Hymns and Singing

Our habit of being formal limits us in the meetings of the church

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“I have stressed in the past that the group meeting should not be a formal, religious worship service. But after attending some of the group meetings, I have observed that we are still somewhat having a religious meeting, a worship meeting, a kind of service. This is because we are too formal. In the group meetings, we should fellowship freely, sing freely, pray freely, and ask and answer questions freely without formality. When we sing a hymn, we do not necessarily have to sing it in order from the first verse to the last verse. We may begin with the last verse or with any verse according to the leading of the Spirit. We should not sing the hymns in a dead way but in a living, exercised way with the release of our spirit. We need vital groups, not formal, religious, and dead groups. We need to pray, “Lord, make us vital in singing, vital in speaking, and vital in everything.” The Psalms tell us that we need to give a ringing shout and make a joyful noise to the Lord (71:23; 100:1). Our habit of being formal limits us in the meetings of the church.”

(Fellowship concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, p. 161)

The Christian life should be a rejoicing life

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“In the book of Leviticus we also see how God trained His people to live a holy, clean, and rejoicing life. A holy life is a life which is like God, a godly life. Here we mention a clean life, not a pure life. To be pure is not to be mixed. To be clean is not to be dirty. We do not realize how dirty we human beings are. Leviticus tells us that even our birth is dirty (ch. 12) and that every little discharge out of us is dirty (ch. 15). We need to live a clean life, a life which is not dirty.

According to the Old Testament type, we have to contact God through the offerings of the bronze altar and through the laver. Paul told us that we are cleansed by the washing (lit., laver) of the water in the word (Eph. 5:26). In the word of Christ there is the water of life to cleanse us. This is typified by the laver situated between the altar and the tabernacle (Exo. 38:8; 40:7). The laver is the place where we wash away our earthly defilement and are made clean.

We also need to live a rejoicing life, a happy life. We all have to be “hallelujah people,” who rejoice in the Lord always (Phil. 4:4). Sometimes the most restful thing is to sing a hymn. Singing a hymn fills us with joy and helps us to enjoy Christ as our rest. The chorus of Hymns, #308 says: “This is my story, this is my song,/Praising my Savior all the day long.” A rejoicing life is a life of enjoying God in Christ as everything; this enjoyment makes us happy and causes us to exult all the day. The Christian life should be a rejoicing life.”

(The History of God in His Union with Man, p. 172)

We should sing in different ways whenever we meet

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“The people sought the Levites from all their places, to bring them to Jerusalem in order to hold the dedication with rejoicing, thanksgiving, and singing with cymbals, harps, and lyres (Neh. 12:27-29). The main service of the Levites was to sing in praise to God. For us today, singing hymns in the meetings is a primary need. Singing opens the heavens and brings us to the heavens. We should spend time to sing in different ways whenever we meet.”

(Life-study of Nehemiah)

When the word of Christ fills us up from within, we will spontaneously flow out in singing

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“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.”  (Col. 3:16)

“I will pray with the spirit, and I will pray also with the mind; I will sing with the spirit, and I will sing also with the mind.”  (1 Cor. 14:15)

“Our home meetings should be filled with singing. Singing comes out of being filled with grace (Col. 3:16c). When we have an inner realization of God’s grace, this realization will stir up our being to sing. Singing also comes out of being filled with the word (Col. 3:16a). When we are filled with the word, the Spirit bubbles from within us in lauding melodies. When the word of Christ fills us up from within, we will spontaneously flow out in singing. Our singing will be in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. Psalms are longer poems, hymns are shorter ones, and spiritual songs are the shortest. We also need to sing by exercising the spirit (1 Cor. 14:15b). We should not merely sing in our happiness. We should sing joyfully in our spirit. Our singing must come out from our spirit. In praying, in singing, in reading the word, and in touching the Spirit, the secret is to exercise our spirit.”

