I Will Enter His Gates

Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! Psalm 100:4

I will enter His gates with thanksgiving in my heart.
I will enter His courts with praise.
I will say this is the day that the Lord has made.
I will rejoice for He has made me glad.
He has made me glad; He has made me glad.
I will rejoice for He has made me glad.
He has made me glad; He has made me glad.
I will rejoice for He has made me glad.

This Is the Day

This is the day that the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it. Psalm 118:24

This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made, that the Lord has made.
We will rejoice, we will rejoice, and be glad in it, and be glad in it.
This is the day that the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.
This is the day, this is the day, that the Lord has made.

Blessed Be the Name

Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth and forevermore! Psalm 113:2

Blessed be the name, blessed be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord!
Blessed be the name, blessed be the name, blessed be the name of the Lord!
Glory to the name, glory to the name, glory to the name of the Lord!
Glory to the name, glory to the name, glory to the name of the Lord!

Behold What Manner of Love

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God...1 John 3:1

Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us.
Behold what manner of love the Father has given unto us.
That we should be called the sons of God.
That we should be called the sons of God.

Worship: Singing Together

We’ve been learning what the Bible says about worship that is acceptable to God. We’ve learned that God cares about what happens in the hearts and minds of people as they worship, and that He has directed us to include specific actions in our worship. So far, we’ve talked about the reading and preaching of His Word and about public prayer. Now let’s think about how singing fits into God-honoring worship.

People rarely sing in public these days; however, there are a few traditions still around that involve public singing. Lots of folks sing “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” during the seventh inning stretch, “Auld Lang Syne” at midnight on New Year’s Eve, and of course “Happy Birthday” at parties. For Christians, though, is singing together in church just another tradition, or is it something more? Let’s find out what the Bible says about the importance of singing as worship that is pleasing to God.

The Bible is full of examples of God’s people singing together. Moses led the Israelites in song after God miraculously divided the Red Sea and allowed the people to cross on dry land. When David returned home after defeating Goliath, he was greeted with “songs of joy and with musical instruments.” Jesus and His disciples sang a hymn after their last Passover meal together, and in Revelation John describes God’s people in heaven singing “the song of the Lamb.” In fact, God gave His people a songbook—the book of Psalms which were sung by the Old Testament church and continue to be sung by the people of God today.

In addition to these examples of singing, we have direct teaching about singing in Scripture. Take a moment and read Ephesians 5:15-21 with your family. Paul is teaching in Chapter 5 that loving God means living for Him 24/7. He says that Christians should be “filled with the Spirit,” that is we should rely fully on the Holy Spirit to make us able to know and live out God’s will. When we do that, we are filled with joy that causes us to give thanks through song. In other words, as we worship God through joyful singing, we are showing that the Holy Spirit is at work in our lives.

Paul has more to say about singing. In Colossians 3:16, he commands Christians: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” Paul is saying that when our hearts and minds are full of the Word of God, it is natural that the Word of God will flow out of us in the way we talk to other Christians and the way we praise God in song. When we commit to studying the Bible and knowing what it teaches about Jesus, our singing becomes a blessing to others and an expression of gratitude to God. For this reason, we must make sure that the songs we sing in worship contain the truths of scripture.

Perhaps you’ve noticed in these two passages that our singing has two audiences: we sing to God, making melody “to the Lord,” and we sing to each other, “addressing one another” and “teaching one another.” This is an important aspect of public singing in worship. Just as the burning of the Old Testament sacrifices were to be a “pleasing aroma” to God, our voices lifted up in unison create a “sweet, sweet sound” to Him. And our voices joined in unison can encourage our brothers and sisters and teach them more about who God is and what He has done for His people.

Singing in church may be a practice that is handed down through the generations, but it is much more than just a tradition. When our hearts have been changed by God, our lives are guided by His Spirit, and our songs are based on His Word, then our singing is an act of worship that brings glory to Him!

Hymn of Praise: “O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing”

Charles Wesley and his brother John were sons of a minister. They were brought up in a Christian family, attended Christian schools, and became ministers themselves. And even though they were very active preachers—they even traveled from England all the way to the New World to preach to the native Americans—neither one felt assured of his salvation. But in 1737, the brothers met some Moravian Christians who talked to them about salvation by grace through faith in Christ, and in the spring of 1738, God changed the hearts of first Charles and then John and gave them new life in Christ. Charles went on to write over 6500 hymns, one of which is our hymn for today. Charles wrote it to celebrate the one-year anniversary of his conversion, and in it his heart overflows with praise for his Savior. The line that we use as the title comes from Peter Bohler, one of Charles’s Moravian Christian friends, who told him “If I had a thousand tongues, I would praise Christ with them all.”

“O for a Thousand Tongues to Sing”

1 O for a thousand tongues to sing
My great Redeemer's praise,
The glories of my God and King,
The triumphs of His grace.

2 Jesus! The Name that charms our fears,
That bids our sorrows cease,
'Tis music in the sinner's ears,
'Tis life and health and peace.

3 He breaks the pow'r of cancelled sin,
He sets the prisoner free;
His blood can make the foulest clean;
His blood availed for me.

4 Hear Him, ye deaf; His praise, ye dumb,
Your loosened tongues employ;
Ye blind, behold your Savior come;
And leap, ye lame, for joy.

5 My gracious Master and my God,
Assist me to proclaim,
To spread thro' all the earth abroad
The honors of Thy Name.

When we sing this hymn, we celebrate all that Jesus has done for His people, we look forward to the coming of His Kingdom in all its fullness, and we ask for God’s help in proclaiming the gospel to all the earth.

Activity – Sing!

Pick a hymn or praise song that you enjoy. Research the hymn using a hymnal or websites like hymnary.org or happyhymnody.wordpress.com. Talk with your family about where the words come from. Is it directly from the Bible? What scriptures did the writer have in mind when he wrote the words? Does the song tell about who God is—His holiness, power, mercy, goodness, or faithfulness? Does it tell about the wonders of creation or about the life and work of Jesus? Is the hymn sung directly to God as a prayer? Sometimes these prayer hymns use unfamiliar words like “thee” or “thou.” Don’t be confused; those are just old-fashioned ways of saying “you,” and sometimes they make the rhymes easier to remember! Maybe the hymn you picked is written as a message directed at fellow believers, encouraging them to rejoice with you because of what God has done. Once you understand the hymn a little better, sing it with a grateful heart full of love for God!