John Wesley - Instructions For Singing

A while ago, I was thumbing through an old hymnal and came across these "directions" for congregational singing by John Wesley. They served as some interesting food for thought, thus I decided to share them.

That this part of Divine Worship may be the more acceptable to God as well as the more profitable to yourself and others, be careful to to observe the following directions.

I. Learn these Tunes before you learn any others; afterwards learn as many as you please.

II. Sing them exactly as they are printed here, without altering or mending them at all; and if you have learned to sing them otherwise, unlearn it as soon as you can.

III. Sing All. See that you join with the congregation as frequently as you can. Let not a slight degree of weakness or weariness hinder you. If it is a cross to you, take it up and you will find a blessing.

IV. Sing lustily and with good courage. Beware of singing as if you were half dead, or half asleep; but lift up your voice with strength. Be no more afraid of your voice now, nor more ashamed of its being heard, than when you sung the songs of Satan.

V. Sing modestly. Do not bawl, so as to be heard above or distinct from the rest of the congregation, that you may not destroy the harmony; but strive to unite your voices together, so as to make one clear melodious sound.

VI. Sing in time: whatever time is sung, be sure to keep with it. Do not run before nor stay behind it; but attend closely to the leading voices, and move therewith as exactly as you can. And take care you sing not too slow. This drawling way naturally steals on all who are lazy; and it is high time to drive it out from among us, and sing all our tunes just as quick as we did at first.

VII. Above all sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim at pleasing him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your Heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually; so shall your singing be such as the Lord will approve of here, and reward when he cometh in the clouds of heaven.

He Is Our Comfort

We all look for comfort in one way or another. As humans, we sometimes struggle with being pushed out of our "comfort zones." (whatever that means) I mean seriously, how many times in your life have you actually enjoyed being pushed outside of what makes you feel comfortable? I think if we are all honest with ourselves, we will find that our natural desire is to be comfortable in life and to not be inconvenienced in any way, shape or form. This very fact has been the biggest wrestling point in my decision to step out in faith and to trust God with leaving a full-time salaried position to plant a church on support. If I am to be completely honest, I would rather rely on my strengths and what I can do for myself than to humble myself and ask God to move in my weakness. But because God is who He is, He will always get what He wants. He wants me to rely on Him and to ACTUALLY obey and act upon what I believe. What I mean is, if I actually believe what Jesus says in Matthew 6 is truth (if I believe that the Bible is truth) than why would I not act upon it? Therefore, my "comfort zone" needs to not be a salary, food, clothes, or anything that humans naturally seek out for comfort, I need to find my comfort in the Lord.

Through this entire process, God has revealed this truth to me. God is faithful in His promises. He will never change.

He Is Our Comfort.

Matthew 6:33

 25 “Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? 26 Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? 27 And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life?28 And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, 29 yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. 30 But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 Therefore do not be anxious, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.