Last night, I started doing something that I have thought about doing for a while. I am going to try singing through all the Psalms in order.
I am not going to use any hymnals or psalters, etc. in my singing. I may or may not try accompanying myself on the guitar by playing whatever suits my fancy and sounds ok to me.
As long as I say the words properly so that they are understandable and use differing pitches and rhythms, can anyone validly say that what I am doing is not singing that pleases God?
After all, God has not provided any inspired melodies or any specific musicological information about what I am supposed to be doing when I sing as long as I sing the words that He has inspired and do so by varying the pitches and rhythms.
Do you agree or disagree with this approach?
Based on what the Bible has revealed, does it really matter to God how I sing His inspired words as long as I am sincerely trying to sing to Him and He is the only one who will hear my singing?
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
“Whatever suits my fancy and sounds ok to me”
“Does it really matter to God how I sing His inspired words as long as I am sincerely trying to sing to Him and He is the only one who will hear my singing?”
The top quote is making yourself the standard of what is good.
The second quote is making too much of personal sincerity. Nothing is moral because I am sincere. There is a lot of evil done by sincere people. Further, why would something become good just because no one else other than God is hearing it? That begs the question of if what God thinks even matters.
As I drive around town, I will hear the sounds coming from other vehicles. I have heard rap music. The words are evil. They speak of murder, rape, etc. The words and the music match. The music was designed by wicked men to provoke the works of the flesh. The darkness is on the face of those who are listening to it. It is poison to the soul.
One time I was driving and heard rap and recognized that they were rapping Scripture. It was like the demoniac in Acts 16:18 who said the right things.
I also remember Roseanne Barr’s disrespectful performance of the USA national anthem. People were disgusted with her disrespect. As I remember, she made a comment about her “freedom of expression.” Worship for God is far more important than respect for our nation. The way that one conducts themselves when worshiping God is important. God can be insulted when we worship disrespectfully in private or in front of others.
Though I doubt that you plan on rapping or purposely being disrespectful, I thought that some of the arguments that I think you borrowed from others are in error. I think you were testing the waters. 🙂 I would argue that it always matters how we present ourselves to the Lord in Worship.
Hi Methuselah,
You are right that “it always matters how we present ourselves to the Lord in worship.” I certainly would not do anything that I know is ungodly or unacceptable to God.
Nonetheless, God has not specified for us in His Word all the exact information that would tell us every note and rhythm that we should sing in singing the Psalms. Because that is true, we have to determine for ourselves what to do when singing the Psalms for ourselves in individual worship.
Taking that approach is not an indication that I have borrowed any arguments from anyone else.
Concerning this second comment, “Further, why would something become good just because no one else other than God is hearing it? That begs the question of if what God thinks even matters,” I am a little puzzled about what you are saying in this comment. What God thinks always matters.
My line of thought in this regard is as follows. Paul talks about the case of someone in the church who had the genuine gift of tongues, but he was not also able to interpret it and there was not anyone else who could interpret it (1 Cor. 14:27-28). In such a case, Paul gave authoritative apostolic direction that the believer was not to exercise that gift in the church, but to do it privately between him and God (1 Cor. 14:28).
Paul taught that such privately exercising the genuine spiritual gift of tongues without anyone to interpret it was speaking that was done to himself and to God (1 Cor. 14:28) and still edified the individual believer himself (1 Cor. 14:4).
In a similar manner, a believer who sings the Psalms privately as best as he is able to determine for himself how he should sing them ministers that singing to himself and to God; there is no one else who hears that singing.
Sorry typo:
Acts 16:17, 18
yes :i worship my beloved Savior Jesus Christ by singing the psalms in both poetic and verse.We have few hymns of psalms as you
may know .Thanks for the articles that makes me reflect on Faith