TITLE: B Joyful                   TEXT: Ephesians 5:18-19

  A woman brought her daughter a really nice Baby Grand Piano for her birthday.

 A few weeks later, she was asked how her daughter was doing.
  “Oh,” she said, “I persuaded her to switch to a clarinet.”
  “How come?” asked the friend.
  “Well,” – she paused - “with a clarinet, she can’t sing.”

APPLY: Now, I know that when it comes to the issue of singing in worship…

… there are usually two kinds of people.

There are people who just love to sing and they’ll sing all day long in worship (like I do)

And then there are others that don’t want to sing at all

(if came right down to it – they’d rather play the clarinet)

When we get to Scripture, we find that God commands His people to sing and make music

Here in Ephesians 5 we find that one of the ways we prepare our heart for the Spirit of God is

Speak to one another with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. Sing and make music in your heart to the Lord, Eph 5:19

God has always wanted His people to sing. Ps 32:11 declares:

 Rejoice in the LORD and be glad, you righteous; sing, all you who are upright in heart!

Psalm 105:1-4 proclaims:

  Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name; make known among the nations what he has done. Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts. Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice. Look to the LORD and his strength; seek his face always.

And Psalm 149:1-5 commands us:

  Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints.

  Let Israel rejoice in their Maker; let the people of Zion be glad in their King.

  Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.

  For the LORD takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.

  Let the saints rejoice in this honor and sing for joy on their beds.

Now why should we sing?

Well just from those three passages out of the Psalms we find that..

… God’s people sing because we are filled with joy and gladness

            We sing for joy

            We sing His praises

            We sing to rejoice in the blessings God has given us

We sing, we sing, we sing we sing.

            And we sing because we serve a God who gives makes us joyful.

One of the most famous singers in Scripture was a shepherd boy named David

      He grew up to be the King of Israel and is celebrated as the “Man After God’s Own Heart”

            He could sing, and he could play a harp

            And all of his music glorified God and rejoiced in His blessings.

David was a man after God’s own heart.

And he cemented his relationship to God through his singing and playing music

                        Singing was the way David declared his joy in God.

                        He sang because he had a song.

Leadership, Vol. 3 no. 1

ILLUS:  Donald Hustead once wrote: “Somehow about 40% of churchgoers seem to have picked up the idea that ‘singing in church is for singers.’

  The truth is that ‘singing is for believers.’

 The relevant question is not, ‘Do you have a voice?’ but “Do you have a song?’”

David sang because he had a song… and so should we… and so:

God never says – IF you can sing, sing

God says – SING = sing your joy.

One person once put it this way:

Be more like a child today, for children sing whether they sound good or not."

 Or as one little 3 year old girl sang: “I love you Lord and I life my NOISE”

God loves it when we sing to Him…

…because when we sing… we’re praising Him for how much joy He’s given us.

But there’s another reason why should we sing

Music transforms us

Singing isn’t just a declaration of our joy… it has the power to MAKE us joyful.

ILLUS: Back in 1998, researchers found that music stimulates the auditory nerves…

…and creates brain messages that ripple through the body, influencing muscle tone…

…equilibrium and joint flexibility. 

  The human heartbeat is especially attuned to sound – as music changes in tempo and volume, it acts as a natural pacemaker.  Our breathing slows down or speeds up along with the music.

  A study at Michigan State University found that just 15 minutes of listening to music…

… increases levels of immune chemicals that are vital to protect us against disease. 

Release of cortisol (the “stress hormone”) dropped by up to 25%.

  In addtion, they found that music has a direct effect on the function of the brain. 

It can slow down and equalize brain waves to create a meditative state…

   … or it can energize brain waves, quickening the thinking process & enhancing creativity

Don Campbell, founder of Institute for Music, Health and Education - Bottom Line –Tomorrow Sept 1998 p. 9

ILLUS: Then in 2001, scientists were amazed to find that music is able to help heal the body.

• Burn victims, encouraged to sing while having their dressing changed, experienced less pain.
• Cancer patients who listened to - and practiced with - musical instruments, saw their levels of stress hormones drop and their immune systems get stronger.

Professor Richard Fratianne observed:

 "By helping patients relax, music eases pain and may even speed recovery," Peter Jaret R.Digest 9/01

So, just on a physical level, music has the power to sooth the savage beast of our lives.

But on a spiritual level songs can do even more than that for us…

            … because Christian music has words… and those words focus on God’s power and love

That’s one of the reasons that Paul tells the church at Ephesus

SPEAK TO ONE ANOTHER with psalms, hymns and spiritual songs… Eph 5:19

            Focus on the words of those songs

            Because the words we sing on Sunday morning lift us up… they don’t drag us down

If you listen to the popular music of our day…

… you’ll find a vast number of songs that communicate:

            Hopelessness

            Immorality

            Anger and rage

            Selfishness and self-centeredness

ILLUS: The University of Pittsburgh did a study a couple of years ago…

… where they examined 279 of the top songs on the radio in 2005.

They ONLY looked at references to drugs and alcohol…

            … but what they found is instructive.

Gangster rapsters – spoke favorably of these items in 80% of their songs

Country music had 37% of its music praising the wonders of alcohol.

Rhythm and Blues followed with 20%

Rock had 14% of its songs praising drugs and alcohol

And Pop music had 7%

And that’s just the references in popular music praising drugs and alcohol.

