We are seven weeks into this season of quarantine, which means almost two months have gone by without hearing the sound of our sweet congregation singing together in unity. Maybe, like me, you’ve grown slightly discouraged from singing in front of your TV without the backing of the band and your fellow congregants to spur you along. From the first day we planted The Trails, ours has been a culture of congregational singing, and Pastor Matt has been clear from the beginning that my role as Director of Music is ultimately to facilitate the joyful singing of our people. Therefore, it can feel disheartening and, frankly, pointless to sing in our homes when no one else is listening. However, I want to encourage us in this season to continue to sing during the at-home services by reminding us of why we sing in church to begin with.
We Sing Because God is Worthy of our Worship
Ultimately, we sing because God is infinitely worthy of our praise and music is one of the chief ways that His people have always worshipped Him. Scripture tells us time and again that God alone is deserving of our worship. Psalm 145:3 says, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised.” Even the “trees of the forest sing for joy” (Psalm 96:12) and the heavens declare His glory (Psalm 19:1). And while this worship is amplified and even felt more completely when we gather, it is no less required and true when we praise Him from our living rooms. So remember when we’re singing at home that we do so because God is more worthy of our song than anything else this world has to offer.
We Sing Because God Delights to Hear Our Singing
Not only does God deserve our singing, but He actually enjoys hearing us sing to Him! My wife and I have a little 10-month-old daughter who just started saying her first word. And can you guess what it is? That’s right—“dada." I’ve heard her say it dozens of times over the past few days, yet each time I hear it, it brings me such joy. How incredible it is that the creator God of the universe delights to hear His children sing out to Him, “Dada!” I think sometimes when we sing in church we can forget that we’re talking to our loving Father—I'm certainly guilty of this. How it should warm our hearts to know that the King who reigns over all heaven and earth is also the gentle Father who longs to hear His children sing, even if only from our homes.
We Sing to Remember God's Truths
Lastly, we sing because we need to be reminded of the truths we’re confessing in our songs. Many of the songs at The Trails aren’t what you hear on Christian radio, but that’s not because we’re trying to be anti-establishment or going against the grain. It’s because we want to curate a set of songs that are biblically-based, theologically rich, and that ultimately point us to the beauties of Christ both now and in the seasons to come. As Matt likes to say, the songs we’re singing today are the songs that our kids will take with them to fight temptations as they go off to college, or the songs we’ll sing to encourage us in seasons of depression. They’re even the songs we’ll sing someday gathered around loved ones as they depart to be with Jesus. And what a unique time the Lord has given us during a season of at-home worship to sing these songs together as families, reminding each other of God’s faithfulness, His goodness, and of the hope that is ours to come.
My prayer today and in the coming weeks is that God would restore in us a joyful spirit when we sing to Him. I miss, more than you know, hearing the beautiful sound of our people singing on Sunday mornings. And I look forward with much anticipation to the day when we get to gather again. But until then, let me encourage you during this season when so much is changing—don't stop singing. Sing because God is worthy of it. Sing because He delights in hearing it. And sing because we need to be reminded of the truths in which we sing—maybe now more than ever.