How often do you sing? I don’t just mean at church on Sunday, but how much do you sing every day? Singing is a very human thing that is often relegated to being something that only “singers” do. Most people feel uncomfortable singing, especially in front of other people, and that’s understandable. But just because singing is a human thing doesn’t mean it’s not also a vulnerable thing. Singing in front of other people isn’t really the point of this article, but I do want to make a case for why you should sing more than you do, wherever that might be. Here are three reasons why you should sing more:
1. We’re Designed to Sing
The God who created music and who sings over his children created us in his musical likeness. (Gen. 1:26-27) Our heart and blood pressure beats to a rhythm, and our brain waves function just like audio frequency waves. Whether you are deep in thought or completely relaxed, your brain waves operate within audio frequencies. https://nhahealth.com/brainwaves-the-language/
Your heart rate is impacted by music beats per minute. That’s why if you’re at the gym trying to get your adrenaline going you listen to upbeat music. If you’re trying to relax and decompress you listen to slower, calmer music. It’s natural to do this because the rhythm of your heart actually syncs to the music that it hears.
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God designed people as musical and emotional beings. If you say you’re not musical, then you are saying you are not human. Not everyone is gifted in the same musical way, but we are all impacted greatly by music.
Singing reduces stress, anxiety, fear, and depression.
- Since we are musical beings, sometimes we fall out of tune. We get “off” and we can feel it. Music, particularly singing, can function as a tuning peg to adjust our emotional health.
- Stress, anxiety, fear, and depression are far too common these days. And there is a blurred line between the spiritual and chemical effects that our bodies are experiencing.
- When our bodies are stressed or anxious, they release a steroid hormone into the bloodstream called cortisol. Too much cortisol can lead to serious health problems.
- Studies have proven that singing releases endorphins and oxytocin into the bloodstream which actually reduces anxiety, depression, and stress. Even singers who might be facing more difficult, stressful situations were observed to have less stress levels than non-singers. https://www.londonsinginginstitute.co.uk/what-happens-when-we-sing/
Singing promotes joy and peace
- If we measured good health with a scale and good diet with a blood test, then we might measure mental health with a song. We were designed to be at peace and have joy, and singing is both an expression of and a recipe for joy.
- We intuitively know that singing is an expression of joy. When we are afraid or stressed, singing might be the last thing we do. But when we just received good news about a job promotion, we might be quick to hum or whistle a tune.
- Singing can also fuel our joy. This is true of anything that promotes good health. Take jogging, for example. You might go for a jog because you are in good shape, and you are in shape because you jog. Both are true.
- So while singing is a natural response of someone who is joyful, it is also a tool for eliciting joy.
- “Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.” Psalm 95:1
- Sometimes we may not feel joyful enough to sing, but because we desire to have joy, we should sing anyways.
- Since singing is part of your design, it is for your own health and well-being that you sing.
- “I will be glad and rejoice in you; I will sing the praises of your name, O Most High.” Psalm 9:2
2. We Have Reasons to Sing
Singing is one of the most natural responses of gratitude and praise. The first thing Moses and the Israelites did after crossing over the Red Sea was they sang a song to God. When we want to show honor to someone on their birthday and express how much that person means to us, we sing them a song. When the home team is winning at a soccer game, the crowd will break out into song. Singing is one of the highest expressions of gratitude and praise.
In Isaiah 6, when Isaiah saw a vision of the Lord, he watched as the seraphim angels sang a song of worship to God. Then, after the angel cleanses Isaiah of his uncleanliness, he joined in the song with them.
When we think of reasons to sing to God, we are simultaneously thinking of reasons to praise him with gratitude. We could list a thousand reasons to sing (or ten thousand if you’re Matt Redman). But for this article, I will just list three main reasons:
He has done marvelous things
“Sing to the Lord a new song, for he has done marvelous things; his right hand and his holy arm have worked salvation for him.” Psalm 98:1
- When we consider the works of God’s hands in creation, when we look at the sun, moon, and stars… it stirs a song within us. Sometimes we don’t know how to formulate a song, so we settle for sharing. For example, we might say, “come here and look at this sunset,” or “did you taste this food? You have to try it.”
