Type of Submission
Podium Presentation
Keywords
Worship, theology, singing, psalms, contemporary praise and worship
Proposal
This paper compares the use of the word SING as translated in the Psalms with SING in contemporary worship music with the intent of identifying similarities and differences in the instruction, expression, and conviction of "singing to the Lord."
Three Hebrew terms are primarily translated as SING in the Psalms: rānan רָנַן (rejoice, sing out, shout for joy), zāmar זָמַר (sing with instruments, make music, sing together), and šîr שִׁיר (vocalize, make music with the human voice). When examining the frequency of these Hebrew words, we find SING or a variation thereof in over half of the Psalms. This analysis will also consider how our contemporary culture’s understanding of singing within congregational worship has developed over the decades.
Worship and singing are intrinsically intertwined. Yet, most worship leaders would agree with pastors and theologians that worship is far more than singing. They are not synonymous terms by any means. However, singing is one of the prominent ways to worship God. “Truly worshipful music is primarily congregational and unites the body of Christ.”[1] This is evident throughout scripture. Conclusively, worship is not reduced to singing alone. However, songs of praise to God were “an essential ingredient of worship.”[2] As Thornton concludes, “gathered believers express their relationship with God through the singing of songs.”[3]
This paper is an encouragement to strive to articulate biblically sound, theologically rich, congregationally uniting, Christ-centered, Holy Spirit-inspired, worship to the Father through the songs we sing as a gathered body of believers. May our songs continually teach and encourage us to sing, equally with skill and with abandon, expressing our worship with exuberance and joy.
[1] Daniel I. Block, For the Glory of God: Recovering a Biblical Theology of Worship (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014), 242.
[2] Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory, 437.
[3] Thornton, Daniel, “Exploring the Contemporary Congregational Song Genre: Texts, Practice, and Industry,” 47.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.
Publication Date
2024
Sing Sing Sing: Analysis of the Term "Sing" in the Psalms and Contemporary Worship Music
This paper compares the use of the word SING as translated in the Psalms with SING in contemporary worship music with the intent of identifying similarities and differences in the instruction, expression, and conviction of "singing to the Lord."
Three Hebrew terms are primarily translated as SING in the Psalms: rānan רָנַן (rejoice, sing out, shout for joy), zāmar זָמַר (sing with instruments, make music, sing together), and šîr שִׁיר (vocalize, make music with the human voice). When examining the frequency of these Hebrew words, we find SING or a variation thereof in over half of the Psalms. This analysis will also consider how our contemporary culture’s understanding of singing within congregational worship has developed over the decades.
Worship and singing are intrinsically intertwined. Yet, most worship leaders would agree with pastors and theologians that worship is far more than singing. They are not synonymous terms by any means. However, singing is one of the prominent ways to worship God. “Truly worshipful music is primarily congregational and unites the body of Christ.”[1] This is evident throughout scripture. Conclusively, worship is not reduced to singing alone. However, songs of praise to God were “an essential ingredient of worship.”[2] As Thornton concludes, “gathered believers express their relationship with God through the singing of songs.”[3]
This paper is an encouragement to strive to articulate biblically sound, theologically rich, congregationally uniting, Christ-centered, Holy Spirit-inspired, worship to the Father through the songs we sing as a gathered body of believers. May our songs continually teach and encourage us to sing, equally with skill and with abandon, expressing our worship with exuberance and joy.
[1] Daniel I. Block, For the Glory of God: Recovering a Biblical Theology of Worship (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Academic, a division of Baker Publishing Group, 2014), 242.
[2] Ross, Recalling the Hope of Glory, 437.
[3] Thornton, Daniel, “Exploring the Contemporary Congregational Song Genre: Texts, Practice, and Industry,” 47.
