Be Careful What You Sing

Be Careful What You Sing

Psalm 96

            We are frequently reminded to be careful what we say—and it’s a good reminder.  If you’re anything like me, you have a tendency to start your mouth before engaging your brain.  That can be dangerous.  I sometimes say things I wish I hadn’t.  If only I had thought before I opened my mouth, I would have been better off.  How much trouble—and anguish and sorrow—we would save ourselves if only we thought first and spoke second.

            It’s not speaking I’m concerned with today, but singing.  I believe we also suffer from the same lack of thought when we sing as when we speak.

            Professional performers don’t have to believe what they sing.  They just have to sing the song in a manner that convinces their audience that they believe—or they could believe—what they sing.  After all, audiences want to believe that the singer is sincere.  In theatre it’s called the “willing suspension of disbelief.”  The audience knows that the actor is not really who he says he is in the play, but, for the sake of being entertained, accepts the performer’s words as truth.  Professional singers are, after all, actors.

            When we sing in church, however, we’re not professionals.  When we sing as members of a congregation, we fulfill another role, and it has nothing to do with acting.  On these occasions we lift our hearts and voices to God.  Sometimes, as in Psalm 96, we raise our voices in praise of God’s power, and love, and glory.  We might find ourselves singing, “Praise my soul the God of Heaven, to God’s feet thy tribute bring” or “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty, the King of creation” or “When morning gilds the skies, my heart awaking cries, may Jesus Christ be praised.”  We might also express our praise with old favorites such as, “To God Be the Glory,” or “How Great Thou Art.”

            Sometimes our voices are lifted in prayer.  On such occasions we might sing “My Faith Looks Up to Thee,” or “I Need Thee Every Hour,” or “Lord I Want to Be a Christian.”  At other times we find ourselves singing words of encouragement, such as “What a Friend We Have in Jesus,” or “Christians We Have Met to Worship,” or “He Lives.”   

            In each of these cases, it is assumed that we believe what we sing.  There’s no acting here, no pretending, no playing a part.  We are believers (isn’t that what we call ourselves?) expressing our deepest longings, our heartfelt praise, our sincerest thoughts.  Or are we? 

            Do we really mean what we sing?  Do we think about the words we’re saying?  Do these statements come from our hearts or are we thoughtlessly repeating words and melodies we’ve sung so many times that they’ve ceased to mean anything to us.  It’s easy to lose ourselves in familiarity, to become so accustomed to text and tune that we lose the freshness of sincere expression.

            I think we have to be especially careful with hymns of commitment.  When we sing “Have Thine Own Way, Lord,” do we mean it?  Are we really turning everything over to God?  Are we singing in complete surrender, or just mouthing familiar words?  If we mean what we sing won’t it make huge changes in our lives?  Are we ready for those changes, for the complete surrender to God’s will that these words imply?  What about “I Am Thine, O Lord,” or Take my life and let it be consecrated Lord, to Thee,” or Where He Leads Me I will Follow?’  Are we ready for such a commitment?

            What about “I Have Decided to Follow Jesus?”  Do we have the courage to go through with it, and can we with our whole hearts promise, “no turning back”—and keep that promise?