Worship: Beyond the Act of Singing.

"Worship:  Beyond the Act of Singing."

By: KC Knippa

 

“Let the sea resound, and everything in it,
       the world, and all who live in it.   Let the rivers clap their hands,  Let the mountains sing together for joy;  let them sing before the LORD!” [Psalm 98:7-9, NIV]

Recently, I had the privilege to attend an amazing worship conference, led by many leading thinkers and shakers within the current Christian culture.  The best part of this conference was the fact that it challenged me to rethink the reasons for and purpose of what worship truly is… asking the simple, yet complex question, “Why do we sing?”

Have you ever thought about that before?

On the surface, this question appears to be simple, but when you really think about it, it begins to blow your mind! (Or at least, it did for me.)  Out of all the things; the sounds, noises, or actions that a human can make… Why is it that we choose to sing in order to praise our Lord?

For me, the conclusion that I have drawn is twofold:

First, we sing because it is truest form of emotional expression a person can make.  I have heard that physiologically speaking, the sound of singing and the effort to do so is related the closest to that of moaning… a deep guttural expression running the gambit of anything from happiness to pain… complete joy or anguish.  Now think about that in light of worship… Singing is the only way that we could possibly lift up in adoration the full complexity of emotions that our awesome Lord desires and deserves!

Which leads in to my second conclusion, that we sing because it is the closest expression we have to the divine.  Think about it, scripture is littered with this idea, explaining about how the Lord sings over his people or about how creation constantly rejoices and sings to the Lord.  Music has always been ethereal in nature… an art form to help us more fully understand the world around us… a precious gift from God, linking His people, to Him. 

So maybe the question shouldn’t be “Why do we sing?” but instead, “Why wouldn’t we sing?”  When it comes down to it, reflecting on all that the Lord has done for us… creation, salvation, and transformation… How can we not sing praises to God?

Besides, when we come together and lift up our voices, we are simply just joining the chorus of praise that creation has already been singing since before time began. 

Are you singing yet?

- KC