I have a confession: I can’t sing…at all. I do sing. I will rock it out in the car and I will belt it out in church, but I have been informed by the rest of my singing family that I don’t hit the right notes, ever. One Sunday at church I forgot to turn off my mic and the guys at the sound booth recorded me singing along and had a good laugh.
I can’t sing, but yet as a follower of God I am commanded to sing (Col. 3:16). But deeper than that there are times, as I reflect on the gospel, that I am compelled to sing. It can seem like a weird response, but you just want to communicate how awesome God is and how thankful you are to him, and singing is a way to do that. It is the same way I am compelled to cheer when my team scores. There are no other times in my life where I just randomly stand and start clapping. It is a response. And singing to God is a response. We are to sing responsively to God. We see this in the book of Ezra:
And they sang responsively, praising and giving thanks to the LORD, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever toward Israel.” And all the people shouted with a great shout when they praised the LORD because the foundation of the house of the LORD was laid. Ezra 3:11
They were singing in response to God’s goodness. Specifically his steadfast, covenant keeping, never ending love. We see this most clearly in Jesus. God’s goodness towards us even though we don’t deserve it. His promise keeping love to rescue us. Forgiveness, adoption, salvation, reconciliation back to God. That should make us sing! That is why we sing.
Every Sunday singing is something we do at Veritas and I love it. I love hearing you sing. I love singing along with you. I love when the band backs off and you hear the room belting it out in response to God.
So thank you for being an encouragement to me each and every Sunday as you don’t just listen, but participate in worship. We have great music and have been blessed with some amazing talent on our worship team, but the congregational choir throughout the room is the best part. I hope a defining characteristic of Veritas Church is always a congregation that sings responsively to God. For He is good, and his steadfast love endures forever!