The late Batsell Barrett Baxter had some wonderful thoughts on what worship in song should be all about; teaching, admonition and exhortation, praise, adoration, and thanksgiving, personal dedication, the petitioning to God for help and strength. I think we have to ask ourselves if our song service is conducive to each of these aspects of worship.


WORSHIP IN SONG
A sermon delivered by Batsell Barrett Baxter on October 6, 1968 at the Hillsboro Church of Christ, Nashville, Tennessee, and heard over radio station WLAC at 8:05 P.M.

On the night in which Jesus was betrayed just a few hours before he was to be crucified, he ate the Passover with his disciples for the last time and inaugurated the Lord’s Supper. At the end of this memorable meeting the scriptures tell us, And when they had sung a hymn they went out into the Mount of Olives. (Matt. 26;30). In reading this I have sometimes wondered what hymn they sang, and who was the one who began the singing. Did Jesus himself begin to sing with the apostles following. Or did our Lord call upon Peter, or John, or one of the lesser known apostles to lead the hymn? The answers to these questions we shall never know, but we do know
that our Lord and his apostles sang. Many years later the apostle Paul was a prisoner in Philippi. At midnight he and Silas were bound solidly in the stocks in this Roman prison. Undoubtedly many of the other prisoners were asleep when At midnight Paul and Silas prayed and sang praises unto God. (Acts 16:25). Again, I have often wondered the reaction of those who heard. In this darkened dungeon what did the other prisoners think as they heard the strains of Christian hymns at midnight? At a later time Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray with the understanding also; I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the understanding also. (I Cor. 14:15). He also wrote to the church at Ephesus, Speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord.ö (Eph. 5:19).

It is generally agreed that psalms refer to the actual psalms which we find in the Old Testament. Hymns are thought to be songs that are directed to God and Christ in praise and devotion. Spiritual songs are thought to be songs that are directed to fellow-Christians. In his short epistle, James, the Lord’s brother, taught, Is any among you suffering, let him pray. Is any among you cheerful, let him sing praise. (James 5:13). All of these passages indicate that the early Christians were a singing people. They sang as they walked on their journeys between the small towns of their ancient land. As they did their work, when circumstances permitted, they lifted their voices in song. In their assemblies they sang, as well as in small devotionals in homes and in caves. Singing was an important part of
Christian worship.

At still another time the apostle Paul wrote, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts unto God. (Col. 3:16). Singing was one of the five avenues of Christian worship which were taught Christians in the beginning of the church era. These avenues were: (1) prayer, (2) eating the Lord’s Supper, (3) giving of one’s means, (4) hearing the word of God expounded, and (5) singing. The silence of the scriptures, or as we sometimes speak of it the law of exclusion, permits no other acts of worship. For this reason we have no lighting of candles, no burning or incense, nor any other act of Christian worship today. We are pledged to do only that for which we find authority in the scriptures, and this means tha we must confine our acts of worship to the five avenues commanded and exemplified in the New Testament. I might also mention that the law of exclusion does not permit the use of mechanical instruments. This is the reason--the only real reason--that we do not use instrumental music in our worship. We are authorized to sing, but not to play. This was the universal practice in the early church and for half a dozen centuries after its beginning, according to the unanimous voice of church music historians.



It is obvious from a reading of the scriptures that Christians are to be a singing people. Great blessings come to God’s children as they engage in this act of worship. We recognize that the singing was never meaningless nor perfunctory, nor merely habit. The early Christians sang meaningfully and worshipfully, or to borrow the apostle Paul’s expression, with the spirit ... and with the understanding also. There was always purpose behind their singing. Let us note some of the purposes behind the singing of our Christian hymns today.

Teaching

One of the primary purposes for singing is teaching. As an example we might refer to that gem of a statement of our Lord in the Sermon on the Mount, which has been so beautifully set to music

Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not,
neither do they spin: and yet I say unto you, that Solomon in
all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

The message of this beautiful hymn is designed to encourage the Christian to believe that God will take care of him. He need not worry, he need not become a materialist, for God will provide.

Here is an example of a song which teaches basic fundamentals concerning the church.

