Psalms in Worship—Psalm 100 Re-Imagined Praising When You Can't Sing

I can’t sing. For the past year, health issues have impacted my ability to physically sing. As someone whose soul, heart, and mind connect best in worship through singing, this has been tough. As a staff person for a worship institute who attends worship and hymn conferences and works on music projects this has been tough. As a worship leader it has been impossible. But I know I’m not alone. 

There have been other times in my life when I couldn’t sing—times when my mental, emotional, or spiritual state made framing the words too difficult. I wasn’t alone then either. 

On any given Sunday, sitting amongst the gathered worshipers are people who for various reasons can’t sing. What are we to do with Psalm 100, then, which in most English versions of the Hebrew scripture exhorts us to come into God’s presence with singing? 

While I can’t speak to all occurrences of such exhortations I can say that the Hebrew words for singing or song do not actually appear in the original text of Psalm 100. The end of verse two, most often translated as “with singing” is a translation of the Hebrew בִּרְנָנָֽה׃/bir·nā·nāh which means “with a joyful shout.” Though let me be quick to add that the English translation isn’t incorrect given the worship context of the psalm and that the root of the Hebrew word is רָנַן/rah-nan' which is often translated as “to sing”  or “rejoice.” Still I can’t help but wonder what it would look like if we re-imagined this psalm with a focus on shouting rather than singing. What if our congregations allowed more room for joyful expressions outside of song so that more people could find their voice in worship? 

For those unable to sing, may we find comfort in the core point of this psalm found in verse 3—in the center of the psalm: God made us and we belong to God. May we fully know and embody that truth so that our hearts swell with joy, even if we don’t break forth into song. The point of this psalm isn’t that everyone should sing but rather to respond to our good, loving, steadfast, and faithful God with joy and gratitude. It is about the passion we bring to worship and our affect, not the song.

Still, sometimes I try to join by making the little “joyful noises” I can make—as broken as that vocal sound may be. Other times I simply mouth the words. But are there other ways non-vocal singers might join in the song? How might our congregations release people to express their joy through signing the words even if all that we know how to sign is “alleluia”? Or might we make the raising of hands more normative, encourage clapping (even if it is on the wrong beat), have hand percussion instruments available, or provide ribbon or flags for all ages? And dare I suggest even dancing? 

Could we encourage other joyful shouts? Can we create opportunities to express our feelings beyond music? 

If we spent time brainstorming together, I am sure we could come up with many ways in which congregants can enter into worship with joyful expressions. For a start consider the following re-interpretation of Psalm 100. 

Psalm 100—A Litany with Joyful Noises

Before starting this litany, take a moment to practice making noise together. Introduce simple gestures to start and end and even how you might increase or decrease the volume. If you are comfortable with typical conducting gestures, use them. Otherwise some simple gestures might be a circular motion with your pointer finger to suggest beginning or keeping the sound going. To end, raise an arm with a closed fist. You can lift your arms palms up to increase the volume or lower them palms down to decrease the volume (another way to end the noise making). Unlike an ensemble, if you are making a joyful noise with a congregation starting and ending exactly at the same time is not the goal. 

Adults may have a harder time joining in the making of noise. It might be helpful to practice with the children and adult choir if you have one, ahead of introducing this to your full congregation. 

A few times in the following litany I provide alternate instructions or words to be spoken together. Before leading this litany with your congregation choose which option you are going to use and only print those instructions/words. 

Revised Common Lectionary

Year A: Season after Pentecost—Proper 6 (11)
Year A: Season after Pentecost—Reign of Christ - Proper 29 (34)
Year C: Season after Pentecost—Canadian Thanksgiving Day
Year C: Season after Pentecost—Thanksgiving Day