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Worship: From the Frying Pan Into the Fire
- 04/07/06
- 64
Until yesterday it had been quite a while since I had written about worship. I had forgotten what a difficult and even contentious issue it is within the church. I guess, at least to some extent, it has always been this way. The issue of music brings out both the best and the worst in Christians. While I had another article ready for posting today, I thought I would put it off for a day and dedicate one more article to worship while my mind and the minds of those reading this site are tuned in to this topic. This is a topic I have written about before in an article I originally titled “Songs of Procrastination.”
I had recently read (and enjoyed) a book edited by Carson entitled, Worship by the Book. Carson suggested that some Christians have come to worship worship instead of worshipping God through worship. He says, “This point is acknowledged in a praise chorus like ‘Let’s forget about ourselves, and magnify the Lord, and worship him.’ The trouble is that after you have sung this repetitious chorus three of four times, you are no farther ahead. The way you forget about yourself is by focusing on God—not by singing about doing it, but by doing it.”
Since I read that, these words have often played in my mind, causing me to examine many of the worship songs I have encountered. I listened to some of the worship albums I have accumulated over the past years and was struck by how true Carson’s words are. Carson also writes, “Despite the protestations, one sometimes wonders if we are beginning to worship worship rather than worship God. As a brother put it to me, it’s a bit like those who begin by admiring the sunset and soon begin to admire themselves admiring the sunset.” It is all too easy for us to engage in “worship” which does not worship God.
This morning I thought of Sonicflood’s self-titled debut album. This one rocked the Christian music scene when it arrived a few years ago and immediately many of these songs went from nearly-unknown to exceedingly popular. Take a look at the lyrics for “I Want to Know You” (In the Secret):
In the secret, in the quiet place
In the stillness You are there
In the secret, in the quiet hour I wait only for You
‘Cause I want to know You more
I want to know You
I want to hear Your voice
I want to know You more
I want to touch You
I want to see Your face
I want to know You more
I am reaching for the highest goal
That I might receive the prize
Pressing ownward, pushing every hindrance aside, out of my way
‘Cause I want to know You more
I was led to conclude that song really says nothing of great substance about God. As the Christian sings this song he pleads to know God more, to hear His voice and to see His face, yet all this time he probably has the Bible sitting on the pew beside him! As Carson says, after you have sung this song through a few times you are no farther ahead. This song will not help you know Him, hear Him, touch Him or see Him. Consider another favorite from the same album:
Open the eyes of my heart, Lord
Open the eyes of my heart
I want to see you, I want to see you
To see you high and lifted up,
Shining in the light of your glory.
Pour out your power and love,
as we sing holy, holy, holy.
Holy, holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy
Holy, holy, holy
I want to see you
I want to see you
I want to see you
For sake of brevity I removed the portions of the lyric that are repetitive. This song is similar to the last in that it pleads what the songwriter wants to do (he wants to see God), yet it brings him no closer to doing so. Granted this song has at least somewhat more depth of theology to it than the first example, but it still does not bring the person any closer to what he desires. We can tell God that we want to see Him, but that does not make it happen!
Despite the risk of belaboring this point, allow me to provide one final example. Here are the lyrics for “You Are Worthy of My Praise” by David Ruis.
I will worship (I will worship)
With all of my heart (with all of my heart)
I will praise You (I will praise You)
With all of my strength (all my strength)
I will seek You (I will seek You)
All of my days (all of my days)
And I will follow (I will follow)
All of Your ways (all Your ways)
I will give You all my worship
I will give You all my praise
You alone I long to worship
You alone are worthy of my praise
I will bow down (I will bow down)
Hail You as king (hail You as king)
And I will serve You (I will serve You)
Give You everything (give You everything)
I will lift up (I will lift up)
My eyes to Your throne (my eyes to Your throne)
And I will trust You (I will trust You)
I will trust You alone (trust You alone)
Once more, the lyrics of the song do not express any substantial worship to God. The words talk about all the things the songwriter (and thus the person singing the song) intends to do, but does not actually do it. We do not worship God by telling Him that we will, at some point in the future, worship Him. It is akin to a husband heading to work and instead of telling his wife that he loves her, telling her that he will express his love for her at some other time. That is not an expression of love!
