Singing

Why did God ask us to sing in Ephesians 5:19? Why did he construct our vocal cords, throat and cheek cavities so that we could sing? What is there about it that He likes? I suppose he could have made us incapable of singing in the creation of our bodies. Couldn't he have made us so that all of us had beautiful voices?

I ponder these questions in worship as I look and see congregants, people who have purposely come to worship, Not sing. Why do they Not? Is it a form of rebellion? Is it because "I just don't feel like it?" Is it because they "don't sing well?" Is it because it makes them uncomfortable to express emotion? I just don't know. It is a puzzlement.

Music entered the scene early with God's people. Philo tells us that Moses was educated in all the learning of Egypt, including its music. The Egyptians considered music to be sacred. Their musicians were priests. Moses must have seen that. In Exodus 15:1, he sings a victory song to the Lord which is quickly followed by the victory song of Miriam in Exodus 15:21. And of course, there are all those Psalms to be reckoned with. David was the real impetus of music in worship. In I Chronicles 14:15, he appointed some Levites as singers--their
repertoire was the Psalms.

The earliest surviving example of Christian music is a hymn of praise to the Trinity found in that wonderful garbage dump in the ancient Egyptian town of Oxyrhynchus. It is in Greek, and dates to the end of the third century. So its all been around for a very long time, and God's people have been singing for a very long time. The Puritans would allow not other hymns in their worship except the Psalms when the music got to America.

Now here we sit in the 21st century with a vast history of beautiful Christian hymns and exciting and worshipful contemporary hymns with out mouths closed.
Go figure.