It’s unfortunate that there is not much of an emphasis on music in Christian education these days. Music should be a huge part of the lives of the people of God. For, music is the means of praise in Lord’s day worship. 1 Chronicles 25 shows how vital music is in the worshipping of God. It would something if the singing of the congregation could be accompanied by an orchestra, allowing the musicians to “sing” along with the rest of the congregation with their instruments.
It would be great if Christian schools could offer band or orchestra to get the church to this point. But those kinds of programs are typically too expensive for most small schools. But one thing that any school could do affordably is to teach singing. More specifically, singing the Psalms. Why? I’ll give you four reasons.
First, God has given us the Psalms to train us in righteousness, prayer, and adoration. So, when we learn, pray, and sing the Psalms, we are laying down a firm foundation for a rich and abundant life in our walk with the Lord.
Second, the Psalms teach us that wisdom and sanctification comes by meditating on Scripture. Psalm 1:2 instructs us to meditate on God’s law day and night. In Deuteronomy 6:7, God commands us to talk about the contents of Scripture with our families when we sit in our houses, when we walk by the way, when we lie down, and when we rise up. But let’s face it. It’s difficult to meditate on Scripture in all of these moments of life if we don’t have at least some of it memorized. Singing Psalms and other passages of the bible helps us to memorize and give us many sections of Scripture to meditate on during the day.
Third, God tells us to meditate upon the Psalms and to talk about them with other believers. Paul told the Ephesians to“Speak to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:19). This verse isn’t explicitly saying that we should sing Psalms in the worship service, but I think it hints at it pretty strongly, and it doesn’t leave out singing hymns also.
Fourth, singing the Psalms will improve our worship in ways we have never thought of. In the time of the Reformation, theologians, pastors, and laymen wrote many wonderful hymns. These hymns were written by men who were immersed in the Psalms. Their hymns show us their deep grasp of the nature of God and man. There is a stark contrast between the hymns of their day and the hymns of ours. When we examine that contrast, it becomes clear that as the Psalms fall out of favor with the church, the hymns deteriorate in quality and potency.
Which Psalms should we learn and teach to our children? All of them. Even the weird ones. For if we sing only the ones we like, we will deprive ourselves from the opportunity to grow and increase our love for the truth of God. Remember, all Scripture is inspired by God and is profitable.
The Pastors and elders of Christ Church are working diligently in teaching God’s Word to the households through song. But the church as an institution cannot do this by itself. We sing hymns and Psalms at Christ Church Academy every day in our chapel services but even we can’t do this with the consistency needed for thorough memorization. Therefore, individual families must do the heavy lifting in teaching kids the Psalms. If any husbands and dads, or single moms, want specifics on getting started with this in their own family, please send me an email at scott@wearechristchurch.com. I’ll be glad to help you get started.