I do not wish to denigrate any and all songs that are written in a future tense or that anticipate future actions, blessings or rewards. There are some songs that anticipate the future and are built around passionate, biblical, soul-stirring truths. But too many songs really do not do this. They speak about worship without actually allowing us or encouraging us to engage in worship. A song that is merely about worship is no more worthwhile in corporate worship than a song about making a peanut butter sandwich. I wonder if we shouldn’t term these “songs of procrastination.” After all, by singing them we are procrastinating the very thing we claim to desire. Why not forget “In the Secret” and instead sing a song that will tell us about God and how we may know Him? If we want to know Him so badly, perhaps we should just end the song and open the Scriptures. Instead of telling God “I will worship you” and “I will bow down,” why don’t we just do it! Worship Him and bow before Him instead of just expressing the desire.
Thankfully, there are many songs that do this. One hymn, a favorite of mine, came to mind—“God, Be Merciful to Me” which was penned by Joseph P. Holbrook. It is an adaptation of Psalm 51. I can hardly imagine a better song to lead an album or a worship service. Please, do not skip casually over the words, but read them, consciously looking for expressions of true worship.
God, be merciful to me,
On Thy grace I rest my plea;
Plenteous in compassion Thou,
Blot out my transgressions now;
Wash me, make me pure within,
Cleanse, O cleanse me from my sin.
My transgressions I confess,
Grief and guilt my soul oppress;
I have sinned against Thy grace
And provoked Thee to Thy face;
I confess Thy judgment just,
Speechless, I Thy mercy trust.
I am evil, born in sin;
Thou desirest truth within.
Thou alone my Savior art,
Teach Thy wisdom to my heart;
Make me pure, Thy grace bestow,
Wash me whiter than the snow.
Broken, humbled to the dust
By Thy wrath and judgment just,
Let my contrite heart rejoice
And in gladness hear Thy voice;
From my sins O hide Thy face,
Blot them out in boundless grace.
Gracious God, my heart renew,
Make my spirit right and true;
Cast me not away from Thee,
Let Thy Spirit dwell in me;
Thy salvation’s joy impart,
Steadfast make my willing heart.
Now this songwriter accomplishes what he sets out to do. He does not merely tell God that he is sorry for his sin, but he asks God to cleanse and forgive him. He admits his sinfulness and his brokenness and acknowledges that God’s judgment is just. He expresses confidence in God’s grace and forgiveness. It is a powerful and moving song. It is a fitting song to begin a worship service so the believer can acknowledge his unworthiness, plead God’s mercy, and rest in the acknowledgement of God’s pardon. Do not think that I am denigrating contemporary music in favor of hymns. There are many contemporary songs that likewise express depth and go far beyond mere suggestions. Here is a modern worship song which wonderfully expresses heartfelt worship, and not just the intention to engage in worship. This is “The Glory of the Cross” by Bob Kauflin.
What wisdom once devised the plan
Where all our sin and pride
Was placed upon the perfect Lamb
Who suffered, bled, and died?
The wisdom of a Sovereign God
Whose greatness will be shown
When those who crucified Your Son
Rejoice around Your throne
And, oh, the glory of the cross
That You would send Your Son for us
I gladly count my life as loss
That I might come to know
The glory of, the glory of the cross
What righteousness was there revealed
That sets the guilty free
That justifies ungodly men
And calls the filthy clean?
A righteousness that proved to all
Your justice has been met
And holy wrath is satisfied
Through one atoning death
Returning to Worship by the Book, Carson makes an analogy between a person who watches a sunset and another person who stands before the same sunset but becomes fixated on watching himself watch the sunset. The first person delights in the beauty of Creation, while the second person can see no further than the act of watching it. In this way he misses the sunset altogether. What folly it is to miss the beauty of the sunset by fixating on ourselves. And what a tragedy it is if we go no further than asking God to touch us or speak to us, but do not use what He has given us to accomplish that end. We would be better off not singing at all than engaging in “worship” that unintentionally focuses on us and commends us for our act of worship.
I am a follower of Jesus Christ, a husband to Aileen and a father to three young children. I worship and serve as a pastor at 
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Comments (64)
It is true that there are many songs around today that are not going to stand the test of time (hopefully, the ones that aren’t theologically sound). I believe that’s been true ever since people have been writing hymns. Charles Wesley wrote over 6,000 hymns, yet we are familiar with only a few of them, probably for good reason.
The problem isn’t so much that there are too many songs that are not of high quality (that has always been the case), but rather than too many church leaders that don’t have the discernment to tell which are good and which are not.
While I’m not a fan of any of the first three songs you mentioned in this post, I think you’re creating a bit of a false dichotomy here. It’s true that those three songs contain next to nothing in the way of information about God. I doubt that was the songwriters’ intention. Instead, they are songs that help the believer to express the desire of his or her heart, or as a reminder of what said desire should be. As a worship leader, I find songs like these to be ineffective when used by themselves. However, as a precursor to another song that is rich in theology and truth about God, or to a Scripture reading, or to a sermon, these songs can be beneficial because they help prepare the heart to recieve the Word of God.
