Why and When Should We Sing?

The Why?

There are several reasons our family has always made the singing of a hymn a part of our family worship resources. Though I am not a talented singer or song leader, I am so thankful my family has committed to singing each time we meet together before the Lord. Let me briefly outline the reasons why we feel this is important.

1. Good hymns communicate solid truth. The best hymns, whether several hundred years old or something from the 21st century, are loaded with Biblical, Christ-centered, God-exalting truth. From an early age my daughters have learned to sing the best Christian hymns and these are valuable lyrics that will stick with them for a lifetime.
2. Singing elevates the soul. There is nothing mystical about it. It is a well-known truth that joyful singing makes for happy hearts much like a joyful heart does good like a medicine (Proverbs 17:22). When our family sings together, we are united in a joyful exercise that again and again has proven to encourage and set a joyful tone for the rest of the day (we enjoy family worship at 8:30am).

The When?

I feel like a brief comment is appropriate as to when we should sing in the midst of family worship guide. Early in our history of family worship we would sing first. After a few years of this, I felt like it would be better to singing last. It is a fact that singing is sticky. When we close out our time of family worship with a hymn, time and time again the singing continues. One of us will be walking up the stairs to start our day, and a verse from the hymn we sung that morning will sound once more. Later in the day one daughter will be heard singing one line of the hymn and her sister finishes the other line. Because of the stickiness of great hymns, I think it is worthwhile for any family to at least give this a try.