January 31, 2007 (David Cloud, Fundamental Baptist Information Service, P.O. Box 610368, Port Huron, MI 48061, 866-295-4143, fbns@wayoflife.org; for instructions about subscribing and unsubscribing or changing addresses, see the information paragraph at the end of the article) -

The position of song leader is important. Just as orchestras need effective conductors and armies need effective officers, churches must have the right song leaders if they are to have effectual song services. An individual can worship God alone effectively if he is so inclined, but a congregation must be led. That is why God has ordained leaders and has set forth high qualifications for them. It is true that the New Testament does not spell out the position of song leader or music director, but the Old Testament plainly sets forth this pattern and there is no need to restate it in the New. Sanctified common sense dictates its necessity.

“And Chenaniah, chief of the Levites, was for song: he instructed about the song, because he was skilful” (1 Chronicles 15:22; see also 1 Chronicles 25).

In Israel the music associated with the worship of Almighty God was carefully prepared and skillfully performed with godly oversight. We should have no less in the churches of Jesus Christ. Yet all too often the song service is led by individuals who know almost nothing about what they are doing and/or do not have the enthusiasm and spirituality and personality to do the job.

No wonder many are tempted to go to a church that has an enthusiastic contemporary worship service. No wonder young people often think of church as dull. I received an e-mail recently from a woman who informed me that her family left an independent Baptist church that was lifeless and boring and that they are now happy members of a lively, contemporary Southern Baptist congregation. I wonder how many people have turned away from the truth because it was presented in an incredibly boring manner!

Friends, church does not have to boring, and the godly solution is not found in the contemporary direction!

If a church is young and the congregation small, it is understandable that there might not be proper musicians and song leaders. No one expects a young church to have everything that a more established church can have. Under such conditions, the church must do the best it can with what it has. We are referring here to established churches that could do better in this department but don’t simply because it is not a priority.

1. LEADERSHIP

Good song leaders lead rather than follow. Some song leaders seem to think that their only job is to announce the song numbers. Actually their job is to lead the congregation in singing unto the Lord, and that entails many things. They should lead out with their voices and with their enthusiasm. They should lead by teaching the people how to sing properly unto the Lord and by explaining the message of difficult songs. They should lead by introducing variety into the services, and in many other ways. It is said that “everything rises and falls on leadership,” and there is great deal of truth to that. Consider the following examples from the Psalms. Note how the Psalmist exhorts the people to sing and praise God with him. He does not berate or scold. He encourages and instructs and leads, reminding the people why they should praise the Lord.

“Sing unto the Lord, O ye saints of his, and give thanks at the remembrance of his holiness” (Psalm 30:4).

“O magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt his name together” (Psalm 34:3).

“Sing praises to God, sing praises: sing praises unto our King, sing praises.  7 For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding” (Psalm 47:6-7).

“Exalt the Lord our god, and worship at his holy hill; for the Lord our God is holy” (Psalm 99:9).

“Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands” (Psalm 100:1).

“O give thanks unto the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the people. Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk ye of all his wondrous works” (Psalm 105:1-2).

“Praise ye the Lord, O give thanks unto the Lord; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever” (Psalm 106:1).

“Praise ye the Lord. Praise, O ye servants of the Lord, praise the name of the Lord” (Psalm 113:1).

“O praise the Lord, all ye nations: praise him, all ye people. For his merciful kindness is great toward us; and the truth of the Lord endureth for ever. Praise ye the Lord” (Psalm 117:1-2).

‘Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the name of the Lord; praise him, O ye servants of the Lord” (Psalm 135:1).

“Praise ye the Lord: for it is good to sing praises unto our God; for it is pleasant; and praise is comely” (Psalm 147:1).

“Praise ye the Lord. Sing unto the Lord a new song, and his praise in the congregation of saints” (Psalm 149:1).

“Praise ye the Lord. Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. ... Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord. Praise ye the Lord” (Psalm 150: 1, 6).

The Psalmists were good song leaders!

2. PREPARATION

The song leader represents the church and Jesus Christ, and he should therefore be well prepared. He should be prepared week by week by prayerfully seeking the Lord’s will for the service, by choosing the songs prayerfully and wisely, by preparing his own heart before the Lord.

He should also prepare himself by doing all he can to learn how to be a better song leader. (There are materials that can help with this. See “Helpful Music Resources” at the music section of the Apostasy database at the Way of Life web site -- http://www.wayoflife.org/fbns/helpful.htm.)