The church’s one foundation is Jesus Christ her Lord.
She is His new creation by water and the word;
From heaven He came and sought her to be His holy bride;
With His own blood He bought her, and for her life He died.
Elect from every nation, yet one o’er all the earth;
Her charter of salvation: one Lord, one faith, one birth;
One holy name she blesses, partakes one holy food,
And to one hope she presses with every grace endued.

Admonition and Exhortation

Other songs we sing admonish and encourage those who are Christians to do what they already know they should do. Here is an example,

Take time to be holy, speak oft with thy Lord;
Abide in Him always, and feed on His word;
Make friends of God’s children; help those who are weak;
Forgetting in nothing His blessings to seek.
Take time to be holy, the world rushes on;
Spend much time in secret with Jesus alone;
By looking to Jesus, like Him thou shalt be;
Thy friends in thy conduct His likeness shall see.

Another song of exhortation says

Work for the night is coming,
Work through the morning hours;
Work while the dew is sparkling,
Work ‘mid springing flowers.
Work when the day grows brighter,
Work in the glowing sun;
Work, for the night is coming,
When man’s work is done.

How needed this admonition is in a day when so many other things crowd out the doing of the Lord’s work. Hardly a Lord’s Day passes but that we need to encourage each other to work while we have life and opportunity. Life is too fleeting and our opportunities are soon gone.

Yet another type of admonition song is the invitation. We often sing such words as,

While Jesus whispers to you ...
While we are praying for you ...
Now is the time to own Him ...
Now is the time to know Him,
Come sinner, come!

The effect of many voices saying these or similar words has led many a person outside of Christ to decide to respond to the Lord’s invitation. There is definitely a place in our singing for songs whose purpose is admonition, encouragement, and exhortation.

Praise, Adoration, and Thanksgiving

Yet another type of song is that in which we lift our voices in praise and adoration to God himself, or to Christ our Lord. One of the most meaningful is,

Holy, holy, holy! Lord God almighty!
Early in the morning our sings shall rise to Thee;
Holy, holy, holy! merciful and mighty!
God in three persons, blessed Trinity!
Holy, holy, holy! Tho’ the darkness hide Thee,
Tho’ the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see,
Only Thou art holy; There is none beside Thee,
Perfect in power, in love, and purity.

This is sheer praise and adoration. Another praise song has the words,

Fairest Lord Jesus! Ruler of all nature!
O Thou of God and man the Son!
Thee will I cherish, Thee will I honor,
Thou, my soul’s glory, joy, and crown.
Fair are the meadows, fairer still the woodlands,
Robed in the blooming garb of spring;
Jesus is fairer, Jesus is purer,
Who makes the woeful heart to sing.

Such songs of praise, adoration, and thanksgiving satisfy the inner urge to pay just tribute to the Creator of our universe and the Savior of our souls.

Personal Dedication

Other songs afford us an opportunity to reaffirm our commitment to Christ and to rededicate our lives to his Cause. One such song has
the words,

Have Thine own way, Lord! Have Thine own way!
Thou art the potter; I am the clay.
Mold me and make me after Thy will,
While I am waiting, yielded and still.

Another favorite of submission to the Lord’s will is

I am Thine, O Lord; I have heard Thy voice,
And it told Thy love to me,
But I long to rise in the arms of faith,
And be closer drawn to Thee.
Consecrate me now to Thy service, Lord,
By the power of grace divine;
Let my soul look up with a stedfast hope,
And my will be lost in Thine.

Petition to God and Christ

One final category is that of intimate, personal petition to God and Christ for strength and help.

We often sing such words as,

Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways;
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives Thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.

Then, there is the beloved hymn,

Be with me Lord--I cannot live without Thee,
I dare not try to take one step alone,
I cannot bear the loads of life unaided,
I need Thy strength to lean myself upon.
Be with me, Lord, when loneliness o’ertakes me,
When I must weep amid the fires of pain,
And when shall come the hour of my departure
For worlds unknown, O Lord, be with me then.

In this last hymn we are thinking about the time when life shall have run its course and we are getting ready to depart for the world beyond. How important it is to be with the Lord throughout life in order that he will be with us then.