  Those scholars didn’t examine the songs that told of sexual immorality, vengeance and greed

                        And they didn’t consider the vast # of songs = filled with hopelessness & despair.

            Many of the songs that are popular on radio don’t lift people up…

                        … they drag them down & encourage lifestyles & attitudes that rob people of joy

But psalms, hymns & spiritual songs tell us about a God that loves us & cares what happens to us

ILLUS: Back when I was in Bible College I remember a time when I struggled w/ feelings of despair

                        It was kind of a hard to control this emotion of sadness and gloom

            But then one day I started singing a song that I began to think of as “my song”

I could sing it real slow and mournful and it would make me feel better

”This World is Not My Home… I’m just a passing thru…”

And when I’d have days when I was feeling happy and cheerful… I’d sing it a little peppier…

            … and I’d feel even better.

PSALMS, Hymns and Spiritual Songs have the power to transform us…

            … the power to give us joy in a world that is often difficult and harsh.

In fact, they have even more power than that.

In Acts 16 we’re told of the time Paul and Silas were arrested for preaching the Gospel.

            They were beaten, chained & locked in a jail cell where their feet were fastened in stocks.

            And HOW do they respond to this?

            How do Paul and Silas react to the injustice of their punishment?

 The pain of their beatings?

The terror of a jail cell that they shared with vermin and rats?

            And the uncertainty of what their future held?

What did they do? (they sang)

They sang?

Acts 16:25 tells us that “About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.”

And what happened?

Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everybody’s chains came loose. Acts 16:26

Did their singing create the earthquake?

No… their God did that

But when they sang, they declared their faith in a faithful God who could do stuff like that.

   Their singing was like a faucet that they turned on and opened up the pipeline of God’s power

            Singing does that.

So God says SING

Not IF you can sing, sing… just sing.

            Sing because you HAVE a song of joy

            Sing because IT CAN GIVE you a song of joy

So WHAT should I sing?
Well, in the Bible I found that there were two kinds of songs God’s people sang

1.      They sang old favorites.

Just like we do today, the Jews had songs they’d sing over and over again.

Turn to Psalm 120

What are the first 4 words of that Psalm? (A Psalm of Ascents)

Look at the next Psalm 121 (1^st 4 words?)

Psalm 122…

From Psalm 120 to Psalm 134, they all start out with those same 4 words

You see, these 15 Psalms were sung every year by the Jews as they went up to worship…

… they were sung during their pilgrimages to Jerusalem

… and at the times of the great yearly festivals— as they “ascended to Jerusalem”.

So, the people of Israel loved to sing “Old Favorites”, just like we do

·         Sweet Hour of Prayer

·         It is Well With My soul

·         When The Roll is Called Up yonder.

And the beauty of the old Favorites is that they are like mile markers to us…

            … they remind us of the good things we’ve learned in church

                        They’re like comfort food that just hearing them can create warm fuzzy feelings.

2.      But God’s people also sang another kind of song

God wants us to sing a new song

Ps 96:1 is perhaps the most famous  Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth.

Ps. 33:3  Sing to him a new song; play skillfully, and shout for joy.

Ps 144:9  I will sing a new song to you, O God; on the ten-stringed lyre I will make music to you,

Ps 149:1  Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of the saints.

David even said

“(God) put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God…” Ps 40:3

And then in Revelation we read

And (those gathered around the throne of God) sang a new song: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased men for God from every tribe and language and people and nation. Revelation 5:9

So, why should God want us to learn “new songs”

Well, 1^st - because too often, the old songs… can get old

            It’s the same words – over and over and over again

            And because that’s true… there are times when God’s saints have…

… sung hymns w/o ever considering the meaning of the words.

New songs make us think about the words

Sometimes those new songs are like many of the old hymns – teaching spiritual truths

            Other times those new songs are Scripture songs – they take Bible verses and put/music

                        Now, a “new song” can get us out of our comfort zone…

                                    … but that’s what they’re meant to do.

            They should make us think about God’s love and mercy in new ways.

Another reason we should learn new songs is because their newness reflects the God we serve.

            We don’t want to get into the mindset where we think that God just did things in the past

                        New songs remind us that God still works in our lives today

In Lamentations 3, we read:

“… his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” La 3:22b-23

We serve a God who does something new for us every day…

            … and new songs reinforce that message… we believe God is doing something new

One of the things I enjoy about this church is the fact that we love the old favorites…

            … but we’re also not afraid to learn new songs that glorify God & praise Him for His love

                        That’s the power and the blessings of what we sing

                        It has the power to remind us and speak to us about the God we serve

CLOSE: A man named Jack Hinton was on a short-term missions trip to the island of Tobago. He was leading worship at the leper colony there and there was time for one more song, so he asked if anyone had a request. 

  A woman who had been facing away from the pulpit turned around.

  “It was the most hideous face I had ever seen,” Hinton said. “The woman’s nose and ears were entirely gone.  The disease had destroyed her lips as well.  She lifted a fingerless hand in the air and asked, ‘Can we sing Count Your Many Blessings?’”

  Overcome with emotion, Hinton left the service.

   He was followed by another team member who said, “Jack, I guess you’ll never be able to sing that song again.”

  “Yes I will,” he replied, “but I’ll never sing the same way.”