Praying in the Spirit: Singing in the Spirit

I am amazed by the many statements non-charismatics make about music that are remarkably applicable to glossolalic singing. For example, as your read the following quotations, substitute singing in the Spirit for music and see if the statements do not retain their meaningfulness:

Music … endeavors … to express that which is too luminous, too high, too holy for the ordinary language of public address. [And it] … came into being as man’s effort to express the ineffable qualities he feels in nature, in humanity, and in the realm of the Spirit. … The ordinary language of ordinary day cannot express our most exalted thoughts, and we grasp for a symbol more adequately thus to do. (Hunter, ed. p. 228)

Thus far, I have been discussing instrumental music as it affects worship and its kinship to glossolalic singing. There is, of course, another side of music, the vocal side. The way in which the writers of Scripture address the use of songs is, I believe, a telling commentary of their appreciation of song (and regard for the Creator) and their opinion of its appropriateness to link man’s spirit with the Holy Spirit.

Isaiah wrote, “Sing for joy, O heavens … shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and your trees…” (44:23). The poet of 1 Chronicles said, “Let the sea resound, and all that is in it; let the fields be jubilant, and everything in them! Then the trees of the forest will sing, they will sing for joy before the Lord …” (16:32-33). If it may be said to inanimate objects, “Praise the Lord,” how much more should the only creatures with God-consciousness praise the Lord? Jesus hints of this praise mandate in His hyperbole to the Pharisees who had told Him to rebuke the followers who were offering up honor and praise upon Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem. “I tell you,” Jesus said, “if they keep quiet, the stones will cry out” (Luke 19:40). It will be a sad day indeed when the Church of the Lord Jesus takes a second seat to rocks!

There are hundreds of other references in the Scriptures. In fact, the longest book of the Bible is a song book—the Psalms. Since a thoroughgoing theology of singing in the Spirit based upon explicit statements of Scripture is impossible, we must turn to what the Bible says about singing in general. The Scriptures provide several important principles the we might apply to singing in the Spirit.

Before it is thought that I am building assumption upon assumption, it might be wise to show that there are some explicit statements about singing in the Spirit that warrant comparing it to singing in one’s native language. In the Scriptures, singing may be divided into three types: (1) praise, (2) petition, (3) thanksgiving. The term “praise,” it seems, may be broad enough to include “thanksgiving.” We can distinguish songs of praise from songs of thanksgiving, by the reason behind the song. The reason for praise would be the nature of God. “Jehoshaphat appointed men to sing to the Lord and to praise him for the splendor of his holiness as they went out at the head of the army saying: ‘Give thanks to the Lord, for his love endures forever’” (2 Chronicles 20:21). On the other hand, the reason for giving thanks is the activity of God. For example, the Israelites sang a song of thanksgiving to God for their deliverance from the armies of Pharaoh: “Sing to the Lord, for he is highly exalted. The horse and its rider he has hurled into the sea” (Exodus 15:21). The familiar words of the psalmist, “He leadeth me … he restoreth me …,” are words of thanksgiving for the activity of God in the life of the psalmist.

Tags: praying, singing, spirit

Category: Spirit, Spring 2001