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Book Review Faith

Singing Songs

Life TogetherEarlier today, I was reading out of Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together. Bonhoeffer was a German pastor during World War II who was martyred for helping escaping Jews and opposing Hitler. I found the following passage particularly meaningful to me. It talks about the reasons for Christians singing songs together. The short of it is that our music unites us in prayer and helps us to learn and understand the Word (scripture).

“Speak to yourselves in psalms and hymn and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19). Our song on earth is speech. It is the song Word. Why do Christians sing when they are together? The reason is, quite simply, because in singing together it is possible for them to speak and pray the same Word at the same time . . . The fact that we do not speak it but sing it only expresses the fact that our spoken words are inadequate to express what we want to say, that the burden of our song goes far beyond all human words. Yet we do not hum a melody; we sing words of praise to God, words of thanksgiving, confession, and prayer. Thus the music is completely the servant of the Word. It elucidates the Word in its mystery (Bonhoeffer 59).