Surely you are not suggesting that much of what passes for worship in our churches is little more than mindless, self-focused, self-indulgent, self-absorbed babbling about ourselves? Is there sin in your life, Tim, that would cause you to reject or even question that which others have declared holy?
Get on your knees and pray to the Christian subculture for forgiveness and restoration.
Shame on you for examining substance and content instead of being satisfied with form and appearance: how unspiritual can you be?
I like your thoughts and nice job of presenting them, but I wonder how many Psalms would have to be rejected based on this criteria?
Dr Mike, are you pulling Tim’s leg?
I sure hope so.
I’m with Peter here, these songs reflect desires for God which I reckon are in themselves worshipful. They seem to me to be something of a prayer too - they’re not abdicating any responsibility on the part of the believer but asking God to show himself by his Spirit. As to “I will worship” - I think it does more than just express an intention, at least when I sing it I find the words do express themselves in what is being done at that moment as well as having a broader meaning.
All of the Psalms and quite a lot of other scripture—Isaiah, for instance, are suitable for use in worship.
But we must avoid singing fragments of text, and be sure that we do not merely sing that part of a psalm text which tells us to Praise God, without going on to the rest of text which explains how to do so, and what is worthy of praise.
goodbye psalms 96? it’s been good psalms 98? See ya, Psalms 102 since it’s speaks of “I will”? Don’t get me wrong…I have a problem with a lots of songs (some on the projector and some in the red hymn book as well). But if we’re going to look at songs that do what you’re describing some of the Psalms will fall to the wayside…and likely already have.
Great post and I am looking forward to reading this book by Carson. MacArthur wrote a book several years ago called “Fools Gold” and addressed this song issue to a degree much the same. Most of the praise songs done at our church are the one’s you mentioned that have no meat, and very little Theology too them. They are just as what James Montgomery Boice termed “7-11” songs. You sing the same 7 words, 11 times. They don’t cause you to think, and many times I find myself giving up and praying during them than to continue to tire of them.
I do have a question though about Tim’s criteria knocking out the Psalms……what Psalm says the same exact words, over and over and over?
Great Review!
sorry, i meant Psalms 101.
Mushy and theologically ambiguous lyrics are one thing, but I’m always amazed at how many in the congregation seem to confuse the working of Holy Spirit with the effects of a ii-V-I progression.
Tim,Kudos for having the guts to tackle a topic that many come at with emotion and personal opinion and feelings.
One of the frist things my wife and I noticed when we began to consider leaving our pragmatic church of eight years was how we sang so much ABOUT worship…but didn’t really do much ACTUAL worship in the singing. I remember telling Pam in dissappointment, “Singing about praise is NOT praising God, and singing ABOUT worship is not worshipping.”
Rey,Sorry, friend, but the types of songs Tim referenced and used as examples do NOT even come close to comparing to Psalms 96, 98 and 101.
Janet,Excellent point about singing biblical texts within their contexts, rather than pulling out a partial verse or phrase.
Dr. Mike,Rejecting or questioning that which others have declared holy is of no consequence…rejecting or questioning that which GOD has delcared holy…THAT is sin (and I hope you were typing your comments with tongue planted firmly in cheek).
Peter,Instead of using songs in your worship which you admitted to “containing next to nothing”…how about considering filling those spaces with more songs rich in doctrine and theology? Surely that can’t be a bad thing…and the songs rich in doctrine and theology will no longer have to prop up and support and give meaning to the empty ones.
Tim,
Whenever I read your blog, which is fairly often, I’m provoked by your humility, clarity, and biblical faithfulness.
While I agree with the weaknesses of the songs you mention, it does seem appropriate and biblical at times to tell God that we are going to praise Him, love Him, and ask for His assistance in the process (hence “open the eyes of my heart.”) I was challenged recently by this quote from Isaac Watts’ A Guide to Prayer on the topic of self-dedication. He wrote, “We can never be too frequent or too solemn in the general surrender of our souls to God and binding our souls by a vow to be the Lord’s forever: to love him above all things, to fear him, to hope in him, etc.” Scriptures that come to mind are Ps. 34:1-3; Ps. 71:14-15; Ps. 90:1-2. Of course, in every instance, the Psalmists go on to DO what they said they were going to do. Which is your point, I believe. Problems surface when those are the only kinds of songs we sing or we repeat them without thinking about what we’re seeking to accomplish.
