NOVEMBER 16 2019
SINGING
After consulting the people, 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)
A most remarkable text.
Jehoshaphat was a wise king: he consulted his people. He also knew the power of the singing voice, especially in harmony, when first and second tenors, high and low basses united to produce melodious sounds.
Of course this was not a spontaneous, impromptu choir: these men had practiced together repeatedly. And they were not only fine musicians: they also were very courageous.
Imagine the scene: Israel, that tiny nation on the shores of the Mediterranean, then as now, surrounded by hostile nations, was again threatened with annihilation. This time the wise king knew that military superiority was impossible, that only reliance on Yahweh was the only way out.
The king remembered the nation’s history, knew how 400 men, under the guidance of Gideon, had created total chaos among the then invaders, knew how on another occasion just prior to battle, the angels of the Lord had done the slaying for them.
But having a choir go out in front of the army? Having an assembly of men, singing hymns, create such havoc among the opponents that they fled in terror and started to fight among themselves? That was then and still is now a miracle.
There’s safety in numbers. One man alone could not have done it, but a mass of men, their voices resounding, perhaps somewhat augmented by a favorable breeze, perhaps naturally magnified by the lay of the land, not singing, “Like a mighty army moves the church of God”, but praise “God for the splendor of his holiness”, singing full out “Give thanks to the LORD, for his love endures forever,” that takes guts! Already thanking God for the victory to come that takes faith!
Life-long singing.
Yes, there is magic in singing. I know: All my life I have been singing. In the city of Groningen, the Netherlands where I was born and grew up, at an early age I was part of the Huizinga Singing Classes, a series of children choirs, with kids as young as 4 years old, I among them, tagged along by my older sisters. I still can sing fragments of the two Cantatas we performed in the city’s concert hall in the 1930’s. In elementary school, singing was a daily occurrence: every Monday morning, we had to recite a song, memorized over the weekend – with the help of my mother – to be recited in class, and sung as a body later. Once in secondary school I joined the choir there too.
When we lived in St. Catharines, Ontario, I sang with a mixed choir and was among those who started a male choir there.
Moving to Tweed in 1975 I first sang with a church choir in Belleville, and, when joining the local Presbyterian Church added my voice to its members. Now with shrinking attendance, I am the only male member there.
Singing is an important part of worship, perhaps its most important part. Singing and music go together. The entire book of Psalms, 150 in total, is basically a song book for the church.
Singing is health-enhancing. Want Long Life? SING.
There’s a wealth of research that proves the benefits of singing on health and wellbeing across the lifespan.
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Singing lowers stress and tension. Certain chemicals released while breathing deeply together, enhance feelings of trust and bonding which aids relieving depression and feelings of loneliness. It also boosts confidence, positive feelings and energy.
There’s always much going on in our bodies and minds: worries, pains, but when we sing we fully focus on the moment, allowing us to ‘turn off’ our stream of consciousness and live completely in the moment, distracting our mind from negative thoughts, concentrate on the sound, the action, the breathing, the feeling and the pleasure of song. ?
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Singing is an intimate activity and by sharing our breathing molecules with others, we help to strengthen spiritual bonds. It creates a strong sense of community and social inclusion, and encourages healthier behavior. It even causes people to fall in love: my youngest brother found his partner there.
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Behavioral Changes
?By singing we exercise major muscle groups in the upper body, and improve the efficiency of our cardiovascular system and encourage us to take more oxygen into our body, leading to increased alertness.
So no wonder singing plays an important role in the bible and in the church at large. In Acts 16, it is recorded that when Paul and Silas were in jail “they were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them.” Singing is a form of evangelism: biblical songs proclaim a message, tell the world by way of music what faith is all about. These courageous men in the text cited above showed the enemy that their trust was not in weapons and warfare, but in Yahweh, the God of Israel.
Just before Jesus and the disciples ended their last meal together, Mark 14: 26 tells us that “When they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives,” where Judas was waiting to arrest the Christ.
We will always sing: singing is eternal!
There is this beautiful text in Isaiah 51: 11,
“Those the LORD has redeemed will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow and sighing will flee away.”
Please note the word, “RETURN”. This means that we will go back from where we have been, and do this while SINGING our heart out.
Singing will form an important role in eternity. In my book DAY WITHOUT END (you can order it from Lulu.com) singing plays a prominent role.
Here are some excerpts:
“I have always loved singing. As a baby I hummed in my crib – so my mother told me – and music has always been a part of my life. So I am ready to join Melodia as are many others. Our entire group comes over, some more out of curiosity than real interest in singing, and joins a group of about one hundred people. Melodia positions herself so that she is visible and audible to all.
