As I Remember Singing
The first song I remember singing in church was 80+ years ago in Jefferson City, MO — We’re Marching to Zion. I was excited to be in a real church and hear all those singing voices. The second stanza said, “Let those refuse to sing who never knew our Lord.” Standing in the pew beside my mother I said in a voice too loud, “Why isn’t that lady singing?” Twelve years later, I recall the singing at the dedication of a church building designed by A. W. Dicus, author of Our God, He Is Alive (written 12 years later). As students in his Physics class, we learned his plans to build an auditorium where the congregants would hear the wonders of acapella singing and a preacher could speak in a whisper and still be heard. After numerous sound tests, the day came. I do not remember the songs but I do remember brother Dicus’ tears of joy as we sang those opening songs.
Jumping ahead 20 years, I remember Valerie Bell singing the alto lead in O I Want To See Him: “As I journey through this land singing as I go, pointing souls to calvary, to that crimson flow.” This song became the lead song of the BSC singers. Also, during those campus ministry days, I remember a favorite song at our devotionals and retreats, Pass It On. We adapted its lines: “It only takes a spark to get a fire going and soon all those around can warm up in its glowing. That’s how it is with God’s love. Once you’ve experienced it, it is fresh like spring, you want to sing, you want to pass it on.”
Let me explain about those songs in Paul’s letters. Several of them begin with the Greek particle, ‘Os, = “he who” (Col. 1:15ff; Phil. 2:6ff; 1 Tim. 3:16). They are written in more formal liturgical language. While they appear to just be dropped into the letter, these songs are very important to the teaching of the entire letter. They describe what God has done and is doing through Jesus his Son. They were sung more like a chant, not our elaborate harmonies. But their purpose was the same. They proclaim praises to God for what he is doing and they form us into the people he wants us to become.
I have three suggestions for the songs we sing:
Select a song which has shaped your Christian life in a meaningful way;
Select a song which speaks your joy to God for all that he has done in your life;
Select a song which affirms the character of this congregation.
May God bless us.
—Tom Yoakum