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It is quite appropriate to educate singers in elocution, articulation, intonation, amplification, E Q, echo, harmony, tone, timing, timbre, resonance, diphthongs and diaphragmic vocalization, et al. These elements will certainly make your music more pleasant to the listeners. There is a critical need in Gospel Music, however, for all singers to give due diligence to the ACTUAL WORDS being sung. The lyrics must be scriptural. If they focus more on the storm, the valley, the circumstance, the work of the devil, feelings, fears or frustration, than they focus upon God, then He is under no obligation to respond to that song. These “soulish” types of songs may move your audience but they will not move God!
Numerous scriptures affirm that when we become God’s child, He puts a song in our heart. Psalms 40:3 says, “And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God.” Job 35:10 says God gives “songs in the night”. Psalms 32:7 records, “…Thou shalt compass me about with songs of deliverance”. In Psalms 77: 6, it says, “I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune with my own soul”. Psalms 149:5 says “Let the saints be joyful in glorious praise: let them sing ALOUD upon their beds”.
Have you ever reached the end of your rope? Have you tried everything and nothing seems to be working for you? Have you ever asked God, “what else can I do and where do I go from here?” If so, you are certainly not alone. In your lifetime, you may find yourself in the throes of crisis or catastrophe. You may have tried everything you could imagine and still see no immediate solution to your problem. Have you incorporated singing into your situation? If not, you are overlooking one of God’s “Weapons of Mass Destruction” that He has stored in the armory of your heart for times when you are under attack.
The tendency when going through a great test or trial is to murmur, complain, grumble, groan, or just lie in bed and toss and turn all night. God has a better idea: He commands us to SING. In fact, 305 verses in the Bible refer to singing and 287 verses contain this command. These commands are never predicated upon the quality of one’s voice. These scriptures are not a commentary on Professional Singing but a BATTLE STRATEGY for the people of God. That should be enough to get anyone’s attention.
Therefore, whether you are involved in the arenas of making, manufacturing, merchandizing, marketing or ministering Gospel Music, you need to know that God has more to say about the SONG than about the SINGER! Singing was God’s idea and it is amazing to see what emphasis He placed upon this unique method of spiritual expression for the believer. In fact, every revival in world has been accompanied by singing. Songs provide a ready-made praise vocabulary, contribute to unity in response and help release the inner emotions that may have been locked up due to spiritual struggles.
As you journey through the Bible, you will see many times when it is evident that SINGING IS THE SOLUTION for the problems you face. Let us look at a few just to confirm this scriptural principle.
1. SINGING IN TIME OF TROUBLE
In 1 Chronicles 25:5-7, we see that Heman had 14 sons and 3 daughters. They, along with their brethren, composed a choir and orchestra of 288 who were, “INSTRUCTED in the songs of the Lord”. This instruction they received from God gave them understanding of the “Place, Purpose and Power of Song”. They were taught that singing is the believer’s secret weapon against trouble. They saw that God had placed a high priority on songs. History would confirm this many times over through the millennia.
2. SINGING AFTER TRIUMPH
The “Song of Moses” recorded in Exodus 15 and repeated in Revelation 15:3-4 is a song of victory testifying to the fact that God had thrown the army from Egypt into the sea and forever removed them as a threat. Singing is a wonderful venue for praise and worship to God for what He has done for us and what He has promised to do for His children. Before, during and after the battle are great times to sing of God’s greatness and power.
3. SINGING FOR YOUR SUPPLIES
Numbers 21:17 is a prequel to many of the Principles of Confession that would be given later by our Lord. The Israelites were at a dry place with no water in sight. God, no doubt, directed them to start singing for their supplies. They began to sing an old War Song for the Lord, “Spring up, oh well…” Can you imagine the scoffers and skeptics as they watched the people gather round, bend down and start SINGING TO A DRY HOLE? The text records that the people called the place “Beer” (Heb. “well”) and, as they SANG to the well, it BECAME a well. The Princes and Nobles started digging and God gave them water. Their song was not a dirge about dry ground but an imploring the “hole” to start acting like a “well”. The need for water was supplied by the “Power of a Song”. Whether your dry well is an empty checkbook or a broken heart, your song can be the solution for an abundant supply from God’s storehouse.
4. SINGING TO SEE YOUR ENEMIES SMITTEN
Jehoshaphat’s miracle of deliverance in II Chronicles 20 shows that your enemies can be smitten by the “Power of your Song”. When faced with an eminent threat of death by three alien armies, this godly leader appointed “singers unto the Lord”. When the Israelites began to sing and to praise the Lord, God set an ambush for their enemies and they were utterly destroyed. Though grossly outnumbered and militarily overwhelmed, the people of God saw their enemies SMITTEN BY SONG. The “Evening News” reported that three massive armies were destroyed by a CHOIR! These villains were not spanked; they were smitten by God’s hand of vengeance because His people sang under pressure. It was not the sword but the SONG that brought victory to Israel.
JUST THINK WHAT YOUR SONG CAN DO TO DESTROY YOUR ENEMY. Debt, disease, distress, despair, disappointment, depression and defeat are all your enemies as a child of God. They may not retreat when confronted with prescriptions, prognoses, consolidation loans, therapies or human assistance but, they will flee from the “Singing Saint” who “sings unto God with the voice of triumph”, not just talent. They have no choice but to surrender to the “Power of Song” uttered by even the least musically qualified.