“A woman next to me produces a flute and a man in front of me has a violin. Where do these instruments come from? I have ceased to be amazed, for the simple reason that I am in a perpetual state of amazement. Those who are skilled receive musical instruments beyond Stradivarius quality no doubt. Yet, miracles just don’t happen here, where everything is a miracle. Should I get one and start practicing? I set out to investigate and discover that their guardian angels, supply them to those who know how to use them. Of course, as their life-long companions, they know who they are.
Melodia calls for our attention again, which is not difficult for her as she has a natural authority. She says, “Even here perfection needs practice. In your former world repeated rehearsals produced only an approximate representation of the intention of the composer who also suffered from a degree of imperfection. I must admit that some earthly musicians, people you may have known in their former lives as Johann Sebastian, George Friedrich and Wolfgang Amadeus, did approach, at times, standards of eternity. I am glad to tell you that they are here, and have resumed a life of composing and performing music.
“Not all of you are natural singers or have an ear for music. I know Phronimos and Novissimus there–as she points to us– have good tenor voices; Vita, also in that group, used to compose songs and Arctica has a natural alto voice, although she may not realize this. Fidelia, how about you, will you join us?”
“No, thanks. As a child my father made me sing in the local temple but I hated it. At first I tried, just to please him, but I was a total failure. I think I was too nervous. So for the moment I prefer just to be part of the audience. Maria too declines simply because she would rather listen.
“Thousands have now gathered around the stage. We are seated on the sides of a circular hill looking into a valley so that all have a perfect view of the musicians who are still talking and playing. A real wave of undefined sound emanates from that direction. All players have now installed themselves on the podium. I let my gaze travel over the crowd and my thoughts lock in on a few people I recognize and we exchange quick INTERMIND messages of greetings. I like this quick and effortless way of communicating, with an immediate response, much more efficient than e-mail.
“Throughout the choir all voices are completely mixed with no separate soprano, bass, alto or tenor section. It takes a while before the arrangements are completed but there is no rush or panic.
“I return to my place and look over my part. Arctica is standing next to me. She has never participated in a choir before and has never sung from a score. However, the music is written in such a way that when the correct note is hit, the musical note glows a bit indicating the proper pitch. I find this a fantastic way of teaching both the untrained and those like me who have had a life-long exposure to choirs and singing. At first hesitantly, but with increasingly confidence, we try out our parts and with enthusiastic encouragement and participation from the notes on the sheets we soon sound quite professional.
“Now everyone is ready for the more formal rehearsal. No, not quite: I notice flocks of different birds flying in from various directions, settle in the trees around us. They will be part of the concert, too, of course. I recognize quite a few from the African continent. Are we in Africa? Other animals, too, are wandering in, some lazily grazing, some calmly looking around. The leaves of the trees tremble in avid anticipation.”
So far the quote from DAY WITHOUT END.
Processional singing.
When the tribes of Israel visited the tabernacle or the temple, they walked the scores of miles from the top of the land, close to Lebanon, and from beyond the river Jordan, as families and friends, singing all the way to Jerusalem. They knew their songs. Take Psalm 100, a perfect song to march by:
Cry out with joy in the Lord, all the
earth.
Serve the Lord with gladness.
Come before him, singing for joy.
Go within his gates, giving thanks.
Enter his courts with songs of praise.
Give thanks to him and bless his name.
Or take Psalm 122, a pilgrimage song.
I rejoiced when I heard them say:
‘Let us go to God’s house.’
And now our feet are standing
within your gates, O Jerusalem
It is there that the tribes go up,
the tribes of the Lord.
For Israel’s law it is
there to praise the Lord’s name.
The Psalms are for all times.
Singing was difficult when Israel was exiled in Babylon: Psalm 137 testifies to that:
By the rivers of Babylon
there we sat and wept,
remembering Zion;
on the poplars that grew there
we hung up our harps.
For it was there that they asked us,
our captors, for songs,
our oppressors, for joy.
“Sing to us,” they said,
“one of Zion’s songs.”
O how could we sing
the song of the Lord
on alien soil?
If I forget you, Jerusalem,
let my right hand wither!
On Alien Soil.
We too are on alien soil. 1John 5: 19 unequivocally states that today The Evil One is in charge. Jesus affirms this in John 17.
For the time being we simply must endure the sins against creation, but, as Isaiah 51: 11 affirms: “We will RETURN to a renewed world, and do this while SINGING.