Why Do We Sing?

There are many things which we have learned, growing up as kids, just by observing and doing what our elders did. This is as it should be. But along the way there is usually the assumption that the reason for doing things "that way" eventually becomes clear to us. None of us plays ball near a busy street - at least none of us still alive!

But it has occurred to me that few of us truly understand why we sing in church. The Bible does say for us to lift our voices unto God and our traditions certainly reflect that. But do we really understand why our God wants us to sing unto Him?

My exploration of what happens when we sing led me down an unusual road. As it turns out, science has already identified and measured what happens when we just listen to music. Science can measure our brain waves and has divided the observed measurements into at least four 'states' - alpha, beta, theta and delta.

Sitting in a quiet room our brain state is described as being in the 'beta state.' But introduce music into the room and our brain wave frequency will gradually go down and eventually the brain will enter what is called the 'alpha state.' Scientists say that when we are in the alpha state we are more suggestible. In Christian terminology what we have done is to open up our inward man. Singing along with the music amplifies, magnifies, multiplies the effect and makes it more efficient!

When we open up our inward man all the influences of the world, the flesh and the spiritual realm more easily affect us. Are there undesirable influences even in a church service? Of course! How we approach a holy God is very important if we don't want to be led astray. That is the reason the Bible instructs us to come to Him first through the Outer Court. Romans 12:1 says, "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service." 

But the most wonderful result of singing is that our God says in Psalms 22:3 that He will inhabit our praises! In Hebrews 2:12 the Lord says, "... in the midst of the church will I sing praise unto thee." What a unique condition! The God who created all things has said He will reveal Himself in our praises! God in manifestation. Pentecostals have always referred to this as the anointing.

Make no mistake - we are supposed to be the people of His presence. Anything less than God revealed in our midst is just religion. Don't settle for that!