It is abundantly clear from the word of God that our first and foremost duty is to praise and glorify God.
Shorter Catechism.
Question 1: What is the chief end of man?
Answer: Man's chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever [1 Cor 10:31].
"For of Him, and through Him, and to Him, are all things; to whom be glory for ever, Amen" [Romans 11:36].
What great reason we have to constantly praise Him, when we consider the many gracious mercies which the Lord in his goodness gives each one of us in great abundance every day we live. Above all else, how much we ought to glorify God for His great and wonderful salvation provided through and by the Lord Jesus Christ for great sinners on this earth.
"For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on Him should not perish, but have everlasting life" [John 3:16].
So our clear duty is to sing heartily to the Lord whenever we have occasion to do so, as we have it so clearly stated in
Psalm 95 among many other Psalms.
In Ps 95 vs. 1 & 2 we have these encouraging words to praise our great benefactor -
O come, let us sing to the Lord;
come, let us ev'ry one
A joyful noise make to the Rock
of our salvation.
Let us before his presence come
with praise and thankful voice;
Let us sing psalms to him with grace,
and make a joyful noise.
The following is an extract from "Constrained by his love" - a new biography on Robert Murray M’Cheyne, who was described as an outstanding man of God. We get some idea of his views on singing.
M’Cheyne loved singing a great deal and therefore attached much value to good congregational singing. He thought it was a shame that "Christians did not endeavour to sing the praise of God well". His musical ability played a role here.
During the summer months he organized separate Song Evenings. He usually didn't use songs, but Psalms and those "Paraphrases" that were approved by the church; these were metrical versions of Bible texts. A great favourite was Paraphrase 54: "Jesus my Lord, I know His name". He was no supporter of choirs, and even less of organ playing during the worship. To the contrary, however, he was liberal in the use of hymns.
Often he would lead the singing in the church himself, when his favourite tune, that of "Newington", was chosen for the psalm to be sung. Later this tune became known as "M’Cheyne's tune".
DM Fraser
