Sing to Myself a New Song

Douglas Wilson has a tremendous article on sacred music in his blog today. Here's an excerpt to whet your appetite. Be sure to stop here and read the entire post.

"As we sing, certain characteristics should be obvious to all who hear the singing. Our congregational singing should have at least the following characteristics. First, it should be reverent. The flippancy with which some address God is truly frightening. "The Lord reigns; let the peoples tremble! He dwells between the cherubim; let the earth be moved! The Lord is great in Zion, and He is high above all the peoples. Let them praise your great and awesome name -- He is holy" (Ps. 99:1-3). We should note the KJV translation of awesome -- terrible. Moreover, this requirement to be God-fearing was not an Old Covenant thing -- notice Paul's teaching in Philippians, which is to "work out your own salvation with fear and trembling" (2:12). Do not sing to the Lord with your mind somewhere else, or while entertaining various jolly thoughts. Worship of God needs to be acceptable, which means it must be offered in reverance and godly fear. This is because God is a consuming fire (Heb. 12:28-29)."

Amen!