It’s not Worship, it’s Karaoke

 

What in the world am I about to delve into with a title like that, you may ask?

Well, I came across a quote this week that piqued my interest and got the little cogs in my mind turning musical cartwheels.

I have taken the liberty of adding to it just a little to make it read what I think it should say.

“If you know the lyrics, but don’t know the Lord, if you are not sincere in meaning what you are singing about, then it’s not worship. It’s karaoke!”

Quite a few years ago, I did a series of blog posts on the subject of praise in song. I remember digging into verses in the Bible that spoke of the importance of praise and using our voices to glorify God. I was amazed at the multitude of scripture on this topic and was so excited that something I was so passionate about was in the Bible in such vast amounts that I would never be able to reach its depths.

As a musician, I love the time of worship in song in our church services, and I love to play and sing about the Saviour and glorify him through music. When I am singing the words to a good, sound, and worshipful hymn or chorus, and I am able to focus on the words of the song and sing them as unto the Lord, it does my heart so much good.

Before I go any further, I want to give you a simple definition of worship that I once heard. 

"Worship is all that I am, responding to all that God is"

We know that music has power. Power to heal and power to harm. There is no such thing as neutral music. All music stirs some sort of emotion whether instrumental or lyrical.

Saul used the power of music, through David’s harp playing, to calm his troubled soul in 1 Samuel 16:23.

Moses and Miriam sang a song of praise to the Lord after the crossing of the Red Sea, complete with timbrels and dance, and it stirred praise in the hearts of the hearers. (Exodus 15)

After the building of Solomon’s temple, we read of an epic praise and worship service by God’s people in response to God’s providence, with singing, and cymbals and harps and one hundred and twenty trumpets!  (2 Chronicles 5:11-14)

The book of Psalms is a song book treasure trove, housing the largest collection of songs in the Bible, giving us a glimpse into the life of David, primarily, his ups and downs and his devoted worship of God.

I think you’re getting the picture. Worship through music in the Bible held a crucial role in the lives of early believers and it should still be important to us today.

Now, don’t get me wrong, the preaching of the Word of God is of utmost importance and too many churches today are losing sight of this with their elaborate so-called ‘worship’ services and emphasis on music.

We know that music often has a greater effect than the spoken word in expressing the moods and feelings of the soul, but there is definitely a need for discernment as not all music is glorifying to God and the preaching of God’s Word needs to be the central focus.

To go back to our quote, if you know all the words to a song, if you know the melody, and even find yourself tapping along with your foot, if you enjoy the good ‘feeling’ it gives you, and yet you know nothing of God’s character, his love, his mercy, his grace and you are singing by ‘rote’ not meaning the words coming from your lips, then you are not worshipping. You are singing Christian Karaoke.

There is so much to be said on this topic and as much as I would love to go on and on about it, I mainly want to stress the importance of our sincerity in our worship.

We don’t praise God just to stroke his ego. Our praise of him is commanded many times in scripture, yes, but it is not the only reason we sing.

God knows that our praise of him also benefits us. In praising him through Godly, doctrine-filled hymns and choruses, we get to know him better. We learn more of his character. We gain a better perspective of our lives and the things we face and how small our trials really are in comparison to his greatness.

But not only that, we are told something interesting in the book of Colossians.

Colossians 3:16 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.

 

Did you know that in our songs, we can actually teach and exhort and warn and help each other? Many a sermon has been preached through the lyrics of a song.

Music is not only for enjoyment, it’s not only for praising God, although that should be the main goal, it is also for edification. We can impart instruction, instil doctrine, explain or expound on something and warn and exhort, all in the words of a song.

The message of the song is so much more important than how well we can sing.

I like how the commentator Matthew Henry puts it:

“When we sing psalms, we make no melody unless we sing with grace in our hearts, unless we are suitably affected with what we sing and go along in it with true devotion and understanding. Singing of psalms is a teaching ordinance as well as a praising ordinance; and we are not only to quicken and encourage ourselves, but to teach and admonish one another, mutually excite our affections, and convey instructions.”

