Chapter 8 - Song of Worship

The Devil hates music, because he cannot stand gaiety...Satan can smirk, but he cannot laugh, he can sneer but cannot sing.
Martin Luther, in The Stories Behind Great Hymns
Sing for joy in the Lord, O you righteous ones; praise is becoming to the upright. Give thanks to the Lord with the lyre; sing praises to Him with a harp of ten strings. Sing to Him a new song; play skillfully with a shout of joy. Psalm 33:1-3

Several years ago, I was in a Romanian church near the Soviet border. I was scheduled to preach immediately after a musical presentation by a youth orchestra. The young people had formed a string orchestra consisting primarily of violins, guitars, and mandolins. They began to play some of the grand old hymns of the Christian faith. My heart was thrilled as they played and sang about the great attributes of our God. I imagine that heaven must be similar to that experience of worship. I wanted to shout. I wanted to cry. Instead I just sat there in silence, worshipping the Savior.

Since that time, I've traveled often throughout Romania. But one factor concerning those youth groups always puzzled me: the high percentage of young people who played musical instruments. In some congregations, I discovered that 100 percent of the youth played a musical instrument. Everywhere I've gone in Romania, I've discovered youth orchestras and choirs that really worshipped God through their music.

I asked a friend of mine if all young people were required by the schools to learn to play a musical instrument. He responded, "Oh, no. This phenomenon is a result of the 'new evangelical-Protestant revival' within the country. Where the Spirit of God is deeply at work and people are coming to Christ," he said, "young people are learning musical skills and singing a new song unto the Lord."

As I thought about it, I realized this occurrence has been true for centuries. When people encounter God, a melody in the heart is always produced, which must have an outward expression. True worship demands a medium for expression of love and adoration to God for His goodness and greatness. When the children of Israel were delivered by God from their hundreds of years of slavery, worship and praise flowed from their hearts in song. Later, David sang unto the Lord about His great deeds and amazing attributes. In the New Testament, Paul spoke to the Christians whose lives were controlled by the Holy Spirit, saying, "(speak) to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart" (Ephesians 5:19).

Many of the great hymns were written because men and women encountered our great God. Their music was simply a vehicle to transport to heaven what was in their hearts. They created music with joy and thanksgiving for the goodness of God.

One such great poet and hymnist was William Cowper, who lived from 1731 to 1800. When he was only six years old, his heart was broken as a result of his mother's death. He attended a boarding school, and more suffering was added to his already hurting heart by the cruelty of some of the other boys. Cowper was depressed because he felt a deep sense of unworthiness. He attempted suicide several times, had two unhappy love affairs, and lived with a sense of inferiority.

For a brief period of time, he was placed in an asylum. It was there he met God. A relative visited him and shared with him from the Scriptures: "Whom God hath sent forth to be a propitiation through faith in his blood" (Rom.3:25 KJV). The relative shared with Cowper the gospel of Jesus Christ. He responded in faith and later testified, "It was the first time that I have seen a ray of hope...There shone upon me the full beams of the sufficiency of the atonement that Christ has made; my pardon in His blood; the fullness and completeness of my justification and, in a moment, I believed and received the gospel."

It was in that asylum that he wrote the great hymn, "There is a fountain filled with blood, drawn from Immanuel's veins; and sinners plunged beneath that flood, lose all their guilty stains." Cowper was simply a sinner who needed a Savior. When Jesus found him, melody replaced misery, and music transported his worship to the throne of God. His sense of depression was transformed into a sense of personal dignity by the One worthy of worship.

When I came to know Christ as a freshman in the university, two very interesting changes occurred in my life. I immediately fell in love with books. Prior to coming to know Christ, I read very little. Reading had been a chore to me; I read only what my teachers assigned in class. But when I came to Christ, I began to devour the Bible. It was bread from heaven to my heart. I wasn't reading in order to get a good grade in school. The Bible was a heavenly love letter that could only be understood in the realm of the heart. For years my heart had been closed. When I met Christ, my heart was opened to His love, and the Bible became exciting. I also began reading the biographies of the great Christian leaders of past centuries. Christian literature took on an important role in my life.

The second transformation in my heart was a love for a new kind of music. Because I had met Jesus, the Lover of my soul, I wanted to sing a new song unto Him. I probably rank among the worst singers in the world; my music can be distracting to those around me because I just don't have any natural music abilities. But it's a sweet sound to the heart of the heavenly Father.

When Jesus came into my life, a new song exploded in my heart. It was a song of worship and adoration.