(The God-Ordained Way to Practice the New Testament Economy, p. 88)

In order to uplift our meetings, we need to know and use the hymns

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“What then, brothers? Whenever you come together, each one has a psalm, has a teaching, has a revelation, has a tongue, has an interpretation. Let all things be done for building up.”  (1 Cor. 14:26)

“Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and psalming with your heart to the Lord”  (Eph. 5:19)

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to God.”  (Col. 3:16)

“If we desire to be the speaking ones in the meetings, we have to know the hymns. In order for us to enrich, strengthen, enliven, refresh, and uplift our meetings, we need to use the hymns. We have seen that according to 1 Corinthians 14:26 and Hebrews 10:25, we need both speaking and singing in our meetings. The speaking is not only the speaking of the word of God or the speaking forth of Christ but also the speaking of the hymns. The first item listed by Paul in 1 Corinthians 14:26 is a psalm. A psalm is poetry. In both Ephesians 5:19 and Colossians 3:16, we are charged to speak in hymns. This indicates that the saints in the early Christian meetings used a lot of hymns. Many times we may not be able to find a verse or some verses in the Bible to meet the real need in the meeting, but we can easily find a hymn to meet the need. This is why we have to know the hymns. If we use the hymns adequately and properly in our meetings, they will be uplifted, enlivened, and refreshed. But we have to do everything in a living way, not in a legal way. Legality brings in death and deadness. We must stay away from the legal deadness. We should try to do everything in a very living way that is flexible and applicable.”

(Speaking Christ for the Building Up of the Body of Christ, chapter 7)

The theological knowledge contained in the hymnal is quite rich

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“I went to America in 1961. In 1963 I realized that there was a need, so I began to put out a periodical in English called The Stream. I also established the Stream Publishers to print books in English. By the second half of 1963 we felt the need to have a hymnal in English. Therefore, I labored with the brothers in America to select about eight hundred of the best Christian hymns that had been written throughout the centuries. We also added over two hundred of our own hymns, and we translated approximately thirty hymns from our hymnal in Chinese. The hymnal we compiled had one thousand eighty hymns.

The American brothers who helped me were good in English, and they understood music and the proper use of words. They made sure that the songs I wrote in English had proper rhyme and that they fit the meter. Because the hymns from Christianity are short in the truth concerning Christ, the Spirit, life, and the church, most of the two hundred fifty hymns written by me were on these topics. Thus, we can say that our hymnal in English was a great help in laying a foundation for the Lord’s recovery in America.

This hymnal is highly regarded by Christians in America. Some Christians say that in the two hundred years of American history they do not know of a collection like it. A person who spends several years to study this hymnal will attain a certain level of theological knowledge even if he does not study theology. Even the table of contents, with the different kinds of hymns and their categories, shows that the theological knowledge contained in the hymnal is quite rich.”

(Crucial Words of Leading in the Lord’s Recovery, Book 3: The Future of the Lord’s Recovery and the Building Up of the Organic Service, Chapter 7)

We need to study our hymnal

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“In our English hymnal there are twenty to thirty hymns concerning Christ as the Spirit. In the compilation of the hymnal, we did our best to collect all the truths expressed in hymns from different Christian backgrounds. Therefore, our hymnal may be considered a collection of the hymns of theology. If you want to study real theology, you need to first study our hymnal.”

(The Economy of God and the Mystery of the Transmission of the Divine Trinity, Chapter 4)

We should learn hymns so we can sing at any time and in any place

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“The saints who can sing should help other saints to learn to sing. If our singing is not focused, the spirit of the hymns will not come forth. We should spend much time to learn how to sing hymns so that we can sing at any time and in any place. Singing hymns will cause the brothers and sisters to rise up, and it is not necessary to sing every stanza.

For example, we can sing stanza 1 of Hymns, #250 repeatedly: “Spring up, well, with water; / Dig Thou, Lord, completely; / Dig away all barriers / That Thy stream flow through me.” When a couple goes home after singing this stanza, they will be able to sing it together at home. Then the husband may ask his wife, “Are you springing up with water?” and the wife may ask the husband, “Are you digging within?” This kind of singing and speaking to one another will stir up and release their spirits.”

(The Priesthood and God’s Building, ch. 16)