It is not absolutely necessary that the song leader be able to read music, but it is a great advantage if he can. Learning how to read music it is not that difficult if a person is willing to make the necessary effort.

He should be prepared by studying the lyrics to songs and hymns and even the backgrounds to the songs. Pastor Ken Shaver, Greater Cumberland Baptist Church, Hopkinville, Kentucky, has led singing in large churches. He observes: “Another thing that I would mention is how important it is to learn the story behind the song. Knowing that H.G. Spafford wrote ‘It is Well’ after his children drowned in a shipwreck and that ‘Amazing Grace’ represents the testimony of a former slave trader, I believe adds so much depth to the songs. 101 Hymn Stories and 101 More Hymn Stories by Kenneth W. Osbeck (Kregel Publications) are both excellent publications.”

The song leader should also be prepared by understanding how to discern the difference between sacred and contemporary music. (Again, there are materials that can help with this. See “Helpful Music Resources” at the music section of the Apostasy database at the Way of Life web site -- http://www.wayoflife.org.)

3. EDIFICATION

1 Corinthians 14 is about church services and spiritual gifts, and the theme is edification. Twenty times in that chapter we find the words “edify,” “know,” and “understand.” Paul says, “Let all things be done unto edifying” (1 Cor. 14:26).

This means that music used in church services should not be for entertainment. That is not the purpose of church services. The objective is spiritual edification.

According to Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, our music should minister in three directions: toward the Lord (Eph. 5:19), toward ourselves (Eph. 5:19), and toward others (Col. 3:16).

This means that each song should be selected because of its message. If the message is weak, there is little or no edification.

Further, if the message of the song is spiritual but couched in words that are not understood by the congregation, there is still no edification. Many of the old hymns use words that must be explained. The song “Beulah Land,” for example. What is Beulah? Unless the people know the meaning of that word, the song will be nearly meaningless. There is the same problem with “Here I raise mine Ebenezer, hither by thy help I’m come” in the song “Come Thou Fount.” The song “A Mighty Fortress Is Our God” contains these words: “Lord Sabaoth is His name, from age to age the same...” Unless the people know what Sabaoth means, they will not be edified by that part of the song.

It is the song leader’s job to explain such things in a concise manner. I don’t mean that he takes 10 minutes to discuss each song. That can become tedious and can discourage the people. The song service is not about the song leader explaining things; it is about actually singing the songs of Zion to one another and to the Lord (Eph. 5:19). The song leader must be careful that he not interpret the service continually with lengthy testimonies and discussions, but it is important to take a moment to define lyrics that might not be understood and to briefly reinforce the message of the songs.

The people need to be taught and reminded to think about the words of the songs. No matter how spiritual the songs are, if the people are not meditating on the message, no edification is accomplished. It is a song leader’s job to lead the people in this matter, to help them focus their attention, not to berate them but to encourage and lead them.

Something as simple as this can do the job: “Folks, let’s sing unto the Lord today. Let’s put aside the cares of life and turn out hearts to Christ. Let’s think about the words of these glorious songs and let’s let the message sink down into our hearts.”

4. SPIRITUALITY

The Lord Jesus Christ said, “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth” (Jn. 4:24).

Our song services should be spiritual. The music should not please the flesh, should not be worldly. In this day when the world’s music is creeping into the Lord’s house, song leaders must be on guard continually against this type of thing. If it sounds like the world’s dance or sensual entertainment music, it is not fitting for the house of God!

“Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world” (1 John 2:15-16).

“Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4).

5. TRUTH

Not only are we to worship God in spirit but also in truth (John 4:24). Thus all of the songs should be doctrinally sound, should conform to the truth of God’s Word. The song leader should go through the lyrics of each song, making sure that it is preaching truth. This is true for the older hymns as well as for the newer ones. For example, the chorus to the song “We’ve a Story to Tell to the Nations” says, “For the darkness shall turn to dawning, and the dawning to noonday bright, and Christ’s great kingdom shall come to earth, the kingdom of love and light.” The second verse says, “We’ve a song to be sung to the nations that shall lift their hearts to the Lord, a song that shall conquer evil and shatter the spear and sword.” That presents the unscriptural post-millennial view of prophecy, that the return of Christ’s kingdom will be gradually brought in as the gospel overthrows the evils of this world. The song “Love Divine, All Loves Excelling” by Charles Wesley has the Methodist doctrine of a second blessing and entire sanctification in the second verse: “Let us find that second rest; take away our bent to sinning...”

