Music plays a big part in how we worship God. Even if you think you’re not musically gifted, we are still called to worship God with songs — there are over 65 times in the book of Psalms alone that say we are to sing to God, and another 10 that say we are to make music! Music is a gift of God — He created it, and has given it to us to use to honour Him and for His glory. For this reason alone we should put aside whatever musical shortcomings or failings we think we might have and learn to worship God with music.
One of the ways that we can do this is by appreciating different styles of music, and recognizing the creativity with which God has blessed us. While rap, or country, or southern gospel, or hard rock may not be your music of choice, we can still hear the truths of the Gospel proclaimed and how each style is taking the command of God to “sing a new song,” a command He gives 6 times in Scripture. The Psalms themselves were created to be sung, and there are many other examples throughout Scripture of people singing and making music to God.
Another way to appreciate musical worship is to see how the Bible is used in creating the lyrics. At The Centre, we will only sing worship songs that are Biblically based. If a song is not based on a passage or theme found in Scripture, we won’t sing it. This means that we have to know what we’re singing about. This is not only a good exercise in learning about God and His Word to us, it is also a good practice in discernment, learning to see and know what is from God.
