When You Cannot Sing, Let the Church Sing For You

I’m sharing a guest post from my writer friend, Erin Mount. I hope her words will encourage you, whether you’re personally experiencing a season of darkness and despair or serving as the voice for a brother or sister who is. –Zach Young, Director of Music Ministries



I stood in the sanctuary, surrounded by voices lifted in song, and I felt tears threaten to stream down my face. My voice cracked as I tried to sing these words from one of my favorite hymns: 



“When darkness veils His lovely face,  

I rest on His unchanging grace.  

In every high and stormy gale,  

My anchor holds within the veil.  
 


On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;  

All other ground is sinking sand,  

All other ground is sinking sand.”  
 


Darkness had been hiding God’s face for months, and I struggled to see the truth. Depression haunted my days and nights with frustrating consistency, and I was tired. It is hard to rest when the storm is raging. Merely making it to church felt like a victory, and I didn’t know if I had the strength to sing the words I wanted desperately to believe. 



In that moment at church, the pain I felt mingled with the hope I wanted to have, and I was unable to sing. As I fought to hold back my tears, I let myself simply listen to the strong voices surrounding me. The ache in my heart lessened a bit as I let the truths of the song begin to permeate the thick fog in my mind. 



It was then that I felt what I know to be true of corporate worship: the church sings to God but also to and for His people. Singing is both an act of worship to God and a ministry to His children. Corporate worship is one way that we can “rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep”¹; as our minds go to those among us who are suffering or celebrating, we offer the songs as prayers of supplication or thanksgiving. When we sing to one another, we are fulfilling the command in Ephesians that says we are to address one another with “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.”² Corporate worship strengthens the bond of a church, for a church that is united in praise will be united in faith and love.



There have been many days when all I could do was bow my head and allow others to sing for me. There are also days when the opposite is true, and I lift my voice with gladness and sing to those around me who may be feeling the weight of sadness. God does not require us to feel a certain way when we come to corporate worship; He only wants us to come and present all that we are as an offering to Him.



If your heart is overwhelmed and weary and you feel tears rising to the surface, let them fall. You never know who might need to see those tears. They might give someone else the freedom to let their own tears fall. And you never know who might need to hear your voice proclaiming truth and praise when they feel unable to. Whether or not you sing on key, let your voice ring loud and true; it is a gift of worship to the Lord and an encouragement to your brothers and sisters in Christ. 



¹Romans 12:15 

²Ephesians 5:19