Click here to download this video.

Singing plays a critical role in most worship services. Members of the congregation join their voices in worship to God. This tradition has ancient roots and the Bible strongly encourages it. But why? Why does biblical worship include singing?

Singing lends emotion to our words that speaking can’t quite accomplish. The Bible often mentions singing in contexts of joy and worship. For example, Moses and Miriam led the people in songs immediately after Israel crossed the Red Sea (Exodus 15). By placing two songs immediately after Israel’s deliverance from the Egyptians, the Bible establishes the connection between singing and worshipping God for salvation.

Isaiah reaffirmed this connection when he envisioned God’s salvation. The prophet commanded the people to sing praises to God (Isaiah 12:5) so all the earth would know the great things God has done for His people. Since one of our primary purposes as Christians is to make God’s glory known, we should include singing in our proclamation of the gospel.

As an expression of our emotion, singing serves as a powerful tool for our faith. Jews and Christians have historically used the book of Psalms as a resource for singing. The ancient Israelites who wrote these poems—and the Jews and Christians who used them in the centuries and millennia since—testify that singing allows us to express ourselves to God in the rawest form.

While the Old Testament establishes the pattern and affirms the connection between singing and worshipping God for salvation, the New Testament also affirms the value of singing for biblical worship.

During His final meal with the disciples, Jesus and the 11 sang a hymn before they made their way to Gethsemane. It’s likely that they were singing one of the Hallel Psalms, a collection of six specific psalms of praise found in Psalms 113–118. This was a common practice around the time of the Passover.

On three separate occasions, Paul commended the value of singing for worship. In Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, Paul encouraged believers to sing different types of songs as a regular part of the community’s worship. In 1 Corinthians 14:15, Paul explained that both his mind and his spirit are engaged whenever he sings to the Lord.

Singing also plays an important role in the Book of Revelation, and it brings the biblical story full circle. In Revelation 15, John described a vision he saw in which, after God’s wrath was fully satisfied, all the people who had defeated the beast sang the song of Moses by a sea of glass. This story reimagines the first instance of the first recorded songs in the Bible, and it shows that there is always a strong connection between singing and worshipping God for salvation.