An example of a popular contemporary song that contains false teaching is “Majesty.” The author, Jack Hayford, is a popular Pentecostal preacher who believes in tongues speaking, healing in the atonement and such, and his song reflects his theology. The song says, “Majesty, kingdom authority...” What is this kingdom authority? It is the unscriptural charismatic doctrine that believers have apostolic authority here and now.

Thus the song leader must ever be on his guard against false doctrine, so that we are worshipping God in truth.

6. ENTHUSIASM AND A POSITIVE ATTITUDE

There is no reason why our song services should be boring, and the song leader has a lot of responsibility in this regard. If he has no enthusiasm and leads in a boring manner, the congregation will probably reflect that.

Pastor David Earnhart of Fundamental Baptist Church, Escondido, California, who has been in the ministry for many years, observes: “I ALWAYS avoid scolding the crowd for not singing! That only makes them resent me! You must give them a positive reason (surely there are many!) for singing heartily. And repeating old clichés (‘Folks, lets just raise the roof on this verse’) SOON becomes old, and does not work. The song leader must help interpret the meaning of the song and why it should be sung with enthusiasm. That always brings better results.”

7. WISDOM

An important part of a song leader’s job is choosing the songs, and this requires that he understand the different categories and purposes of the songs. Ephesians 5:19 gives two basic purposes for Christian singing: “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” One purpose is to exhort and encourage and instruct one another in Christ, and the other purpose is to praise the Lord. There are songs directed toward man and others directed toward God. The songs and hymns in a standard hymnbook in Baptist churches can be grouped into one of these general categories.

SONGS DIRECTED TOWARD MAN

Songs of Exhortation

• Take the Name of Jesus With You
• There Is Power in the Blood
• We’ll Work Till Jesus Comes
• We’re Marching to Zion
• Will Jesus Find Us Watching?
• God Will Take Care of You
• God Leads Us Along
• Jesus Never Fails
• In Times Like These
• His Way With Thee (Would you live for Jesus)
• Is Your All on the Altar?
• Yield Not to Temptation
• Trust and Obey
• Take Time to Be Holy
• Tell It To Jesus
• Make Me a Channel of Blessing
• Our Best
• Count Your Blessings
• Songs of Encouragement
• Sweet By and By
• Face to Face
• There’ll Be No Dark Valley
• My Savior First of All
• Where We’ll Never Grow Old
• Beulah Land
• When We All Get to Heaven
• He the Pearly Gates Will Open
• Saved by Grace
• When He Cometh
• Is It the Crowning Day?
• Some Golden Daybreak
• Just When I Need Him Most
• Does Jesus Care?
• Day by Day
• Near to the Heart of God
• All the Way My Savior Leads Me
• ‘Til the Storm Passes By
• Each Step I Take
• Anywhere With Jesus
• Never Alone
• Trusting Jesus
• Burdens Are Lifted at Calvary

Songs of Commitment

• Where He Leads I’ll Follow
• Wherever He Leads I’ll Go
• If Jesus Goes With Me
• Living for Jesus
• Higher Ground
• Give Me Jesus

Songs of Evangelism

• Room at the Cross for You
• Kneel at the Cross
• Are You Washed in the Blood?
• There Is Power in the Blood
• There Is a Fountain
• Look to the Lamb of God
• Ye Must Be Born Again
• Whosoever Will
• Look and Live
• Christ Receiveth Sinful Men
• Jesus Saves
• He Is Able to Deliver Thee
• Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus
• The Light of the World Is Jesus
• Verily, Verily
• Once for All
• Honey in the Rock
• Jesus Is Calling
• Have You Any Room for Jesus?
• Through Out the Lifeline

SONGS DIRECTED TOWARD GOD

The second broad category is that of “singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” There are four basic types of worship songs and hymns that come under this category: (1) those with lyrics that are directed to God or in direct praise about God; (2) those that are meditative and that reflect upon God; (3) those that are testimonies about God, and (4) those that are prayers to God.