Conclusion
As we have looked back we have seen that the early Christians often sang hymns or admonition to each other and of praise to God. Let us hope that we have come to feel a deeper meaningfulness in the hymns that we sing. Every Christian is commanded to sing. He must enter into this part of the worship even though he is not a skilled or expert musician. There are great blessings to be had in singing, which none of us must permit himself to miss. We need to think of the meaning of each song and to meditate on its message before we begin our singing. We need to tune our minds so that when a song is announced we are in the proper spirit and frame of mind to sing it for its intended purpose. We must enter into the singing with feeling and enthusiasm. In a sense we often sing above our present achievements so far as our Christian lives are concerned. We say things in song that are more spiritual and more Christian than we may yet feel in our hearts, but by saying them in song we stand a bit taller spiritually and come a step nearer to making these sentiments a reality in our lives. Singing is one of God’s ways of lifting us to a higher plane of devotion. Let us pray and let us work that our worship in song may be a blessing to us and an acceptable offering to our Father in heaven.

Great post, Joel. What if brother Baxter had lived to experience the technological advances in recent years? Hopefully, there are those who have been willing to sacrifice time and money to transcribe his works in ministering to precious souls in need of the truth and salvation. This humble man’s messages from God’s Word need to be out there on the worldwide web.

I agree that we need to emphasize the importance of the messages in the psalms, hymns and spiritual songs that Christians sing. After all, the two passages that you quoted stress the following: “Speaking to yourselves (or one to another) in…” (Eph. 5:19) and letting “the word of Christ dwell in you richly…” and “teaching and admonishing one another…” (Col. 3:16). Otherwise, singing has no meaning as intended.

Donnie

Donnie, I will respond to your request for information on another thread by private email as soon as I get over this bug that has laid me up for a couple of days.

What if Bro. Baxter had not recognized the technological advances and opportunities that television offered to Christians? Think of all those people who would have not received the Word into their homes every week and learned the Gospel. I pray that we never stop recognizing the God given technology that he provides to use for the spread of his Kingdom.

Donnie,
Too heavy a dose of any style of song can be unsettling and may not accurately reflect the Christian life. Ira North's book entitled Balance might provide an apt description of what is needed.
I appreciate (at times prefer) many of the older hymns. I do not, however, agree with those who criticize the newer songs because they speak of "I love" or "I praise."
The Psalms have frequent references to the psalmists love for God and praise for God (they even say "I will... sing praise to the name of the LORD most high" Psalm 7:17; other references to consider Psalms 9:1; 16:7; 18:49; 21:13; 22:22; 26:12; 35:18, etc., etc., etc.).
If you are emphasizing the value of Christians declaring their collective and individual need for God then I will reply with a hearty (motivated by concern for good theology) AMEN.
God bless.
Joe

So, Donnie,

It would seem that you are against against songs that "personalize" our praise or need by having "I" in them, correct?

Then the song you were bragging on above, "I Need Thee Every Hour," should really be "We Need Thee Every Hour." Do I have that right?

E.B.

Donnie,

Just admit that it is a personal preference thing and MOVE ON! Stamps Baxter who wrote what many older cofcers would consider are some of the stalwart songs of the CofC was criticized unmercifully when those songs originally came out....now they are considered "old" and people want to sing those songs more. Like you, they lament "where have all the good songs gone?". Well, all songs were new once and criticized specifically because they were new and unfamiliar.

That is what is going on here. Open your eyes and move on to something more meaningfull.....

We can debate STYLES but once you slide off the slippery slope there is no stopping until you hit the bottom.
We know that Ephraem from Syria was the first human to introduce SINGING as an act of worship in about the year 350. He composed 150 songs and naturally he wanted them sung "in church." There was NO singing of any form prior to that time. The word sing or ODE further defines the word PSALMOS as "in the form of Hebrew Cantillation." That it as Paul insisted SPEAK one to another. There were several WAVES which hit young, insecure America. The first was an outbreak of witchcraft in the young colonies. This, as do all such outbreaks, stemmed from competition between the clergy. I have collected several important documents on this period.

http://www.piney.com/Colonial.html

Early Calvinism was very instrumental because being approved demaned some supernatural manifestation. The clergy was right there to use charismatic mind control to MANUFACTURE the signs.

The so called First Great and Second Awakening were not far removed from witchcraft.

http://www.piney.com/AwkIndex.html

Movements to transport blacks to the northern cities and the later mass exodus brought the North under the CAPTIVITY of the Slaves--as slaves normally come to dominate their masters.

