Singing our songs
Deuteronomy Chapter 31 – 32:9 Read it here
In one respect, the Bible is like a Broadway musical: every time things get really intense, somebody breaks into song.
Today we start reading the Song of Moses, which is a final reciting of his teachings within the final speech of this book of his final speeches. (That sounds kind of like when preachers say “I’m almost done” during a sermon, but in Moses’s case it’s true).
This song looks both backward and forward, to the story of where God has already brought his people and what will happen to them in the future. Moses understands God as being faithful and merciful; people not so much so.
We think back to the songs of Moses and Miriam in Exodus. We look forward to the various songs surrounding the birth of Jesus, the songs of Mary and Zechariah.
These songs all provided ways to recall great outpourings of God’s activity into humankind—they served as a tool to help people learn and remember and as common points of reference, much the way that we might use references to popular movies or TV shows, confident in knowing that at least most of our hearers would be familiar with the characters and events involved.
Songs still serve these purposes within the church. In the Christmas season we have a common group of songs that are comforting in their familiarity, evoking nostalgic memories at least as much as they evoke contemplation of the birth of the savior.
One of the challenges of songs, though, is that they can define who is “in” and who is “out,” which is important in planning worship.
In my lifetime I have seen several seasons of songs—more will come and no doubt there are many that have been forgotten.
The biblical song that starts today is in the ballad category, remembering a great event or series of events.
The songs that dominate our current hymnal are teaching songs: statements of theological belief designed to educate about beliefs and reinforce right belief.
Much of the church music from my teenage years was more expressive, giving voice to people and a generation that did not feel heard.
In the ‘80s and ‘90s much of the new church music was simply putting Bible verses to music, a teaching tool based on scripture rather than theology.
The praise and worship phase of the last couple of decades has been more emotional, intended to bring worshipers into the right spirit to hear God speak through simple melody and repetitive lyrics.
I don’t know where it’s going next, but in our church life we need to keep in mind that music is one tool to use in effective worship of God. It changes with the years, and is only beneficial to the extent that it connects people with the truth of the living God.