Worship Directed to God or in Direct Praise about God

• Glory to His Name
• I Need Thee Every Hour
• Lead Me to Calvary
• Jesus, Lover of My Soul
• Rock of Ages
• Come, Thou Almighty King
• To God Be the Glory
• Our Great Savior
• All Hail the Power
• My Jesus, I Love Thee
• Jesus! the Very Thought of Thee
• Jesus, I Am Resting
• Great Is Thy Faithfulness
• O Worship the King
• To God Be the Glory

Meditative Worship about God

• What a Wonderful Savior
• When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
• Jesus Paid It All
• Near the Cross
• Blessed Redeemer
• One Day
• The Old Rugged Cross
• At the Cross
• And Can It Be That I Should Gain?
• Nothing but the Blood
• Wounded for Me
• In the Garden
• Alas and Did My Savior Bleed?
• Hallelujah for the Cross
• He Lives
• I Know That My Redeemer Liveth
• Like a River Glorious
• He Hideth My Soul
• All That Thrills My Soul
• No One Ever Cared for Me Like Jesus
• Blessed Be the Name
• I Am His, and He Is Mine
• Jesus Is the Sweetest Name I Know
• It’s Just Like His Great Love
• The Love of God
• He Is So Precious to Me
• No, Not One!
• The Lily of the Valley
• If I Gained the World

Some hymns are a combination of encouragement to the believer and worship directed to God. “Savior, Like a Shepherd Lead Us” is an example of this. The lyrics are all directed to Christ, and sometimes they remind us of his tender care and sometimes they are pure worship: “Blessed Jesus, Blessed Jesus, Thou hast bought us, Thine we are...”

Worshipful Testimony

These are in the category of worship to God because the believer’s testimony is all of God and because of His love and grace.

• My Faith Has Found a Resting Place
• My Anchor Holds
• Leaning on the Everlasting Arms
• A Shelter in the Time of Storm
• The Heaven of Rest
• I Know Whom I Have Believed
• Blessed Assurance
• We Have an Anchor
• It Is Well With My Soul
• The Solid Rock
• Love Lifted Me
• My Savior’s Love
• Such Love
• Wonderful, Wonderful Jesus
• He Keeps Me Singing
• I Will Sing the Wondrous Story
• Since Jesus Came into My Heart
• My Redeemer
• Only a Sinner
• Grace Greater Than Our Sin
• Wonderful Grace of Jesus
• He Included Me
• Builded on the Rock
• Surely Goodness and Mercy
• Jesus Is All the World to Me
• A Child of the King
• Moment by Moment
• Christ Liveth in Me
• Nor Silver Nor Gold
• Hallelujah, ‘Tis Done
• A New Name in Glory
• The Cleansing Wave
• I Love to Tell the Story
• Since I Have Been Redeemed
• The Old Account Settled
• Amazing Grace
• Saved, Saved!
• Redeemed
• Saved by the Blood!
• Now I Belong to Jesus

Prayers to God

• Come, Thou Fount
• Whiter Than Snow
• Open My Eyes, That I May See
• My Faith Looks Up to thee
• Take My Life, and Let It Be
• More Love to Thee
• Just a Closer Walk with Thee
• O to Be Like Thee!
• Make Me a Blessing
• Draw Me Nearer
• Revive Thy Work
• Lead Me Gently Home, Father
• Cleanse Me

If we are going to worship God in song we have to use songs that are truly worshipful.

A proper selection of songs and hymns is therefore basic. The song leader must understand the purpose of the various songs and hymns and make a wise, Spirit-led choice for each service.

8. SPIRITUAL DISCERNMENT

Those who are in charge of the church’s music must have spiritual discernment so they can select godly songs and reject those that are worldly and that appeal to the flesh. One of the chief ways that contemporary music enters churches is through the specials. I witnessed this on a recent preaching trip to 12 churches in three countries. About half of the churches allowed special music that was at least mildly contemporary. In each of these cases, the congregational music was traditional, while the special music was contemporary. I learned that the men in charge of the music did not know how to discern contemporary music.

A friend wrote recently, “‘In Christ Alone’ is a song that has been sung several times at our church. This song was popularized by Michael English (CCM) and was written by Shawn Craig of the CCM group Philips, Craig and Dean. It takes a strong pastor and a strong song leader to help guard from the wrong music coming in.” (We have addressed this in a video presentation entitled “Learning to Distinguish between Sacred and Contemporary Styles of Music,” which is available from Way of Life Literature.)  

