I took my song leader's reply as an encouragement. It meant
that not only do songs affect me, but that other people notice that effect. There
is something special about music; it should impact the heart and cause a noticeable
response. That does not have to be tears; it might be a smile, a joyful face, a
thoughtful gaze, a deepening faith, a pointed encouragement, or some other
tangible reaction. Without any response or appreciated value in singing, a
church's song service is basically a waste of time.
I was not always so sensitive. As a child, I enjoyed hymns with
catchy melodies. When requesting favorites in church, I chose the longest hymns
because I wanted my choice to last a long time. As I got into college, there
were a few special hymns that were meaningful to me because of their words and
their challenge to my heart. I began to enjoy singing more, recognizing the joyful
aspect of it.
I can't say specifically what caused me to become more aware
in song services and more conscious of the message of the hymns. I don't recall
any particular catalyst. I suppose it was just growing maturity. As my heart
grew closer to God, it was more ready to sing to Him and about Him. I'm still
not perfectly consistent at this, but I began to purposefully think about the
words as I sang. I worked to eliminate the mindless parroting of words and to
focus on what the songs were saying. I began to see the song service as an
important part of church, valuing the songs for their message.
Singing is an important part of corporate worship. It allows
a congregation to unify in its affirmation of truth. It challenges members to
adjust their thoughts as they prepare for the message. It gives believers the
words to say to express the longings of their heart and to proclaim their
aspirations and commitments. Very often Sunday's songs continue in the heart
throughout the week, reinforcing truth and convictions.
Good hymns have power to positively impact a believer's
heart, both in and out of church. Because of the melody, rhyme, meter, and
repetition, hymns are easier to remember than other expressions of biblical
truth. This "remember-ability" makes them wonderful tools in the life
of the believer - reminding him of truth about God, calling his heart to
worship and submission, providing encouragement, and allowing him to talk to
God.
Over the years I've had a few ideas for incorporating hymns
into my daily life and therefore profiting from them on a more consistent
basis. The most obvious and simple way is to listen to recorded music. There is
a lot of good music available that can fill most of the day if someone chooses
to do - listening at home, in the car, maybe even at work. Although the mind
can easily wander due to the activities of life and the music can become
background noise, even some reminders are better than none.
Something that requires a little more effort is deliberate
memorization of hymns. This is a wonderful tool, enabling a believer to sing at
any time, not just when he has a hymnbook in front of him. Christians who have
been in church for any length of time often have many hymns memorized just from
repeated singing at church. This memorization is often incomplete, however. It
may be limited to the first stanza or maybe just the chorus. Song leaders often
joke about the neglected third stanza, and Christians are probably not as
familiar with the middle stanzas of hymns, even though they also contain great
truth. The good news is that memorization isn't too difficult, due to the factors
of music that are listed above, as well as the fact that partial memorization
already exists.
One personal frustration with recorded music is that often a
particular CD includes many songs that I know, maybe even several favorites,
but also songs that I'm not as familiar with. It can be difficult to find
recordings with a completely satisfying mix of songs. To address this issue, I
have made several CDs of my own. I chose the songs and the stanzas I wanted,
and then I sang and recorded them, using my computer to burn them onto CDs. I'm
not a great singer, and I'm not super tech-savvy, but I was able to figure out
how to do it. Now I have CDs of just the songs I want to hear, and since no one
else will hear them, it doesn't matter that the quality isn't that great. They
are just right for me to sing along with and tailor-made to remind me of pertinent
truths.
Finally, I have taught myself to play the piano - not to
master it, but just enough to plunk out a simple melody. It really didn't take
that long, and it has allowed me to enjoy extended seasons of playing hymn
after hymn, allowing them to minister to my heart. A simple keyboard is not
very expensive, and as long as the expectation is that of rudimentary piano
skills, this is a great way to direct the heart through music.
Two great aspects of each of these methods, whether
memorization, creating CDs, or playing the piano, is that one does not need to
be a great musician to carry them out, and he can choose the songs most
appropriate to him. He can concentrate on specific areas in which he needs to
be challenged, he can collect songs that are specially designed to bring
encouragement, or he can choose songs that will purposefully help him to
concentrate on truth about God. The more a believer pursues these types of
activities, the more he will find hymns to be meaningful in his life. What a blessing it is to have songs to sing
in the darkest of nights, when waking up in the morning, and while going
through the routine of life! Some days are far from perfect, but I am
encouraged by how often appropriate hymns come to me, keeping my mind fixed on
God and my heart tender toward Him.
"Let the word of
Christ richly dwell within you, with all wisdom teaching and admonishing one
another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with thankfulness in
your hearts to God." Colossians 3:16 (NASB)
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