 

All too often, we are guilty of not really listening to the words that we’re singing. We sing of God’s goodness, his power, his love and yet we sing them like we’re reading a boring lesson on physics or something.

A word of warning, if you attend our church and I’m up the front playing, and you see me looking around, one of the reasons is because I like to see the faces of the people singing and get a little glimpse into where they’re at and whether or not they are singing with sincerity and a heart of praise. I can’t see down into someone’s soul, but I can read a lot on people’s faces as they mouth the words of praise, whilst trying to hide a distracted, grumpy or apathetic attitude.

I think, if we’re honest, we’ve all been guilty of singing without sincerity. We follow the words on the screen or in our hymnbooks, letting them flow out our lips, maybe even harmonising and yet we do not mean what we sing.

Let me give you an example.

Search me, O God, and know my heart today,

Try me, O Savior, know my thoughts, I pray;

See if there be some wicked way in me;

Cleanse me from every sin, and set me free.

 

Do we really want God to search us and cleanse us?

Or how about this one?

Have thine own way, Lord!
Have thine own way!
Thou art the potter,
I am the clay.
Mold me and make me
after thy will,
while I am waiting,
yielded and still.

Do we really want God to have his way in our lives? Do we want him to mold us?

You get where I’m going with this, right?

But while I’m on one of my hobby horses, I need to mention one more that really gets me going.

O Lord my God, When I in awesome wonder,
Consider all the worlds Thy Hands have made;
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy power throughout the universe displayed.

Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art.
Then sings my soul, My Saviour God, to Thee,
How great Thou art, How great Thou art!

When I see Christians singing this song with a long face or a face void of any sort of emotion, I am astounded! How can you sing these amazing words of praise, that come across as a prayer to God, how can you sing them without a sense of wonder and awe and an immense feeling of gratitude to God for all he has done for you?

Many of our songs can be sung as a prayer to God. They are thoughtful, meditative and sober. But we sing them as robots, knowing the words by heart, following the melody up and down and yet we remain unmoved.

The purpose of our praise and worship to God, through music, is to glorify him. Spiritual music gives voice to our joy and adoration unlike anything else. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit, then Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs are the natural expression of our hearts, and we can’t help but sing unto the Lord.

It doesn’t even matter if you can’t hold a tune in a bucket, God sees your heart of sincerity and he calls you to make a joyful noise to him. (Psalm 100)

Music holds great power and as a musician, I know all too well how it can be used to sway emotions and stir people. There is a fine line between using music to help set the right atmosphere in a church setting and using it to move people to make emotional based decisions.

Music and our worship services are not about how they make us feel. They are about how they make God feel. If we let our focus be on singing in sincere praise and adoration of God, our song will be pleasing to him.

We are told in Ephesians to sing and make melody to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19) A song that arises from someone whose heart is overflowing with praise and adoration of God, is a blessing to God and it is sweet music to his ears.

If you focus on God’s goodness to you as a poor, wretched sinner, undeserving of God’s grace, but justified and on your way to heaven, then praise should flow out of you almost involuntarily.

Praise should continually be in your mouth. (Psalm 34:1)

So, can I encourage you to let your singing be acceptable, be favourable, be desirable to God. Let it be done with a heart of sincerity and gratitude.

As the Psalmist puts it, “Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O LORD, my strength, and my redeemer.” Psalm 19:14

Don’t be guilty of knowing the lyrics but not knowing God.

If you can’t sing with genuine, heartfelt, honest praise to God, then don’t sing!

Don’t let words of praise come across your lips if you don’t mean them!

And if you do mean them and you truly are grateful for God’s goodness, if you really do want him to search your heart and have his own way, then sing out! Let your praise overflow. You have reason to sing. Let it be evident!

 

Psalms 28:7

 The LORD is my strength and my shield;

my heart trusted in him, and I am helped:

therefore my heart greatly rejoiceth; and with my song will I praise him.

 

Psalm 96:1-3 KJV - O sing unto the LORD a new song: sing unto the LORD, all the earth. Sing unto the LORD, bless his name; shew forth his salvation from day to day. Declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people.

 

Psalm 33:3 KJV - Sing unto him a new song; play skilfully with a loud noise.