Once More – With Understanding
Sing praises to God, sing praises.
Sing praises to our king, sing praises.
For God is the King of all the earth,
Sing praises with understanding
Psalm 47:6,7
Music is probably still the single most effective medium for reaching kids today. Music matters! It matters to those of us who are parents, but more than that, it matters to God.
The psalmist wrote to sing “with understanding.” How many parents have chided their children at some time in a service for not singing, but themselves failed to think twice about the words they glibly mouthed? The child doesn’t sing, and gets into trouble; the parent sings, but doesn’t even think about what they’re singing.
In New Testament times, Paul would write “I will sing with my spirit and I will also sing with my understanding” (1 Corinthians 14:15).
We know that in context, singing “with my understanding” meant singing in the language commonly spoken (and so understood). But this doesn’t take away from Paul’s desire that the Corinthian Christians understand what they sang. Do you understand what you sing in a worship service? Do you consciously think about the words? Even perfect words mean nothing to God if they come from an empty heart and empty mind.
Singing in a service is not a warm up. Singing is central to our worship. If we give God our worship in the first part of a meeting (a kind of firstfruits), He gives back to us through the rest of the meeting.
So we begin singing praise, but more than that, we sing “with our understanding.”
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