5. SINGING FOR COURAGE IN THE FACE OF CRISIS
Before Jesus was betrayed and arrested, He is seen in Mark 14:26 singing hymns in the Upper Room. There is no doubt that these crucial moments spent in song bolstered His COURAGE to face the Crucifixion. Just as Corrie Ten Boom related in her book, “The Hiding Place”, that she sang “Stand Up, Stand Up For Jesus” every morning before facing her captors in the German Concentration Camp, so Jesus could reinforce His courage and strength for the journey with the “Power of Song” before He faced His executioners. Whatever uncertainties you may be facing in your life will seem less ominous after you have SPOKEN “TO YOURSELF WITH PSALMS AND HYMNS AND SPIRITUAL SONGS, SINGING AND MAKING MELODY IN YOUR HEART UNTO THE LORD” (EPH. 5:19).
6. SINGING WHEN YOUR DREAMS SEEM SHATTERED
What do you do when your dreams disappear and your vision vanishes before your very eyes? Are things in your life definitely not going as you planned? You can look to this example of two missionaries locked in the Philippian jail as a paradigm for your pardon (See Acts 16).
The preaching of Paul and the singing of Silas had landed them in the dungeon. They had been beaten and their feet placed in stocks and NONE OF THIS was in the vision God had given Paul for this trip. So what do you do when it is midnight, you are in a deep, dark hole and you are trying to make some sense out of a horrible situation? You might do what this “Dynamic Duo” did. They started singing and praising God so loudly that the sleeping prisoners heard them. More importantly, GOD HEARD THEIR SONG IN THE NIGHT. That is right; He does not just listen to quartets sing. He responds equally well to solos, duets, trios, quartets and choirs.
The Lord was moved by the power of their song not the personnel. He responded to their song by sending an earthquake to set them free. Obviously, He liked their song, their spirit and their boldness to sing in a dungeon at the midnight hour. When things seemed the DARKEST, they sang the LOUDEST! God released them and restored the vision for their ministry because they sang in their prison. They did not sing about their prison but about their God. He has the keys to all cellblocks, stockades and dungeons. You cannot be “locked up” somewhere to terrible that you cannot be “looked up and let go” by God’s mighty power.
7. SINGING INTO YOUR BARRENNESS
Isaiah 54:1-3 tells us what to do when we are not getting the RESULTS we want to see. God directs the “barren” (non-productive) person to sing. When there is emptiness, deprivation, unfulfillment, lack of productivity, no harvest, no apparent results or increase from your labors, God says the way to TURN THINGS AROUND is to sing into your barrenness. He instructed the woman to SING WHAT SHE WANTS, NOT WHAT SHE HAS OR HOW SHE FEELS! Anyone can sing, “Oh, Lonesome Me”, “Born to Lose”, or “She Got the Goldmine and I Got the Shaft” because everyone has felt victimized at some period in their life.
God wants you to sing over your checkbook, booking schedule, bus payment, vacant position, empty crib, medical report, divorce papers or whatever has caused barrenness in your life. His word teaches us that there is enormous “Power in Song”. Nevertheless, for this power to be ignited, you must sing songs that EXALT your God not ELEVATE your problems. When He gives you a “Song in the night,” it is your weapon dispatched from His arsenal that will drive your enemy away from you and give you victory in every situation.
Our Lord responds to the quality of THE SONG, not the quality of THE SINGER! Not one of the biblical examples cited records songs of doom, gloom and despair. Their songs expressed praise to God, not perplexity over the conditions. Maybe all can learn this lesson on “content” and “talent”. These should not be mutually exclusive. However, in God’s schematic of spiritual warfare, the content of the song supersedes the talent of the singer every time. The objective for the Singing Saint is to be good, but more importantly, to be godly.
We will explore more of this topic,”The Power of Song” next month. Remember, God wants to hear you sing to Him and about Him, not about your problems. Your problems need to hear you sing about your Savior, Healer, Baptizer, Deliverer, Provider, Peace-Speaker, Miracle Worker, King of Kings and Lord of Lords. If you need help, my office can email you our list of 255 names of Christ in the Bible that reveal the full expression of His Deity.
****A Personal Word to Our Readers from Dr. Frazier****
There are great insights to be derived from the study of the Greek New Testament. Each month I will endeavor to share a nugget of truth from the Book of Truth, God’s Eternal Word.
These will be concise and should not intrude into your time or opportunity to explore the richness of the vein from which they were extracted. That is for you and the Holy Spirit to excavate together. These nuggets are just to let you know where to begin the digging, if you so desire. They are NOT designed to be an exhaustive commentary providing all the answers on the subject. The Spirit will guide you in how deep to dig. The Greek will be presented in a way that is easy to understand (transliterated) and easy to verify (“SC” refers to Strong’s Concordance). With a little help, you can check the assayers report for yourself. So, pull out this shiny, new nugget and see where it leads you. Please feel free to share your questions, observations or insights with our readers and me.
Website: http://www.donfrazier.com
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Written: 01/01/2007 
Author: Donald Frazier
Category:
Golden Nuggets
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