Singing The Bible

I was talking with someone yesterday who was expressing the all-too-common sentiment that he finds it hard to read the Bible. I don’t know how many people I’ve spoken to over the years about the importance of Bible reading, and had this response.

In contrast, its not often though that I find someone who finds it hard to listen to music.

Just today I have loaded Spotify on to my computer. This application enables me to listen to music online – for free, and legally! I have gone through my Amazon wish list of all the CD’s I want but can’t afford and now have them set-up as playlists on my Spotify account. Sweet.

We love music.

Perhaps the reason we so often miss the power of Scripture is because we are reading in our heads rather than singing it out loud. It is only in the last 500 years that people have started reading silently in their heads. Before that, when people read, they read out loud.

And sang.

We see this most clearly with the Psalms. We all know that very often music has the ability to connect with us far more powerfully than words we read silently in our heads, or even words that we speak out loud. That’s why when we teach children things they need to remember we often do it by song – A,B,C,D… – and why we find it easier to remember worship songs than memory verses. And this is why the Psalms have been so powerful for worship – they are crying out to be sung.

Struggling with the Bible? Try singing the Psalms.

One way of looking at the Psalms is to compare them with the letters page of a newspaper or magazine. In a letters page there is some similarity about all the letters – they all have a beginning and an end, they all try to make a point, they are all recognisably letters. But different letters have different purposes – some letters will be letters of complaint, others will be letters of praise or thanks, some will be making a humorous observation, others will be asking for help or advice.

The Psalms are somewhat similar. They are all recognisably Psalms, but there are many different kinds of Psalm. Some are Psalms of complaint – “why is this happening to me God? Why don’t you do something about this situation God?” Others are Psalms of thanks – “God you are so good, so worthy of praise, you have treated me so well…” Some are Psalms of praise – “God is king, let’s all worship him.” Some Psalms are full of confidence while others are full of doubt; some are angry, others are happy. Many are petitions – “God won’t you please do this for me” – while others describe loss and heartache. Some of them are instructional or devotional – they are meant to teach us about God and his character. Some Psalms are very personal, very individual, describing one persons desires and longings. Others are very communal, expressing the hopes and dreams of all the people of God. And there are other types of Psalm besides.

To my friend who was struggling with Bible reading I suggested getting an MP3 audio Bible download. Perhaps even better advice would have been to sing a Psalm.

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