“The Lord is my strength and my song; he has become my salvation.”

Psalm 118

The first record of music in the Bible is in Genesis 4:21 where we read of Jubal, the father of those who play the lyre and the pipe. The first recorded song is the song of Miriam in Exodus 15. The Psalms are full of commands to sing. God is said to sing over his people in Zephaniah 3 and Jesus sang a hymn with his disciples after the Passover meal.

But why music? What caused mankind to want to create instruments and sing? Seen from a purely utilitarian perspective, it seems like a very inefficient thing to do. But that’s only true if man’s sole purpose is to produce and accomplish. What if we were created to worship? And what if part of being made in God’s image is to reflect the love and joy that exists among the persons of the Trinity? And what if the best and most satisfying way to express that love and joy is through singing?

C.S. Lewis imagines God singing at creation. He portrays that through the character of Aslan in “The Magician’s Nephew”:

“A voice had begun to sing. It was very far away and Digory found it hard to decide from what direction it was coming. Sometimes it seemed to come from all directions at once. Sometimes he almost thought it was coming out of the earth beneath them. Its lower notes were deep enough to be the voice of the earth herself. There were no words. It was hardly a tune. But it was beyond comparison, the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.”

The Magician’s Nephew

Where did Lewis get this idea? Perhaps from the words of God to Job.

“Where were you when I established the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who fixed its dimensions? Certainly you know! Who stretched a measuring line across it? What supports its foundations? Or who laid its cornerstone while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?”

Job 38:4-7

We sing because words are not sufficient. We sing because we love and that love cannot find its fullest expression until it is turned into song. Have you ever considered it odd that God would command his people to sing? If God were a despotic tyrant ruling from on high, if he were not good and holy and righteous, the command to sing would be an exercise in stroking his ego. But God is good and holy, and he is worthy of all praise. And in his wisdom and grace, he has given us this command for our good, that we may experience complete satisfaction in him. He is the one who is most worthy of our song.

In the beginning the newborn stars sang in chorus together. In the Psalms we’re given language to praise our God and King. And at the end of the Bible we encounter over a dozen songs to the one who will bring all of redemptive history to its consummation. In Revelation we read of living creatures, elders, angels, and the redeemed breaking out in worship and song to the only one who is worthy.

Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations! Who will not fear, O Lord, and glorify your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship you, for your righteous acts have been revealed.

Revelation 15:3-4

Though it’s vitally important to define and defend what we believe about God, the Bible says the Lord is my song. It doesn’t say the Lord is my doctrine. Faith is not a cold calculated affair, a reasonable decision made with the mind based on the evidence. It is an engagement of the heart that cannot help but praise. We don’t just sing about him. We sing to him. Our praise now is a participation in the praise of heaven and a preview of what’s to come when all of God’s people will join in praise together to the one who sings over us.

Sing aloud, O daughter of Zion; shout, O Israel! Rejoice and exult with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem! The Lord has taken away the judgments against you; he has cleared away your enemies. The King of Israel, the Lord, is in your midst; you shall never again fear evil. On that day it shall be said to Jerusalem: “Fear not, O Zion; let not your hands grow weak. The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

Zephaniah 3:14-17