Pastors and theologians, of course; in fact, many preachers have been better-known for their songs than their sermons. Monks. Schoolteachers. Pharmacists. Fathers, mothers, old folks on their death bed, and teenagers. Evangelists. Lawyers. Piano teachers. English, German, Spanish, Indian, Israeli, and many other nationalities. Lovers. Divorced persons. Those who were single all their lives. Sailors. Knights. Soldiers. Those raised in church and those who were atheists before meeting Christ. Farmers. Cooks. College students. Gipsies. People with black skin, people with white skin, and people with all the shades in-between. Rich people. Poor people. Educated people and uneducated people.
Flipping through a book that tells the stories behind 150 hymns, some well-known and some more obscure, these are the situations of the authors that I see; I didn’t make up anything. Do you find yourself somewhere in there? Surely, all of us are somewhere in there; in fact, I even threw in my own situations to personalize it for me: I was a cook at college when I wrote my first hymn.
Profession, ethnicity, language, education, age, and gender do not stand in the way of making godly music. What does, if anything? There is something….
There must be a personal relationship with Christ.
That’s it. If you have come to know Jesus Christ as the only Saviour from your sins that would have landed you in eternal punishment, then you have what it takes to make music unto the Lord!
God-honouring songs express a variety of things that we will look at in depth later, but we will quickly peek at them right now:
ü They express a worshipful (loving, awe-inspired, etc.) response to God.
ü They express a testimony of what God has done.
ü They express teaching that believers need to know.
ü They express warnings that believers need to heed.
ü They express promises that believers need to remember.
So, as a believer, do you love God? Do you worship Him? Do you feel awe toward Him? Then you can choose to use a song to express that worship. Do you have a testimony of His salvation (if you’re a believer, you do!)? Do you have a testimony of His grace, His provision, His protection, His guidance? Write a song about it! Have you learned a lesson from Scripture that you would like to teach others? Would you like to warn others of some danger that is on your heart? Do you know of someone who needs encouragement from one of God’s promises? Use song to answer these needs.
It’s actually quite normal and natural. When I’m overflowing with joy, I often break out in the song “In my Heart There Rings a Melody”, or another song that expresses the joy in my heart. When I’m confused about my future and what I should do, songs like “He Leadeth Me” help to console me. When a good preacher wants to impress some truth on the minds of his listeners, he will choose a good song that matches his topic to drive in that truth. Of course, I often find myself lacking a song that fits exactly with my situation, and so I will write a new one; and many others throughout history have done this, as well.
The “who” is only limited by your relationship with Christ:
1. Do you know Him? And,
2. Are you submitted to His working through you (Phil. 4:13)?
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”
....Even make music.
Soli Deo Gloria
-Abby
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