I Like to Sing, Why Can't I?

   Our Bible study leader this morning taught from a few verses in Revelation 16, where the verses speak of the wrath of God poured out on the earth:

"Then I heard a loud voice from the temple, saying to the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.”

   But this is not a blog about wrath, even though it is an attribute of God's character, along with mercy, grace, love and justice, this is about music, and we got to it in that session like this.
 
   There is evidently a controversy going on in the Presbyterian Church USA, concerning a new hymn that is not to be included in the new hymnal, because of the mention of this wrath. The hymn written by Keith Getty and Stuart Townend contains the verse:

In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fulness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.

   If anyone wants to listen to it sung by Keith Getty's wife, Kristen, here it is:

http://www.gettymusic.com/hymns-inchristalone.aspx

   But I don't want to get into that debate, suffice to say that I love the hymn and think the words are accurate to Scripture, as I thought about hymns and music in general inside the church's worship, a different group of thoughts ran through my mind, brought on by a quote in a newspaper article:

Hawn said what one person thinks is a great hymn might be seen as less than desirable by another. He said a good hymn must be well written, well chosen for the occasion and well sung.

“Take away any of those and it’s not a good hymn,” he said. The song might have beautiful music and lyrics but “If a congregation can’t sing it, it’s not a good hymn.”

Hawn said the health of a congregation can be seen in its music.

“I’m not talking about if they sing beautifully ... but when one walks into a congregation for worship and people participate and sing, you tend to come to the conclusion there is some vitality here,” he said. “It’s about people feeling like they really have a voice.”

   So many of the songs that are used in our current day church are new, and, while they may have a lot of Scripture, and be theologically correct, I don't know them and can't sing them. For me, part of worship is singing in unison with the congregation, but to do that, I need to know the song. Just listening to the praise team sing it, no matter how they do it, seems to make it more of a performance and less of a congregational part of worship.

   I like to "make a joyful noise", and I confess that I do not sing well, but I also like to hear the voices of people singing around me. I don't like to stand, not participating in the music, watching others around me doing the same, and just listening to the stage. It may be a generational thing, but I don't just want to be led in worship, I want to actually do it.

   Music has so much power. There is power in listening to a song or hymn, but, for me, there is more in being able to sing it in conjunction with others and feel the commonality of purpose in worship and praise.

   I know there is so much of personal preference contained in any discussion of music, and I definitely have mine. Just so you know.