By Pastor Luke Lemberg
Singing is a means of Grace that the Holy Scripture, in many places, calls us to partake in. Singing is something that all people do when they are meant to remember and understand the stories and past events of the communities that they are a part of.
We can understand this when we look at how singing is used in the secular communities around the church. Colleges have ‘Fight songs’ to rally the students and fans when they win a game. Lovers may play a song that helps them think about particular moments in their relationship that have led them to this place in life. Sometimes we play a song as a form of self-soothing that helps us through an emotional time.
The same ought to be done in the church. We have a community that goes back almost 2000 years and there have been saints of old that have gone through times of trial and times of blessing. Those moments have been memorialized for us in song. We can sing, remember, and learn from the songs of the saints of the past. Our songs matter and to sing them together is to encourage one another to grow in Christ.
This is what the term ‘Means of Grace’ is referencing. Grace is God’s favor and movement toward someone in the ministry of the Gospel. As we are brought to the saving knowledge of Christ and His work, we are then commanded to remember what God has done. The Bible, or the ministry of the Word, is the basis of how we know who God is and what God has done. Those things that are tied to the Word such as reading, preaching, and, as will be argued, singing. When we make the Bible the foundation on which these things are built, we can better know what God has done for us in Christ.
Singing is a means of Grace given to us by God for the edification of His people. A means of Grace is a part of worship that allows us to remember the gospel and the wonderful things that God has done in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit. As such, we are called to be diligent to seek these means out for our growth and assurance of faith. We need to grow in our faith because the Bible tells us that
“Without faith it is impossible to please [God]: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is and he is a rewarder of those that diligently seek him.” Hebrews 11:6
When we grow in our faith we grow in our ability to seek the Lord while he may be found.
Seeking the Lord also means that we must prepare ourselves to receive the good things that He has for us, specially found in the means of Grace. This is what our Particular Baptist forefathers wrote for us in the Catechism, Question 95. There, they tell us that for the word to become effectual to salvation, we must ‘attend thereunto with diligence, preparation, and prayer; receive it with faith and love, lay it up in our hearts, and practice it in our lives.’ Singing is a ministry of the word, so, this would also apply to practicing and preparing ourselves to partake of the means of grace on Sundays.
While families are to practice at home during family worship, that alone may not prepare us fully to participate in the Sunday worship. This is because we are called to sing together, as a Congregation, especially in places like Colossians 3:16. Preparing ourselves for the Lord’s Day service means that we need to take the time to learn to sing together. It may sound strange but to practice singing together is to practice encouraging one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. This is fulfilling the prescription to diligently prepare to receive the word to become effectual for salvation. Singing is a ministry of the Word, and we must be diligent to be ready to receive that word.
To make sure we prepare to do this command of scripture, we must make the time to come together and sing together. We must learn how to listen to one another, learn to sing to one another, and learn to do it naturally. Practice makes perfect, and practice helps us come together and make the most of the Lord’s Day. If we cannot make the most of the Lord’s Day, there is a potential blessing that is being left on the table that could be enjoyed.
In conclusion, we are encouraged to make time to practice the music together, as a congregation, to prepare to fully enjoy the Lord’s Day and to make the most of our time that has been given to us by God for our good, and his glory. This is the foundation we can give to the practice of meeting together outside of the normal worship time to prepare for the Sunday worship.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.
Colossians 3:16