The songs of the saints are not a rehearsal in an empty theater. And although the Scripture says that we do address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, we have to remember that the music of God’s people is not private music. We address God, and we address one another, but others overhear. This is public music, music for the world.
Jesus said that the Church was a city on a hill, one that could not be hidden away. He instructed us not to take the Church, a light for the world, and hide it under a bushel. We have unfortunately taken this saying and restricted it to the level of individual application—not that that application is wrong in itself, mind you. You as an individual ought not to hide your light under a bushel. But the light Jesus was speaking of here was made up of His disciples collectively. He was speaking of His city, His nation, His people, and His Church. And collectively we are not just to be visible—we are also to be audible. A bushel not only makes light invisible, it also muffles sound.
Our task is to sing to God and to one another, with a periodic and regular invitation given to the nations to listen, and to join in. The music of the saints is evangelistic in that sense. Now to be evangelistic, we do not have to go and sing to them directly, although we sometimes do—as when we sing Christmas carols in the mall. Our music is evangelistic every Lord’s day, when we sing psalms in such a way that the Lord is able to use them to glorify His name in a particular region.
Your neighbors know that you are here now, singing. The Lord of all music is able to take that simple fact, and unsettle those who have no real music as the center of their lives. Sing as though an invitation were contained in it, because there is one. Sing, and let the Lord be the sound engineer. Let Him determine what gets heard and by whom. Your task is to sing with that understanding.