Why is it important to sing and participate during times of worship?

Craig Houston explains in this video that he is passionate about singing because God is passionate about singing as worship. Singing in worship enlivens the heart of God’s people as they sing together unto the Lord. Throughout Scripture, we see numerous instances of individuals singing and worshipping God. There is nothing more magnificent than God’s people singing together.

Regrettably, many people do not sing today. They’re there to receive something but they do not participate in a worshipful way. This is not what we see in Scripture. In both the New and Old Testament, Scripture makes it clear that we are to lift up our voices as one to the Lord, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

Colossians 3:16 (NKJV) – “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”

I'm passionate about singing as worship because God is passionate about singing as worship. He's given us music as a great gift to the church and to his people in the Old Testament. And it's something that I believe enlivens the heart of God's people as we sing together unto the Lord Which is the primary purpose of our singing and Ezra chapter 3 verse 11? It speaks about that. It's a glorious picture of what singing does when when they came together in scripture says in Ezra 3 and verse number 11 and they sang together by course in Praising and giving thanks unto the Lord because He is good for his mercy endureth forever toward Israel and all the people shouted with a great shout When they praised the Lord because the foundation of the house of the Lord was laid Here it was something when they were coming together to rejoice over the laying of the foundation of the temple, they had to sing.

They had to sing unto the Lord. They had to sing praise unto his name, to sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. In one of the passages it says, let the word of Christ dwell in you richly singing unto yourselves psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. So it's truth-based. It's based upon the scripture that motivates and moves us to sing unto the Lord.

And we're to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth. And that goes to Ephesians where it says we're to be filled with the Spirit, singing unto ourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs. So I see both Spirit and truth moving and motivating the heart of God's people to worship in singing. It's interesting that we live in a day and age that has so much emphasis on musical styles and preferences from everything from contemporary Christian music to 70s praise songs to hip hop and country for Jesus and jazz for Jesus. And yet there's nothing more magnificent than God's people singing together.

One of the things that I've experienced as I've paid attention to sometimes investigated different types of worship music and as I found that most people don't sing They're there watching a performance. They're there receiving something, but they're not participating in a worshipful way. It bothered me. It drove me back to what does the scripture say about worship? What is it that we're called to do?

And I believe we're to lift up our voice together as one man unto the Lord, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.