- Every time I see a beautiful work of God’s creation, the song “How Great Thou Art” comes to mind. I want to sing because the beauty and grandeur of God’s works is one of the greatest calls to worship. It draws a song out of me, and it always will.
- When I think of the answers to prayer and the good things God has given me in my life, I am moved to sing.
He has redeemed us
“Sing for joy, you heavens, for the Lord has done this; shout aloud, you earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the Lord has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.” Isaiah 44:23
- There is a greater song than even the song of creation and God’s works. There is a song which God’s creation sings along, it’s the song of redemption.
- If you’ve ever seen a video of soldier coming home to his family, or of a child putting on glasses and seeing his mom for the first time, it’s an amazing sight. Those videos can move us to tears, but can you imagine being there when Jesus raised Jairus’s daughter or Lazerus from the dead? How could anyone refrain from bursting into song?
- And to think, for all believers, this is our song: “Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me, I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see.”
He has given us hope
“As for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more.” Psalm 71:14
- The promise of God’s kingdom is the hope of all sad things coming untrue one day. Every wrong will be made right and every injustice will be made just.
- If you are going through a trial, you may not feel like singing a song. But when we remember that God will deliver us from our trials, we have a song of hope that we can sing.
- Sometimes, we forget to lift our head and look to our hope. It’s like sitting in school as a child knowing that even though we have to endure another hour of class, we get to do something fun after it’s over. When we remember what is on the other side of our circumstance, we have hope. And when we have hope, we have a reason to sing.
3. We’re Commanded to Sing
Maybe the only reason we need as followers of Jesus is the simple fact that we are commanded to sing. Singing is mentioned over 400 times in the Bible, and at least 50 of those mentions are commands. Of all the commands to sing, most of them would fall somewhere into one of these three categories:
We are commanded to sing for joy
“Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones;Praise is becoming to the upright.” Psalm 33:1
- The most repeated command in all of Scripture is that we “fear not.” And the second most repeated command is some variation of “rejoice, be glad, and sing.” I think these two commands are more closely related than might realize. And I don’t just mean that we should sing because we don’t have fear… I think that we should sing as a way to proactively combat fear with joy.
- Singing is not just an overflow of joy, it is also a weapon we wield to fight for it. If rejoicing and singing are commands, then that means they are not passive suggestions for what to do when it seems right. These commands are not contingent upon our circumstances or feelings.
- Sometimes we can get tunnel vision when we are in unpleasant or unfortunate circumstance. When this happens, the last thing we want to do is sing, but what if were the first thing we did? Singing would remind us that Jesus is greater than our circumstances, and that brings peace and joy.
- When Paul and Silas sang in jail (Acts 16), they mocked fear with a song of joy. They could have worried about how they were going to get out, but instead they sang a song. Fear can silence us, but a song of joy can silence fear.
We are commanded to give thanks through singing
“Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre;Sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings.” Psalm 33:2
- As stated above, we have countless reasons to be thankful and just as many reasons to sing. But God does not desire an empty melody (Matthew 15:8). What he desires is a heart full of gratitude that comes out in a song.
- In Luke 1:46-55, God chose Mary to be the mother of Jesus because of her humility. Her response to this message was a beautiful song of gratitude: “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has looked on the humble estate of his servant.”
- When we are truly grateful, we won’t be able to hold back from singing.
We are commanded to sing a new song
“Sing to Him a new song; Play skillfully with a shout of joy.” Psalm 33:3
- I love the old hymns. Well, a lot of them. I grew up singing them week after week, and I think it’s important to sing old songs that remind us of God’s faithfulness in the past. The song of Moses was a song that was sung by the church for a long time after they had been delivered from Egypt.
- But on the other hand, God gives us brand new reasons to praise him every single day. His mercies are new every morning. And with every new reason to praises him, he is worthy of new songs.
- I don’t think this means we should never sing old songs, but we do need new expressions of praise regularly.
- As we learn more and more about the character of God, our vocabulary for praise increases. And our expressions of praise should never grow stale.