God Loves to Sing

Kari Farnell

The local Christian radio station touts “the right song at the right time”. Often that is true; they just happen to be playing “just the right song” to meet whatever need I have at the time.  Music, as the saying goes, hath charms to soothe the savage beast.  Even David used music to soothe King Saul in his bouts of depression. 

Have you ever been sad or in a bad mood and turned on the radio just in time to hear music that touches your soul? That touches your very being? Sometimes it’s the actual music; sometimes it’s the lyrics that appeal to us. Have you ever noticed how much easier it is to learn something if you put it to music and how quickly you can learn the words?  If I mention the following brands, you will likely start singing the song in your head.  Empire flooring, Liberty Mutual, Mattress Warehouse, Farmer’s Insurance; there are many others.

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Deuteronomy 31:19 (The Voice)--”So I want you to write down this song and teach it to the children of Israel. Teach them to sing it, so it can be a witness for Me against them.”

Music and singing are an important to God and a big part of the Bible.  As is seen in the verse above, God instructs the Israelites to teach songs to the children and these songs are ones that will be a witness for God.  It was a convenient way to remember some of the laws and teachings of God. The entire book of Psalms is songs written mostly by David. Some ask for help, some give praise to God and still others are reflections. 

Throughout time, songs have been used to memorize things, and to rouse soldiers and villagers to arms and bravery, among other things. God has often been the architect of the music and musical occasions.  Remember Joshua and the Battle of Jericho?  God instructed the Israelites to march around the city for seven days with the first six days being led by the trumpeters sounding their horns.

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An article I read recently entitled, “The Godly Purpose for Music” by David F. Maas, concludes with these thoughts:

God's Word has shown us the following things about music:

1. Music is a gift and blessing from God.

2. Music is a powerful, mood-altering agent.

3. Music is used to praise God and to create an atmosphere to receive God's Spirit.

4. Music involves sacrifice.

I’ve gone down this long, winding path and now get to the point of this “episode” of the blog.  One of my very favorite verses in the Bible is Zephaniah 3:17 (NIV)--”The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with SINGING. 

Knowing how God has used music throughout the Bible and how He feels about music adds so much more excitement to this verse.  God takes delight in us and He rejoices over us with singing.  He sings to proclaim His love for His own creations. 

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Let’s examine how the four points mentioned by David Mass, above, fit into this verse. 

Point 1—“Music is a gift and blessing from God”.  When God is singing over us, He is blessing us; giving us a gift.  We may not always be aware of the gift at first, but it is there!

Point 2—“Music is a powerful, mood-altering agent”.  God is singing over us to help us find peace; to calm our spirits and if needed, alter our moods.

Point 3—“Music is used to praise God and to create an atmosphere to receive God’s Spirit”. By singing over us, God is proclaiming His love for His creation and is creating in us an atmosphere to receive God’s Spirit, if we but ask for it.

Point 4—“Music involves sacrifice”. God made the ultimate sacrifice when He sent Jesus, His son, to bear the burden of our sins. God is singing over us to prepare us to receive this sacrificial gift of His Son’s death. It wasn’t our physical death (because we each will go through that), but it was our spiritual death that He took on and all of the darkness, sadness, and grief for which we are destined without acceptance of His sacrifice.

So I leave you with a mental image. When your days are rough and the road is weary, think of Zephaniah 3:17 and imagine God, sitting on His golden throne, singing YOUR name in His song!