When we gathered last week, we talked about the WHY of our worship. We talked about how we worship because of who God is. We talked about how God is the divine creator of everything, how we have life because of him, and how he knows us intimately, genuinely cares for us, and goes out of his way to provide a way for us to be saved.

Today we will talk about one of the ways we worship, singing.

ASK: Why do people sing in general?

Music is a natural expression of mankind. Even if you “can’t sing’ it’s natural for us to hum, drum, tap our feet to a song, and various other musical expressions. For Christians, singing becomes more than an activity we just do. It has purpose

In Colossians, Paul teaches what it means to be new in Christ. He instructs them to throw off old sinful things and to walk in the things of God. He tells them to walk in love, the peace of Christ, and with thankfulness. He then gives 3 primary things we as a community should do together.

READ: Colossians 3:16

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Here, we are told that corporately, we need to be intentional about teaching each other how to walk in Christ, encourage each other to walk in Christ, and then be intentional about singing psalms, hymns, and Spiritual songs.

Psalms are songs found in the book of Psalms. They are divinely given and cover a wide range of topics. Hymns are man-made songs that give praise, honor, or thanksgiving to God. They aren’t divinely given but often include scriptures and have many doctrinal teachings. Spiritual songs tend to be personal expressions that may not directly praise God, but they do express the joy of salvation, reveal God’s grace, encourage the body, and teach doctrine.

With each of these, the singer is expressing something inside of themselves.  In the scriptures, we see that the expression being presented varies. We are going to do a type of exercise. We are going to break up into groups, and I’m going to give you passage. You and your partners will read through the passage and try to figure out what is being expressed through the songs.

Songs of Victory – Exodus 15:1-18 – This was a song that the people of Israel sang together after the Lord made a way to escape through the red sea and then how he stopped the Egyptians. Notice how, even though it’s a corporate song, singers are meant to sing it personally with statements like “I will sing to the Lord…”

Prophetic Songs—Psalm 110—This is a song of David. It is a prophetic song that points to Jesus. It describes how the Messiah (who is Jesus) would fill the role of the priest, how he would destroy the wicked, and how he would reign on earth.

Songs of Lamenting – Psalm 12 – Here, David sings a song of lamenting or sadness. In this Psalm, he’s calling out to God because his heart is broken about the state of the people. He’s upset about man’s wickedness. God’s not afraid of our emotions. It’s ok to express sadness and grief to the Lord in song.

Songs of Praise—Luke 1:46–55— Here, Mary, the mother of Jesus, is giving praise. She sings this after she visits Elizabeth while pregnant with Jesus. She is filled with joy and praises the Lord.   

Let’s go back to our verse in Colossians, though, and pay close attention to the final words…

REREAD COLOSSIANS 3:16

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

With all of these types of songs, we have a level of thankfulness while we sing. It’s easy to be thankful when you’re singing songs of praise or victory, and even prophetic songs can be very easy to be thankful for because they are about what the Lord will do. But Songs of Lament… Notice the songs of lament that David writes. Though he is heartbroken in his songs, there’s always hope because he knows that God draws near to those who are heartbroken. In fact, he sings about it in Psalm 34:18 when he says, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.”

When we sing in church, our different songs call for different expressions. Yes, many are songs of humble praise, but many are songs that are shouts of victory, and when we sing them, we express thanks for the victories he’s given us, primarily over sin. Some of our songs are prophetic, and when we sing them, we are, in a way, praying into things that have yet to happen, primarily the second coming of Christ or a call for revival. We even have some songs that are songs of lament, though not common in a corporate place. It’s a time to express our grief and our sadness while also leaning into the hope of Jesus.

So now we know why we sing and what we are singing, but what keeps people from engaging in worship? Most of the time, it’s feeling uncomfortable and unsure. In worship, we have to learn to ignore those things and put our focus on the Lord and ask ourselves, what pleases the Lord? We have to be willing to be vulnerable and do what He wants.

To end the gathering, I did something that made me very uncomfortable. I’m very uncomfortable with playing the guitar and singing, but in order to be example of being willing to do something uncomfortable, I pulled out my old guitar and led the students in a song.

Parent Question

What’s one worship song that has meant a lot to you recently? Why do you think that is?
(Encourage your students to dig deep, connect personally with the worship music we sing, and reflect on why a particular song resonates with them.)

How can you use music to worship God outside of church, like at home or during your week?

Is there an area of your life where you need to express thankfulness, victory, or even sadness to God through song? How can I support you in that?

Would you like to spend some time together this week listening to or singing worship songs as a family?