Sermon Tone Analysis

Introduction:

This morning I would like to talk about the importance of singing in the Christian life, and more specifically the importance of congregational singing in the corporate gathering of the church.

Did you know that the Bible has its own hymnbook?

The Psalms were not only the prayers of Israel, but the hymns of Israel.

Even some Presbeteryian churches today only exclusively sing the Psalms in their churches.

The Psalms not only teaches how to pray, but be reminded that the psalms also teach us how to worship.

And over and over again there are commands to sing praise to the God of Israel.

There are over 50 direct commands to sing to the Lord.

Honest Confession: I am not a singer.

But I love to sing.

One of the highlights for me every Sunday is to sing songs.

In fact, I choose the songs we sing.

I love singing even though I am not a great singer.

I love the truth and the reminders of God’s gracious promises through songs.

Pastor Ed was a great singer.

He knew how to keep a note.

I on the other hand, do not how to keep a note.

I can take sermon notes though.

But I still love singing.

I love the truths sung.

Some of the songs that we have sung over the years have encouraged me and help me be more faithful to Christ.

I believe that praising God is an essential element in private and corporate worship.

If you do not believe that singing is important, then your worship is either skewed or it is non-existent.

Praise God that He has gifted us with singers.

We are one of the few churches that still has a choir.

And not only a choir, but a children’s and youth choir at that!

But we can excel more in our singing when we know why we sing.

True Christians will sing.

True Christians will love to sing when God’s people gather corporately as we look at one particular psalm that calls God’s people to sing.

One modern hymn writer has said:

“Congregational signing is one of the greatest and most beautiful tools we have been given to declare God’s excellencies”, strengthening His Church and sharing His glory with the World”

Even the Great Reformer Luther said,

“Let God speak directly to His people through the Scriptures, and let His people respond with grateful songs of praise.”

Luther

Why the Reformation was successful was not only the recover of the Bible and doctrine, but it was the recovering of corporate and congregational singing.

Again, Keith Getty, in his book wonderful book Sing! (which I highly recommend) said,

Many of Luther’s enemies feared his hymns more than the man himself.

Singing was at the heart of the Reformation—indeed, such was the conviction of the man who was in some ways Luther’s predecessor, the Bohemian Jan Huss, that he was martyred for (among other things) speaking the ‘heresy of congregational singing’” Getty

“Christian singing begins with the heart, not the lips” Getty

Singing is one of the distinctives of the Christian faith.

It is so near and dear to Christians that churches split over the songs we sing!

We love our music!

Music touches are very emotions.

It has been said that the preacher can carry the message to the ear, but the Holy Spirit is who drives it to the heart.

I think that can be true of signing as well, the preacher can take the message to the ear, but the songs that we sing is taken with the worshipper throughout the week and I would even argue throughout his lifetime.

When you are on your deathbed, you are not going to remember the preacher’s points from his sermons.

You are going to remember the songs you sang in church: Great is Thy Faithfulness, It Is Well with My Soul, What a Friend We Have in Jesus.

The Problem:

But what we have seen in churches is that singing has become more of a performance rather than something to participate in.

Singing is more of a concert where a gifted band comes on rather than the corporate gathering where the saints sing and encourage one another in song.

The church has professionalized singing where performers perform on a stage with the lights dimmed and where people watch rather than sing.

Churches feel more than a concern rather than a corporate worship service.

We evaluate the success of singing based on how the performers did on stage rather than the voices of the congregation singing.

And that’s why we need to look to to teach us the importance of congregational worship, and specifically congregational singing.

teaches us the importance of singing, why we sing and how we should sing.

In , we look at:

The Call to Worship (vv.

1-2)

The Reasons for Worship (vv.

3-7)

The Requirements for Worship (vv.

8-11)

John R. W. Stott, the former rector of All Souls Church in London, writes that “true worship is the highest and noblest activity of which man, by the grace of God, is capable.”

Singing is part of our worship.

Singing is our response to God’s Word.

Scripture Reading:

This is the reading of God’s Holy Word.

Notice the call to worship in the first two verses.

The Psalmist calls us to sing God’s praise.

I.

The Call to Worship (vv.

1-2)

The psalmist’s calls the saints to worship God corporately.

In other words, Christian singing is not just a private thing for people who love to sing, but it is for all Christians when they gather together corporately and publicly.

So we not only gather Sunday morning to hear God’s Word, but we gather to sing God’s Word.

We gather to sing God’s praises.

But many Christians think that the singing is the “warm-up” before the “main event of the sermon.”

Or singing is just the previews before the real movie starts right.

We were discussing this in our small groups and sometimes we think singing is like the previews before the movie starts.

As long as we show up for the movie, will be ok.

The previews don’t really matter that much.

That is how some Christians treat singing in the church.

And that’s true of some of you because some come late!

You think singing is the like the previews that are not important.

But here the psalmist says that to worship God properly, is to sing with his people.

Singing is essential to worship in the corporate gathering of God’s people.

A. Singing is a Corporate Activity

The word “let us” is repeated 6x in these eleven verses.

2x in verse 1. 2x in verse 2. 2 x in verse 6.

It does not say “you sing to the Lord”, but let us sing to the Lord.

The psalmist invites the worshipper with other worshippers to sing to the Lord.

He says, “Oh Come!” “Make Haste” Be eager!

Do you come ready for worship?

The traditional opening of “Come” in English is deceiving.

The word is the imperative of “Walk,” meaning more like “Move it” or “Let’s get going.”

It implies that it is the beginning of the journey that culminates in v. 2 as one anticipates “encountering the face of God.”

Come is exhortation and functions like a command.

Let’s go! Let’s do this!

To come before the LORD’ means to appear at the sanctuary, and there the people are to sing to him in praise and adoration.

In Hebrew there are three verbs: ‘bow down’, ‘bow the knees’, and ‘kneel’.

If you are going to heed the call to worship, you have to be here to worship!

You have to be eager and ready for worship.

Is that your attitude Sunday morning.

This reminds us the importance of gathering and we are not to neglect corporate worship as reminds us.