"In the late 18th century and up to the mid-19th, there were several waves of religious revivalism. The resulting camp meetings and revivals were marked by spontaneous mass singing. It is not completely known how the camp-meeting songs and revival spirituals were sung;


but it is thought that they were sung unharmonized, the tune typically begun by the high male voices, the women and basses joining in an octave (or other comfortable interval) above or below. A call-and-response pattern (as in lining out) may have at times been used. Melodies were apparently ornamented.


"A 19th-century offshoot of the spiritual was the gospel song. Influenced by "correct" European music,


it had composed melodies and texts, was sung with instrumental accompaniment, and (unlike the folk hymns) was written to be harmonized.

The Britannica also notes that: "Racial, ethnic, and language distinctions also can operate to create and maintain exclusive communities.

"The Negro churches of the United States, though open to members who are not Negroes, have become, in many sections of the United States, exclusive communities, largely through the exclusion of Negroes from white churches.

The worship of Negro communities has incorporated elements from African religions and has focussed upon forms of worship appropriate to a people OPPRESSED by the larger society and excluded from many of its benefits. The service generally is "freer" than that of the white churches, including a more significant place for congregational singing and responses and more active participation by the congregation than has become customary in most white churches. (See black American.)

Women and preachers were also somewhat excluded and were largely responsible for the charismatic outbreaks: the preachers often for control purposes and the women needing to approve and be approved.

Musically, it is believed that a complex intermingling of African and white folk-music elements occurred and that complementary traits of African music and white U.S. folksong reinforced each other. For example, the call-and-response pattern occurs in both, as do certain scales and the variable intonation of certain notes.


Most authorities see clear African influence in vocal style and in the complex polyrhythmic clapped accompaniments.

African tradition also included polyphonic and choral singing. The ring shout (a religious dance usually accompanied by the singing of spirituals and clapped rhythms) is of African ancestry.


After the Civil War the black spirituals were "discovered" by Northerners and either developed toward harmonized versions, often sung by trained choirs, or, conversely, preserved the older traditional style, especially in rural areas and certain sects. Like the white gospel song, the modern black gospel song is a descendant of the spiritual and is instrumentally accompanied. Black gospel music is closely related to secular black music (as is the spiritual to the work song and blues) and often


includes jazz rhythms and instruments alongside traditional clapped accompaniment and often dance. Though gospel songs are usually composed, the melodies are taken for improvisational bases in church services, as popular tunes are improvised upon in jazz.


"The camp-meeting revivals on the western frontiers sparked the composition or adoption of more popular tunes and easily learned words. Some elements came from English sources. while others--especially the pattern of verse-and-refrain--were borrowed from black folk music.

"Still, however, "the more conservative church leaders, especially among Presbyterians and Congregationalists, tried to keep such songs out of regular services, reserving them only for seasons of revival.

"Not until after the Finney revival era, 1825-1835, did the proscriptions on popular religious song fall away. During the same period, the teaching and learning of music, especially singing in choruses, was becoming a popular pastime.

The music teacher became a familiar figure in the West and the music institute in the East, bringing songbooks and the skills of reading musical notation to the populace at large. These developments opened the way for the genre of popular religious song called the "gospel hymn."

The replacement of the psalms with human compositions was a product of the "high church" movement which gave protestants the same authority as the Catholic church to "change with the times." However:

"The first three centuries of the church witnessed many controversies; some of them concerned themselves directly with music. The most important of these issues were:


(a) organized versus spontaneous praying and singing;
(b) scriptural versus extrascriptural poems;
(c) fusion with Hellenistic music;
(d) vocal versus instrumental music;
(e) the rise of monasticism and its influence upon ecclesiastical chant." (Interpreter's Dict of the Bible, Music, p. 467).


The first problem occurred when the doxologies of the Bible which were like Psalms were replaced by "a great number of spontaneous and highly individualized doxologies." However, the non-Biblical responses were ratified and codified at the second synod of Vaison in 529. This writing of their own "song book" virtually destroyed spontaneous or Biblical worship.

However, sectarian introduction of any thing not Biblical is almost always based on commercial interest (more attendees, etc.)

"The large displacement of the Psalter by other matter of praise in the Protestant Churches during the last one hundred years has been due, no so much to the lack of appreciation of the Psalms,


as to the commercial enterprise of music publishers." (Int Std Bible Ency., Psalms, p. 2494B).