I had singing lessons at one stage and can muddle along in a few operatic languages so I’m prepared to give anything a go. 
Just as well because at the Lutheran World Federation Assembly in Krakow recently we got to sing in English, German, Spanish, French, Swahili, Korean, Yoruba, Latin, Arabic, Polish, Javanese, Finnish, Swedish, Dakota, Dutch, Sanskrit, Hungarian, Portuguese, Danish, Norwegian, Lithuanian, Icelandic (and I apologise if I’ve missed anyone).
We would often start off in one language and then for the next verse the cantor would say a language, eg Spanish, and we would change language for verse 2. We didn’t have to understand what we were singing, just breathe together as the body of Christ.
Similarly during the LEA Germany Study tour we joined in worship in Berlin, Wittenberg and Leipzig. Most of us couldn’t speak German but it didn’t matter. As someone said, ‘it works’. Or more to the point, God works.
Libby has news about the launch of the LEA Worship and Devotion Guides in this eNews – COMING SOON! The guides remind us, “God is the centre of worship. Lutherans believe that worship is not so much about what we do, but about what God does for us. We simply respond in prayer and praise to the God who comes to serve us – that’s why we call it a worship service!” Because worship is about what God does, it works even when we don’t know the language.