The Music Exchange | Richard Simpkin

Children's music has been severely neglected over the years - it's hard enough getting our adult music to a high enough quality. And anyway, it's easy to bash out 'My God is so big', because if we make a loud enough noise with ridiculous enough actions, no one will notice if the music is two strings short of a banjo.

This is an area in which we have much to learn from other cultures. I'm always ashamed when I see the joy on the faces of Christian children in Kenya as they sing to Jesus. However, we need to look no further than Scripture to see a clear command to teach our children the truths of God in song. Moses was committed to teaching children in song. In fact, the last thing Moses does before his final blessing on Israel is sing to them (Deuteronomy 32). He sings for four whole columns of NIV print!

The song is a comprehensive account of the character and work of God, past and future. It's a glorious portrait of his power, justice and faithfulness. After he finishes the song, Moses said, 'Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law' (Deuteronomy 32.46, NIV). Moses's plan was to teach Israel and her children about God so that they would be moved to obedience.

Our aim

That, surely, is our aim also - to help our children delight in Jesus by singing about him so that the character and works of Jesus will transform their hearts, minds and lives. Cecil Frances Alexander managed to carry this out with extraordinary effectiveness. Many will know the story, but here's a brief outline in case you don't. Some Irish children found the presentation of Christian truth in their creeds dull. Mrs. Alexander resolved to write verses which would bring these creeds to life for those children. Thus, their genuine desire for truth to be explained in a simple way gave birth to some of the most famous Christian songs in history.

'I believe in God the Father Almighty, Maker of Heaven and Earth' gave birth to 'All things bright and beautiful'.

'I believe in Jesus Christ ... who was born of the virgin Mary' led to 'Once in Royal David's City'.

'Was crucified dead, and buried' led to 'There is a green hill far away'.

The strength of these songs is that they each teach one truth with clarity and colour, accompanied by a simple tune which drives the truth home into young and old hearts alike.

Today's songs

I find that contemporary songs which have those same qualities are the most effective among the children of today too. For example, 'Jesus's love is very wonderful' teaches one truth and has a tune that is easy to recall when they find life tough at home or at school. By virtue of its simple chord structure it is also easily adaptable for accompaniment by piano or guitar. Many modern children's songs are far too complicated and 'fun-driven', relying on a strong front-man with a snazzy outfit, and, as such, are probably more patronising than the simpler ones. That's not to do down snazzy outfits - fun can be great if, like Mrs. Alexander's, the songs have a root of strong and clear theology. Moses's main concern was obedience to God, and that should be the driving force behind the way we choose and sing our songs with children.

Need for understanding

Finally, Moses commanded his song to be taught to Israel's children. Presumably, that didn't mean just the words and the tune, but also the meaning behind those words. Our children need to understand the truths they are singing so that they don't become mindless mantras. Even 'Jesus's love is very wonderful' will at some point need explaining. What is it about his love that is so wonderful? If it's so wide, so high and so deep, how do we grasp it? I can't have been the only one wondering what on earth a 'dance settee' was, but I sang every week at school, 'I am the Lord of the dance settee'. Similarly, what did the Lord's prayer have to do with my pet Fred: 'As our Saviour tortoise, so we pray...' Sometimes there's no knowing what's going on in the over-active minds of our little ones, but truths presented in an imaginative way make a big impact for good or bad, so I hope that there'll be a new generation of faithful song writers who love children as much as Moses did by feeding God's Word into their hearts.