Why Musical Worship?

I've been involved in worship ministry for 28 years. Just writing that makes me sound really old! HAHA! 

I've been asked many times questions like, "Why do we sing songs for so long on Sundays?" or, "Why does God care if I sing or dance? I can't do either of those things!" or, "Why does worship involve music?" There are many verses in the Bible that say things like, "I will sing praise to Your name (Psalm 9)," and, "Sing to Him a new song (Psalm 33)," and, "Speaking to each other with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19)" or, "I will declare Your name to my brothers and sisters; in the assembly I will sing Your praises (Hebrews 2:12)."  

Why does God command or ask us to sing to Him? Imagine if we did that all the time to every person we met...one lifelong musical!! It's socially funny and weird, but God wants us to give Him musical worship. I can think of two answers to this question...He's God so maybe there are way more answers than this, or maybe more sophisticated answers! 

The first is that music-singing and dancing- scientifically uses every part of our being. It requires use of our physical body-vocal cords, arms, legs, etc. It requires use of our mental capacity - to follow and create rhythm, pitch and lyrics. It requires use of our emotions. Music must be felt and moved by emotion. Because of this, singing and dancing in worship is a practical way to practice the Greatest Commandment...to love the Lord your God with all your soul, mind, heart and strength because music needs every part of us to be produced. 

The second answer to the question of "why musical worship" is simply this: God likes it. The Bible is a text filled with the love language of God. There are elements in God that we don't need to fully
understand to obey that boil down to He just likes it. When you love someone, there is joy in seeking out and getting to fulfill the desires that your loved one has. One of my love languages is gifts - receiving and giving. I love Christmas and birthdays, any chance to think about another person and give them something. I love surprising my girls. The gifts, though, that have had the greatest response of joy and excitement are usually not the gifts that I've picked out that my girls would love. They're usually a gift that they themselves have expressed they wanted - a hover board, a bouncy house (that's a story in of itself!), the American Girl doll - Oh! The joy and squeals and tears and thankfulness and hugs that came when they opened these gifts. I love my girls. Because I love them, I want to give them something that meets a desire of their heart. I don't need to understand the desire to meet the desire. 

Musical worship meets a desire of God's heart. It's not the only form of worship. But it's expressed enough in Scripture that it deserves attention. The primary goal of worship is to find out what God loves and fulfill that...meet that desire. God doesn't need anything. He is all sufficient within His being. But He has desires. And those desires center around relationship with His kids, us. Our great privilege is to seek out the desires of God, through His word, through prayer, and then to sacrifice a praise to give Him that. This was the defining factor between Cain and Abel in Genesis. Both brothers brought God their best. Why was Abel's offering accepted and Cain's rejected? Abel met God with what God desired. He listened to God and took to heart what God wanted. His offering was accepted by God. Cain, though He brought the best of his grain and harvest to God, did not listen or pay attention to the desires of God. He just brought...an offering. It was merely a transaction - I'll bring this to You so that You'll do something for me. That's not what worship is about! It's not about manipulating God into a response. Worship is complete other-mindedness. It has nothing to do with you. It has everything to do with Him, the object of our affection. It is wise to find out what the object of our affection loves! 

So, whether you're a virtuoso on the piano, a professional singer, or a secret-in-the-shower-only singer, bring Him a musical offering. Practice finding out what He loves and give it to Him. Hunt ferociously through Scripture to catch the whispers of His love language...and start to sing.