The Singing of Christian Men

On December 4th, 1685, John Nisbet was sent to the Lord by the executioner’s hand. It was during the killing times in Scotland where the tyrannical Anglicans were seeking to bind the consciences of the Scottish Presbyterians. 

The Nisbet family tree had committed themselves to the Covenant. And a handcopied New Testament passed down through the generations convinced them of the Gospel. John Nisbet had fought and been wounded in many battles. He had lost his wife and daughter to exposure when the Redcoats burned his house. Finally, he was captured by forty Dragoons and taken to Edinburgh for trial. When he was brought out for execution, he met the crowd with joy in Christ. He offered them the Gospel and he died singing Psalm 34.¹ 

This godly Covenanter met his Savior singing. He encouraged his own soul and left a powerful witness to the crowd testifying of his faith in his Savior through singing. Perhaps he took his pattern from the Apostles, who, after a day of preaching, being attacked by a mob, beaten with rods, and thrown in prison, were praying and singing (Acts 16:25). These Christian fathers in the faith force us to ask ourselves a few questions; Do we know any Psalms or hymns well enough to sing them from memory if they took away our hymnal/psalter? Could we sing if the power went out? Could we sing if our bodies were bleeding, our bones were bruised, and we were shackled in a prison cell? Could we sing if we were being led to our execution? 

Real Christian men can. Real Christian men have. Could I? Right now? It is a manly activity to sing with conviction. If you do not think so, just attend a presbytery meeting. And no matter your age or position in the Church, singing is an avenue for you to train in masculine practices as well as an outlet for masculine conviction. “I cannot sing” is no excuse. “I cannot sing like so and so, or like ___,” is an even worse excuse. 

But singing with conviction requires a few things. So let us consider Colossians 3:16 for a few practical points: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” 

1. Sing the rich songs

Now, we all have some songs memorized. Whether it is the jingle for a common commercial, or a song from pop culture, or a children’s song, we all have something in the memory. But not all songs are equally edifying. No matter how deep your voice is, hollow praise songs with repeated choruses do not inspire; they tire. They cater to effeminate emotions and emotions wear out long before convictions do. 

We are to let the word dwell in us richly. Is our mental library of Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs well supplied and rich? Or does our memory for hymns resemble a book shelf occupied only by comic booklets? Brothers, let us sing songs that give us the whole Christ for the whole man. Psalms such as Psalm 22, Psalm 110, and Psalm 23 would be a good place to start. Hymns like “O Come, All Ye faithful” or “How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds” not only give us an accurate Christ, they also incorporate and enforce the language of our Creeds. Isaac Watts wrote many of his hymns as paraphrases of the Psalms and other New Testament passages. The Hymns of Horatius Bonar, John Newton, and Martin Luther often take biblical truths and apply them to the soul, as in the dialectic hymn “I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say.” And even more recently the hymn book published by the OPC includes the works of James M. Boice and Jonathan L. Cruise. 

Brothers, let us love hymns that fill us with the riches of Christ’s Word. 

2. Sing because/in order to love one another

A man who does not sing does not love his neighbor. But even worse, men who do not sing do not believe. But the main imperative informing our corporate singing in worship is to teach and admonish one another. So if we are not singing, we are not loving our brothers and sisters in Christ. But if we struggle to love our brothers and sisters in Christ, then let us sing the Words of Christ to His people in “How Firm a Foundation” and then reassess your heart. And since this is a part of public worship involving teaching and admonishing, as Reforming men, let us be leading in the singing. 

So follow in the footsteps of the Apostles, of Nisbet and so many others. Encourage your own soul and stir up your fellow pilgrims in this present evil age. And start by doing it through the regular opportunity God has given us in Worship.

3. Know the words well enough to sing it on your own

Know the words well enough to be able to focus on your heart while singing them. The last phrase in Colossians 3:16 commands us to sing “with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” So let us learn the hymns of our faith well enough to make them your own. That is, to sing them as if they were our own words, expressing our own hearts. And if you find your heart out of accord with the truth of Scripture set to music, then train your affections to follow. Incorporate the language of hymns into your prayers to make these godly petitions like the hymn “Take my Life and Let It Be” your own prayer to God. How rich our worship would be if we sang from the heart! 

Filling your mind with rich lyrics also helps in times of temptation to resist the devil. Music and rhythm help bury the Word deep in the soul. And when the world glitters and gleams, we can remind ourselves our God is “A Mighty Fortress.” 

Actionable Take-aways: 

1. Pay attention to what you sing in church. Make sure when you sing, you are not just going through the motions. Read the words and mean what you sing. 

2. Select a few biblically rich hymns and start memorizing them. Sing them with your family. Read over them devotionally. Research some memorable, insightful background on the author and the circumstances in which he penned the words.

3. If you are not naturally gifted at singing (you are probably more capable than you think), find someone in your church who can sing, and follow them. Singing can be learned.

4. A bonus for the competitive: If you bear the cross of being in a church with an organ, make it your mission to always drown out that instrument with your own voice. 

Brothers, let us take full advantage of this gift from God. Let us stir our affections, inform our theology, and fill our souls with biblical richness so that we will be equipped in the day of temptation.

[1] Please read a more full account: Jock Purves, Fair Sunshine: Character Studies of the Scottish Covenanters (East Peoria, IL: Banner of Truth Trust, 2022), 71-82.

Parks Turner serves as the pastor of Grace Presbyterian Church in Cedartown, Georgia. It is a revitalization work of a rural church in the Northwest Georgia Presbytery. Parks is married to his wife Abby and they have two sons.