Why Sing?

Psalm 107

Pentecost 8, August 3, 2025

Holy Trinity Cathedral

“Why Sing?”

On March 16, 2020, the world went into lock-down.  No public gatherings.  No church services.  And no singing.  In the early days of the pandemic, a community choir became one of the infamous spreader events for the covid-19 virus.  People were scared and cut off from each other.  And even though we surprised ourselves at how quickly we were able to pivot to online communications, video conferences, and broadcasting worship services, there was, for me, something missing immediately.  We were not singing together. 

So every morning in those early days, I would go into the parish church after carefully masking and wiping down each door knob.  I would sit alone in the front pew and pray Morning Prayer on behalf of my flock.  And then, I would pull out a hymnbook, flip it open at random, and defiantly sing a hymn into the silence.  And depending on the hymn, I would smile bravely or burst into tears or grit my teeth and get on with the hard work of living.  Songs can do that.  And that is why I sing.

There is something in the experience of using one’s one body and breath to make sound that makes you more whole.  It doesn’t have to sound pretty, but singing employs your body and your mind and your heart and your soul.  It is an offering of all that you have.  Through the combination of the words and the melody, you are vulnerable to feel and live out the song.  It can be any song and any words that move you.  But in times of turmoil and doubt and pain, there are songs of faith that will help restore us most of all.  There is a mighty power in praising God.

Psalm 107 is one of those praise songs.  (Ironically, we said the words this morning, but more about that later.)  The first few verses recite thanksgiving for deliverance from many troubles.  If you go and look at the 30-odd that follow, there is a long list of the difficulties we humans get into and how our God comes to our aid.  The last verse reminds us,

“Let those who are wise give heed to these things;

And consider the steadfast love of the Lord.”

Think of the many generations of people who sang this psalm and recognized their own trials and tribulations. 

In the Bible are many, many sources of inspiration for us to sing out our experience as well.  The Hebrew Scriptures are full of stories that resonate with us, the law and the prophets, and so much poetry.  The Gospels, especially Luke, have people who sing out their faith in words that are beloved and familiar to us even today.  Think of the Magnificat: the Song of Mary, or the Song of Simeon- “Lord, let your servant depart in peace.”  And the New Testament carries forward fragments of the hymns of the early Church and provides abundant material for praise songs and hymns even today.  For almost every scriptural reference, there is a song to reflect it.  Just look in the Biblical index of hymnbooks (priests and music directors often do!).  Above all other books, however, we can turn to the Psalms.

We know that the psalms were sung from the time they were created.  Some may have been as early as the time of King David.  The tradition is that he composed them all, although scholars feel some were written much later than his lifetime.  They were used by individuals and by congregations: in the Temple, in the synagogues, and in churches.  The wonderful thing about the psalms is how honest they are.  Here is how people really feel and talk to God; not how they should.  They are not nice.  They are real. 

We have some clues about how the psalms were sung.  And they were sung- not just said.  Some of them have notations at the beginning which give musicians direction.  There is a sequence called “the songs of ascent”, which could refer to the tones employed or that they were later used by pilgrims on the journey to the Temple in Jerusalem for high festivals.  Others give Hebrew words than seem to indicate genre.  The psalm may be “a maskil” or “a miktam”.  Another musical notation that has baffled musicologists is the insertion of the word “selah” in some psalms.  Is this a direction to pause, or a refrain?  More helpful notes refer to the accompaniment.  A psalm may be designated “for the flutes” or “with stringed instruments”.  No french-horn solos, sadly, but we could add one.  Most endearingly, we also find evidence of early tune settings that were used.  How lovely that “the deer of the dawn” or “lilies” or “the dove of the terebinths” were attached to some psalms the way hymn tunes are today. 

If you happen on a copy of the blue hymnbook called “Common Praise” in the pews here, you will see what I mean.  At the lower right hand corner of every song, there are some words in tiny block print.  These are the hymn tunes.  Today, for example, we sang hymn number 460: “Lord, the Light of your Love is Shining”.  The hymn tune is called Shine, Jesus, Shine.  And yes, there is a series of numbers above that that indicate the metricity of the lines (in this case 9 9 10 10 22 with refrain- a very irregular arrangement).  Sometimes one tune is so popular that it gets used for more than one set of words.  That happens with another hymn we will be singing.  The tune is Jerusalem, and some of you know it from your English heritage or the film “Chariots of Fire”.  The original music was written by the composer Charles Parry, but they are also used for “O Day of Peace”, a text by Carl Daw.  It is the combination of music that stirs our souls and words that engage our minds that together move us in faith. 

We ought to be able to sing whatever and whenever we want, but there are some obstacles.  Older material is free of copyright, and some Christian artists make their works available to all free of charge.  But for much music there are licensing considerations.  This can create problems of access for individuals and groups.  Nobody is going to sue you if you warble a song in the shower, but for group gatherings there is the shadow of legality.  Churches have to be careful about what they duplicate in printed communications and what they use or broadcast in worship services.  As good citizens, we want to ensure that composers get their due.  We may have access to hard copy hymnbooks.  You’ve probably seen different ones over the years.  Blue, red, green, blue again.  We have both the blue ‘Common Praise’ and the green ‘Songs for a Gospel People’ here in the cathedral. Other older ones are in dusty boxes.  So we have permission to use hymns from those.  Nowadays, we source more recent music through licensing subscription.  You will see those notations in the printed bulletin as an assurance that we are not stealing the songs we sing.  It is important for us as a community of faith to sing today, and we find ways to do so. 

In simpler times, people knew the words and tunes and didn’t need permission to sing them.  The psalmody of our faith is still basic and open to all.  Back in earlier days, many faithful Christians had memorized all 150 of the psalms along with some simple tunes, and they could join in and sing them together.  Monks and nuns and clergy repeated the psalms on a daily basis, so they had plenty of practice.  And because they sang in groups, it didn’t matter- it still doesn’t matter- whether they had good voices or not.  “Make a joyful noise” says the psalms, not “get in tune or shut up”. 

You may not know all 150 psalms.  I don’t, yet.  It is on my bucket list.  But I bet that you know a few very well.  If I started with, “the Lord is my shepherd”, what comes next? …

Right.  Some psalms have such vivid images that they stick in our minds.  Then add music.  The music makes it easier for us to learn and remember.  Think of how many more songs you know than just the psalms.  The human brain is a wonderful thing, and has the capacity to remember many, many expressions of faith through music.  Here’s another psalm: number 150.  If I sing, “All people that on earth do dwell”, can you sing the next line?  “Sing to the Lord with cheerful voice”.  See?  You could probably keep going! This is what is called a metrical song, and the reformed tradition of the Church made it a famous way to learn them. 

What I have also learned is that when you sing with others, you remember and you feel more.  So isn’t this a great reason to join in?  We sing what we believe and we believe what we sing.  So will you sing? Amen.