9. PATIENCE AND HUMILITY

The following suggestions were given to me by Vince Londini:

“In my 10-years as a song leader, and at times a choir director and ensemble leader, I found that ‘working with people’ was an important skill. With regard to leadership, instead of being demanding or simply expecting, patiently work with the pianist. Plan ahead and give the numbers to your pianist well in advance. Encourage your pianist. If there’s credit to dole out or blame to assign, take the blame for yourself and dole out the credit to the musicians. Too often I’ve seen a song leader stop, stare, or comment when the pianist made a mistake which subsequently embarrassed the leader. Don’t take your embarrassment out on the musician. Be flexible and don’t draw attention to others’ mistakes (as if to make sure that everyone knows the mistake wasn’t yours). Better yet, learn not to be embarrassed. Kill your pride, and let accidents and mistakes roll off of you graciously. A gracious attitude toward mistakes encourages the musicians to keep trying, knowing that a mistake or two isn’t the end of the world. When I first started song leading, the pianist at my home church was very unskilled (having just taken up the piano) and very uncertain about what skills she had. She would often get the timing wrong. For a time, I picked only songs she felt comfortable playing, and at times my arms waved in submission to her timing. We learned to sing it her way, without any public comment or criticism from me. I just tried to work graciously with whatever happened. As her skill improved, I could point out the timing issues, which she could now properly address. Because her heart was dedicated to serving the Lord, she practiced and practiced until she became a good church pianist. But, in the beginning I submitted myself to her and worked with her within her abilities, to help her get up to speed. It was an important lesson for me, as a young man, to submit to others rather than lord over them.”

10. LIBERTY AND DIVERSITY

Too many churches are stuck in a rut with their song services. Variety is the spice of life. You don’t have to look far in creation to see that God is a God of diversity and variety.

Suggestions for Introducing Variety into  a Song Service

New songs should be introduced regularly and then sung frequently until they become an integral part of the church family’s ever-enlarging song repertoire. In recent years Majesty Music published a new hymnbook which contains many beautiful songs which were written in the last few decades. (For the address for Majesty Music see the aforementioned article “Helpful Resources on Music” at the Way of Life web site.) This music is contemporary in the sense that it is new but it is not contemporary in style. (We must warn that some of the new Patch the Pirate children’s tapes are, in our opinion, moving in the direction of contemporary sounds.)

Pastor David Earnhart says: “For many years we have used the Chorus of the Month. And don’t forget the ‘old songs.’ I have often used songs like ‘Thank You Lord for Saving My Soul.’ Last year many raised their hands to indicate they did not know that song (even if it was ‘old hat’ to us old-timers!).  This brings new Christians into the ‘common fold’ of music shared by Christians over many miles, and even generations.”

Pastor Don Williams, Believers Baptist Church in Winona Lake, Indiana, says: “As for learning new songs, my family regularly picks out a new song from our hymnal and works on learning it for a couple weeks. Then we introduce it to the congregation as a special and begin to sing it in the song services. Our church has learned a lot of new songs that way.”

Singing Scripture is a wonderful way to praise the Lord and edify the saints. During the Sunday evening services, for example, some churches sing Scripture songs. Two sources for these are North County Baptist Church, 221 W. 9th Ave., Escondido, CA 92027 and Tri-City Baptist Church, 4500 Selsa Rd., Blue Springs, MO 64015. Not only do these introduce variety within the music program, but nothing surpasses the actual words and verses of Scripture for doctrinal purity.

Even the most familiar songs can be made more interesting by an imaginative change in the manner of presentation. For example, on some verses the accompanying musicians can drop out while the congregation sings A cappella. Or one verse can be sung by the women, then the next by the men. The choir, singing group, or soloist can be accompanied by the congregation in places. The timing of the song can be altered, etc., etc. The chorus can be sung with a little more enthusiasm and volume as the song progresses. There are endless means of singing old songs in new ways (without going contemporary).

The song service can also be spiced up with the multiplication of musical instruments. Some of the most enjoyable song services I have participated in have been those accompanied by small orchestras. The Majesty Hymnal offers complete orchestrations for each song in the volume.

CONCLUSION

I will conclude with these comments from Pastor Doug Hammett, Lehigh Valley Baptist Church, Emmaus, Pennsylvania: “Keep the service alive! A song leader who is anticipating meeting with the Lord in the service will display that in his countenance, tone of voice and attitude. It will catch fire with the people as well. Encourage the people to participate. Don’t berate them, encourage them. Keep the service warm! Speak to the people as friends. Don’t be afraid to encourage one person by name, all the others will pay close attention to what you are saying to him. Keep a record of what you sing and don’t get in a rut!!! Singing the same old songs all the time may be easy for you, but it will put the people to sleep mentally. Remember you are preparing for the preaching! Starting the service with lively music and bringing the mood to a thoughtful, reflective manner before the message is a good plan.”