I admit it. I’m coming clean. I don’t like singing in church. It’s awkward. It’s boring. They always make you stand up, so you have to keep shifting your weight around to get comfortable. I don’t always like the music style or the singers. I’m just not a big fan of this portion of the church service.

It’s not that I don’t get why we do it. I do. It’s worship. It’s a way of expressing praise, trust, and adoration to God. It prepares our hearts and minds for the message we’re about to hear. But if I’m being honest, I’m usually a little relieved when they tell us we can finally sit down.

I want to like it. I do. I listen to the lyrics and try to really think about what they mean. I try to pray the words of the song to God in my head. I try to focus on worship, but I often find myself distracted by everything going on around me—the musicians on stage, the rhythmically challenged folks clapping on one and three, the lady with the coffee breath singing full voice beside me, the American Idol contestant six rows back, the swayers, the dancers, the cryers, the jumpers, the hand-raisers, and the ones who don’t know the words or the melody but sing along anyway. I’d like to join in, but I know I don’t have a good singing voice so it just makes me feel awkward and anxious for it to be over.

Sometimes I find myself wondering if the current song will be the last. One time they were singing a particular verse over and over:

“I could sing of your loovvvve foreverrrr.”

“I could sing of your loovvvve foreverrrr.”

“I could sing of your loovvvve foreverrrr.”

“I could sing of your loovvvve foreverrrr.”

“I could sing of your loovvvve foreverrrr.”

“I could sing of your loovvvve foreverrrr.”

“I could sing of your loovvvve foreverrrr.”

And I remember thinking, “Oh my gosh, they really are going to sing of his love forever!”

I’m not suggesting that we shouldn’t sing in church. Scripture makes it clear that music and singing are an important part of worship. God wants us to sing to him, so we sing to him. Period.

But why in the world does He make us do this? He only blessed a few of us with really nice voices, so why does He ask us to use them in this way? During a recent worship service, I may have discovered at least part of the reason why.

The band was playing and everyone was singing along, and all of the sudden the musicians stopped playing so that all you could hear was the voices in the crowd. They do this often, so it wasn’t an unusual experience, but for some reason the sound fell on me differently that day.

For the first time, I heard it through God’s ears. As I was listening, it occurred to me that this is what it sounds like to God. This is what He hears when hundreds of voices are lifted to Him in heartfelt praise and adoration. And what an incredibly beautiful sound it was. You couldn’t make out any one voice, good or bad. It was just the sweet, melodic sound of a great collective choir.

For just that moment, there were no doctrinal differences or discord. No politics, criticisms, complaints or judgments. Just a united body of believers, enraptured in the expression of indescribable love for their Heavenly Father.

When God hears that sound, He responds in kind by lavishly pouring His love over the sanctuary, ministering to those in need, healing the broken-hearted, befriending the lonely, breaking the chains of the captive, strengthening the weary, forgiving the sinful, and leading the lost back home. Our hearts become entwined with His, and for just a moment we enjoy a tiny succulent taste of what it will be like to live in glorious, unfettered communion with God in Heaven for all of eternity.

No wonder He likes it. I guess I do too.