The Secret of the
Singing Heart

CHAPTER XX

LEARNING TO SING

  When the Psalmist had considered the goodness of the Lord and what it meant to mankind he cried out, "0 let the nations be glad and sing for joy" (Ps. 67: 4). And the Lord through Isaiah said, "My servants shall sing for joy of heart" (Isa. 65:11). Jeremiah says, "They shall come and sing in the height of Zion and shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord .... and their souls shall be as a watered garden and they shall not sorrow any more at all." God not only meant this world to be a happy place, a place of gladness and song, but he has promised to put a new song in our mouths. Our heavenly Father like a good earthly father, rejoices in the happiness of his children. He never intended this world to be a place of sorrow and care, of disappointment and wretchedness. He never meant it to be a vale of tears. It is only because the world has been separated from God that all these things have come. Sin has brought universal trouble. God will take away sin and bring universal song.

  A child sings because he has the spirit of song in his heart. His singing may not be very melodious; he may not keep the tune nor the time; nevertheless the joy in his heart will bubble over. It is like this when we are saved from our sins. We are filled with a sense of God's goodness and our souls begin to sing. Like the child, [139] however, there are many things we must learn about singing. Many Christians sing much less with heart and voice than they might sing if they should learn how to sing properly. There is a secret about singing that we learn partly by experience and partly by being taught. One of the best ways to learn to sing is to practice frequently. Many Christians do not practice singing. In other words they do not cultivate the ele. meets in their souls that would lead to singing. On the contrary they look on the side of life or at elements in life that tend to chill the source of song.

  Light hearts do not come by accident or at least their lightness does not depend upon accidental combination of circumstances. The song in the soul is the result of a proper attitude of the soul toward life and toward God. Therefore if we cultivate this attitude toward life it will be to us a source of song, an inspiration of song. We sing when we are thinking about pleasant things. This attitude of mind is conducive to song. The song breaks forth spontaneously. In order therefore to have our hearts full of song we must train ourselves to have the heart attitude from which song springs. We CaD train ourselves to have this attitude as well as to have the opposite attitude. Life under such circumstances will be much more pleasant and happy than if we continually look upon the dark side of things.

  One necessary thing in singing is to get the proper pitch. If we are pitched too low we may run below the range of our voice or at least not be heard much. If we are pitched too high we may be thrown under serious strain to reach the tone. So it is important that we [140] get the proper pitch not only for our own sake but for those associated with us. In other words, we must have a right attitude toward life and correct views of duty, of our privileges, and of what a wholesome, sane, balanced life is. We must have a proper sense of our relationship to the world in which we live. These things help us to be in harmony.

  Harmony is one of the greatest elements of happiness as it is one of the most necessary elements of song. Speaking of God's watchman the prophet says, "Together shall they sing." The Psalmist said, "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity." We must get the discords out of our hearts and out of our voices and out of our relations. One discordant voice in a choir or in a congregation can spoil all the singing. I remember listening over the radio on a number of occasions to the services of a church when a man standing near enough to the microphone to be readily heard sang altogether out of tune with the congregation. He sang away apparently with all his might and his voice stood out in sharp contrast to the voices of the other singers.

  There are people who are out of harmony with their surroundings, out of harmony with the people with whom they associate. Their lives and their voices are discordant. There are some who are discordant only in certain things. They miss certain notes. It is highly important that we learn the art of adapting ourselves to people and to things. We have to get along with people and they have to get along with us, and if these relations are to be joyous or even bearable there must be a consider [141]