourage us to praise God, illuminate the greatness of God, affirm His faithfulness in times of trouble, and remind us of the absolute centrality of His word.
What the Lord is Saying: In addition to being a great theologian, Martin Luther also wrote hymns. He realized that hymns were important for the development of our faith. His hymns were often written around different themes, like Advent, Christmas, Easter or on topics of the Ten Commandments. Wikipedia lists 41 hymns he wrote in German. His best known hymn is a Mighty Fortress is our God based after Psalm 46 and written in 1529.
It is interesting that music and hymns can be used to communicate to us truths of God but can also teach us theology. I read through the Lyrics of a Mighty Fortress is our God and was shocked a little and interested to read how much it speaks of the Satan and the Prince of Darkness and devils filled.
There have been arguments in the church about music and hymns or more contemporary songs. Hymns were contemporary songs in their days and perhaps we need to focus more on what the song is saying than the form. On my home yesterday from work, I heard this song by REM called Everybody Hurts. I've read a little about the song and its writing and it is hard to tell if it was written with much meaning as it simply chronicles the hurt we all experience in life and that we are not alone. Now God is never mentioned, but as I listened I was reminded of the meaning and that I am not alone.
I have not spent much time going over hymns and studying them. I always remember my mom in church and hearing her sing and how she often knew so many of the hymns. She sang so much by memory. These were her songs that she sung to God. I grew up with the Baptist Hymnal. Here is a copy of one with songs from 1991. It also reminds me of how organs are often accompanying hymns.
Many songs written are based upon the Psalms. For me, I love tunes from scripture and where I can see the link of why it was written. For praise songs, I do like the one's that speak of God's attributes, like Great is thy Faithfulness, but also like songs that are sung directly to God. There is a recent song I heard by Kristian Stanfill (worship pastor at Passion City Church) that fits this:
I want to love You with all of my soul
Jesus you’re my one ambition
With every breath You give I’ll give You
Another praise, another praise, another praise
I need help speaking to the Lord and praising Him and I appreciate these lyrics that help me direct my thoughts toward Him.
Summary: Good worship music invite us to move deeper into God's word to learn more and more about Him. In all of its forms, hymns, contemporary songs, our hearts can be focused on him.
Promise: The biblical psalms model the kind of complexity that good sacred music has to offer.
Prayer: Lord, thank you for music again and specifically the music that we have sung in the church. I appreciate the choruses that I have sung growing up and then in small groups like at Chi Eta that helped define my faith and my praise of You and then all the songs of the day now that offer praise to You but also can help define my dependence on You. Thank you for being present and speaking to Me in so many different ways through these writers. Help me to continue to give praise to You in these ways and to sing from my heart. Thank you for giving me such a great Mom who patterned this in my life and gave me such a great example of praising You and Singing to You. It is great to see this carried on in my brother.
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