Why You Should Be Singing

After a tough week physically and emotionally, I noticed a trend again: on those weeks when life is tougher and I am more tired, I have lost my song. Throughout the past year I’ve become more aware of what happens in my life when I’m singing. Let me tell you about a few types of situations where my life can change by singing.

When I’m crying: Am I the only emotional person who has let the tears flow while listening to music? One day I was driving down the road, listening to Christian worship music, and crying my eyes out in despair over what felt like endless years of infertility.

I’m just crying with this music on, so I guess I’ll listen to my Bible app, I thought. I played a specific scripture that I thought might speak to my situation and brighten my mood.

“Sing, O barren woman, you who never bore a child; burst into song, shout for joy…” Isaiah 54:1

That’s it! I can’t just listen to the music, I said to myself. I’ve got to sing!

I turned the music back on, and started singing along with the lyrics instead of crying to the tunes. Even though my situation didn’t immediately change (I was still sad about my emptiness), my attitude did change. I no longer wept, and my mood brightened as I sang. And because words have power - even when I'm singing them my situation might have changed in ways I could not yet recognize.

When I’m working: Do you ever sing out loud while you’re doing housework? A way to teach little children to pick up their toys is to sing “clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere…” The dwarves in Snow White found power in making music. “When there’s too much to do, don’t let it bother you, forget your troubles, try to be just like a cheerful chick-a-dee and whistle while you work,” they sang.

When I need to brighten up the world around me: Sometimes I’m singing to perk myself up, but singing to the kids I nanny can cheer them up. Buddy from the movie Elf discovered the benefits too. “The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!”

I come from a singing family and I was raised in a singing church, so I don’t mind singing without accompaniment. No guitar at our Sunday evening church group? That’s fine, we can sing acapella. My siblings, cousins, and friends would sing with me in the car as children and teenagers. We loved to make music, and we often directed this music toward God. Voices lifted toward Heaven was enough – we didn’t need the songs to come through speakers.

It seems that singing just for the sake of singing is a lost art. It’s so easy to play any song we want through YouTube on our smart phones. Yep, I’m listening to music electronically right now as I type. This current generation probably listens to music more than we sing.

But something happens when we saturate ourselves in joyful music, move our bodies a little, and use our breath to sing out loud. When I’m singing out loud, I’m listening to the words and I’m also contemplating them. Do I believe these words I’m singing? That in Christ alone my hope is found? That whatever happens, I will say that it is well with my soul? That when He gives and when He takes away, I will say blessed be His name?

Singing God’s truth back to Him forces me to think about it and it allows my faith to arise. Yes, I can sing this song because I do believe it, and while I’m singing, the message is being reinforced into my mind and heart. Modern research even claims that singing improves our moods and it’s good for our bodies (such as in this article). Someone even told me recently that the best thing you can do for an aging, shaky voice, is to sing loud!

But long before the movies and the researchers were telling us to sing, God told us to sing, many times. The Psalms repeatedly talk about singing to God. Psalm 98:4 says, “Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth, burst into jubilant song with music.”

He created us and He knows what’s good for us. He’s the One worthy of receiving all songs of praise. And I can speak from my personal circumstances that time and time again, when I’ve felt sad or depressed or discouraged, I have forced myself to sing, and my mood and perspective have been changed for the better.

So, whether you want to take some advice from a movie character or from the Word of God, I suggest that you try it. Sing out loud, sing happy songs, let your songs rise toward Heaven… and let me know what happens!

(Read a blog post I wrote on the concept of "sing oh barren woman!" here.)

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Hi, I’m Betsy Herman, and I live in the Washington, D.C. area with my husband, Mike. We have been married since 2008. We enjoy exploring new cities together on foot, eating at our favorite Italian restaurants, and doing life as a team. I published my first book Embracing Hope During Infertility in January 2015. You can learn more about me here. I would love for you to connect with me by following my Hope During Infertility Facebook page or my Betsy Herman, Writer Facebook page.