True Worshipers: Seeking What Matters to God

by Bob Kauflin

Even in the midst of persecution they had a song to sing that circumsta...

If we sing without understanding God’s purpose for it, we won’t be motivated to sing.

One reason we sing is that God tells us to.

fifty direct exhortations to sing.

Another reason singing plays a prominent role in Scripture is that all three persons of the Trinity are connected with song.

(Heb.

God wants us to sing because he sings.

Knowing that Scripture encourages our singing and that God sings is one thing.

Knowing how we’re to sing is another.

Because we can sing badly. We can sing for the wrong reasons. We can lack motivation. We can sing without knowing what we’re supposed to ...

Singing that builds up the church, affects our hearts, exalts Christ, and makes us aware of God’s presence.

God’s Spirit will be at work in supernatural ways, transforming us into the image of Christ from one degree of glory to the next (2 Cor.

This “word of Christ” is Paul’s way of referring to the gospel.

That news with all its implications is meant to dwell richly in our hearts and minds as we sing. “Christ is the ground and the content of Christian song. Christians sing about Christ. If they sing about God, it is especially what God has done through Christ; if about the Holy Spirit, it is the Holy Spirit as the gift of Christ; if about instruction to one another, it is the life in

God wants the gospel to dwell in us so deeply that we’re influenced, shaped, and governed by it.

So why the mention of music?

Music helps us remember words—and God intends for music to help us rememb...

(Deut.

Instruction is taking place right alongside praise.

A soloist or group of vocalists can sing while the rest of the church is fed and inspired. Most often though, singing to one another means singing together, every heart “making melody to the Lord.

“Though the eye of sinful man thy glory may not see,

“You give and take away

“Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free

“Riches I heed not, nor man’s empty praise

As we sing with the church, we often let biblical truths enter our ears and pass through our lips with no effect. In so doing, we don’t allow Christ-centered, biblically faithful songs to encourage and equip us in our common battles and temptations.

While music speaks to our emotions, it’s the truth that sets us free, not music.

But what should move our emotions is not the sonorous tones of the organ or the insistent beat of the drums, but the mind’s apprehension of truth about

First, singing enables us to reflect on the meaning of words.

Music can also amplify the emotions that lyrics are meant to convey.

what we want to avoid is emotionalism, not emotions

the emotions that singing is meant to express are a response to who God is and what he’s done.

The reality of God’s presence calls for a response that’s expressed through the totality of our being, so that we worship God with mind, soul, and body—with all that we

The abundance of passages implies that God views our bodies as one means to bring him glory as we

Why should expressions to God be limited to mere thoughts and words? That’s unlike any other relationship. I don’t sit across from Julie on our date night fearing someone might think I love her too much. I want others to know how I feel about her, and I don’t limit that to words. I gaze at her, touch her, smile at her, hug her, interact with her. And actually, that’s because I’m crazy about her, and not because we’re in a public setting. I magnify her worth through my physical expressiveness. So we magnify the worth of God through our bodies. We say to those around us, “My God is so great, I will praise him with my whole being” (see Ps.

The inward attitude certainly holds first place in prayer, but outward signs, kneeling, uncovering the head, lifting up the hands, have a twofold use. The first is that we may employ all our members for the glory and worship of God; secondly, that we are, so to speak, jolted out of our laziness by this help. There is also a third use in solemn and public prayer, because in this way the sons of God profess their piety, and they inflame each other with reverence of God. But just as the lifting up of the hands is a symbol of confidence and longing, so in order to show our humility, we fall down on our

But our bodies are another way God has given us to stir up our hearts to respond rightly to his glory. Bowing my head, lifting my hands, or kneeling down can remind me of the humility, gratefulness, and awe I should feel that Jesus has redeemed

While gathering together is in itself an expression of our unity in Christ, singing together is an opportunity to deepen that expression and experience.

Knowing that singing is meant to express our unity in the gospel doesn’t mean we’ll always like the songs we sing.

One style of music will never fully capture the glories of God or our appropriate responses to him.

conflicts over music styles in the church didn’t exist in Paul’s time, he wisely encouraged the Colossians in the context of singing to “let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body” (Col.

there might be times when our most sincere worship is singing a song we don’t prefer because we know someone else is helped by it. It’s one way we can let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts an...

In Revelation, the hosts of heaven are in unity not because of the style of music they’re using but because of the focus of their song. Listen ...

God gave us singing as a means not only of expressing our emotions but also of speaking to them.

the issue isn’t how familiar we are with the songs. The issue is whether we’re going to take every opportunity as true worshipers to exalt

True hypocrites don’t struggle with their sin. They indulge in sin while publicly seeking to portray themselves as righteous.

expressions of unwavering commitment should be mixed with regular requests for God’s grace to fulfill them.

But for true worshipers, the question is always, How can I respond in a way that exalts God’s glory in Christ in my mind, affections, and

worship is a gift we receive before it’s a task we perform.

May we see every hindrance, distraction, and trial as a fresh opportunity to declare the excellencies of him who called us out of darkness into his marvelous light.

Our worship isn’t only about God; it involves God. It isn’t only to and for God; it’s the way we encounter and engage with God.