Ephesians 5:19

addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart,

If we are singing His praises from our heart, does it really matter what we sing and how we sound?

Here is my confession. We were at a marriage seminar and they opened with hymns that were well known to all of us. A young lady behind us squawked like a goose loudly. I leaned over to my wife and whispered “She couldn’t carry a tune in a suit case.” My wife politely shushed me and said, “She is signing with all her heart, you should be ashamed.” And I was.

Over the years I have heard so many negative comments about worship songs it gives me pause as to what is wrong with worship if it is dependent on having a pleasant sounding group playing the style of music that is acceptable to everyone. “They never play my old favorites.” “I can’t believe they allowed horns in the band.” “That sounds so secular, it might as well be rock and roll.”

Yes, I have heard those comments and more and after a time it seems to me that some will only worship with others if they get it their way. Fine, let me quote one line of scripture in answer to that.

1 Corinthians 13:5

or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;

I am sure we all recognize the love chapter and how love acts. The issue of being insistent in getting one’s own way is a broader concept than just worship music but in this case it applies.

Sadly I have been witness to the issue of insistence causing breaks in fellowship where division occurs within a church that is unnecessary. It isn’t a competition.

That is not to insist that gospel competitions are wrong either. That’s just being insistent on another level. There is no score sheet to gauge the heart of worship.

As my wife said to me, “God probably loves her voice more than yours.”

Daniel 9:24

The Seventy Weeks

“Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place.

Matthew 18:22

And Jesus said unto him, “I say not unto thee, until seven times, but until seventy times seven.

A refrain is a group of lyrics that are repeated in a song. Sometimes it is also referred to as a chorus. In the bible forgiveness and love are repeated 694 times but no musical refrain warms my heart nearly as much as the opening refrain.

Jesus by His proclamation of forgiveness being repeated (refrain) seventy times seven is literally saying, “I am He who Daniel prophesied would come to put an end to sin.” That is my quote, not one from another source.

I have researched theological sources on the meaning of The Seventy Weeks and those scholars twist themselves in knots trying to explain the meaning in terms of calendar events that match up to specific lines of scripture surrounding Daniel’s prophecy. All I have to do is look to my heart to hear that sweet refrain that calms my soul.

The world seeks to argue and debunk whereas faith provides insights that no argument can erase. Sure sin still exists but it is no longer a barrier in having a relationship with God. The atoning sacrifice of the Lamb of God put an end to sin as the obstacle in law.

We can look up all the passages concerning love and forgiveness and overwhelm ourselves with all that is said, or we can see that the cumulative effect is the life in Christ obtained by faith in that atoning work.

Yes, sing His praises but do it from a heart of love and not some notes on a musical score.