This week we've been reflecting on singing.

I think it's a remarkable fact that the average Christian probably sings many more times in the week

than the average person who isn't a Christian.

Yes, I know some non-Christians sing a great deal,

and some Christians don't sing nearly enough,

but I'm talking in general terms.

But I wonder if you've thought about something that's even more significant.

Christians sing differently.

The teenager enjoying the latest rap song, the would-be operatic tenor singing Nesson Darmah in the shower, or for that matter, the 70-something-year-old

pensioner humming beetles or Beach Boys tunes from the 60s and 70s. none of them sings the way Christians sing.

Let me try to express it this way.

Non-Christians always sing on a horizontal plane.

Yes, the songs they sing are often about me or about you, or about them, or about it.

Now Christians also sing horizontally.

Think about some of the Psalms.

You're singing horizontally when you sing,

O thou my soul, bless God the Lord, and all that in me is be stirred up.

Or if you prefer contemporary when you sing,

bless the Lord, O my soul.

You're talking first to yourself when you sing these words.

And we're also singing horizontally when we sing,

Come we that love the Lord and let our joys be known,

...