By the way, it’s a joy to read these thoughts on worship by someone who doesn’t hold the position of “worship leader.” I pray that your example would encourage others to think as deeply about worshipping our Savior as you obviously do. Thanks for contributing to that end.
And thanks for giving us the “songs of procrastination” category. Very helpful.
Bob Kauflin
Concerning repetitiveness of songs: Since we are singing to God, purhaps we should ask if He is alright with it. Is. 6:3 and Rev. 4:8 seem to indicate that He is ok with it.
Brian,Don’t take my statement out of context. What I said was that those songs don’t contain information about God. That doesn’t mean they can’t serve a purpose and be useful in worship. I agree with Tim that if the focus of the music we use is entirely on OUR worship instead of God, we have a problem. At the same time, our hymnals shouldn’t be dry theology textbooks with no emphasis on personal response and connection to God.
Brother, Psalms 101 is exactly like those songs which say “I will Sing” or “I will praise”. The Psalmist is looking to the Lord and saying what he will do for Him. Plenty of songs like that. “You Are Worthy of My Praise” by David Ruis is like that except he doesn’t go on to say what he’ll do to the wicked.
Tim, I couldn’t agree with you more! You are so right! Thanks for another thoughtful and convicting post.
Peter said:“At the same time, our hymnals shouldn’t be dry theology textbooks with no emphasis on personal response and connection to God.”
Isn’t the personal response and connection to God accomplished through our understanding and appreciation of what we are singing ABOUT God…rather than singing about OUR response and connection?
I personally don’t think there is such a thing dry theology.
Rey,Are you saying these songs are the same just because Ps. 101 has the words, “I will sing”, and “I will sing praises”? Brother, there is so much more in Ps. 101, 96 and 98 than in those other songs Tim referenced. Let’s look at just the first four verses of Ps. 101:
I will sing of lovingkindness and justice, To You, O LORD, I will sing praises. I will give heed to the blameless way. When will You come to me? I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart. I will set no worthless thing before my eyes; I hate the work of those who fall away; It shall not fasten its grip on me. A perverse heart shall depart from me; I will know no evil.
And let’s look at a little of Ps. 96, just the first five verses:
Sing to the LORD a new song; Sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, bless His name; Proclaim good tidings of His salvation from day to day. Tell of His glory among the nations, His wonderful deeds among all the peoples. For great is the LORD and greatly to be praised; He is to be feared above all gods. For all the gods of the peoples are idols, But the LORD made the heavens.
And finally, let’s look at all of Ps. 98…I just can’t bear to break this one up at all:
O sing to the LORD a new song, For He has done wonderful things, His right hand and His holy arm have gained the victory for Him. The LORD has made known His salvation; He has revealed His righteousness in the sight of the nations. He has remembered His lovingkindness and His faithfulness to the house of Israel; All the ends of the earth have seen the salvation of our God.
Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, With the lyre and the sound of melody.With trumpets and the sound of the horn Shout joyfully before the King, the LORD. Let the sea roar and all it contains, The world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, Let the mountains sing together for joy Before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with equity.
Sorry, Rey, but I just don’t see the similarities…
Hey Tim.
As an aspiring music leader I am encouraged by your post. My church has a good mix of old and new songs which is good. C.S. Lewis talked about “Chronological Snobbery” which is what the church is guilty of today. we have thrown away the old because it is old and cannot be relevant. How sad this is. I’m reminded of Os Guinness talking about something Augustine said…
“In St. Augustine’s description, God relates to us in time in ways that are ‘once for all [semel], all at once [simu], and always [semper].’ He is before our time, outside our time, and at the end of our time. We can therefore each pray Augustine’s celebrated prayer, which applies to time as much as any part of life: ‘You have made us for Yourself, and our hearts are restless until they find their rest in You.’
Thus until the day of our homecoming arrives, we continually that the Lord of time will redeem us at the end of time. And in the meantime that is our lives, we live out are callings in the thick of things, and so set about redeeming time actively though imperfectly, as timely as untimely people can be.” -Os Guinness
I think the great truths of scripture, when contained in song form can be the same way. Our desire should be to find songs that don’t speak the way we want to speak or the way we want to be spoken to. Rather, we should find those song that speak the way God desires to be spoken to and about.
Mike
Hey, Tim, Just couldn’t help thinking this is often what we struggle with in prayer, scripture reading, etc -it’s so much easier to focus on what we want to do than actually doing it. My imagination is always putting forth how I want to be a prayer warrior and know the Bible so well that “when you prick me I bleed Scripture” but actually working toward that goal is much more difficult. The songs reflect a sad reality for me since often both in corporate and private worship the desire is far from the reality. Back to the discipline of the Christian life, and grateful for a loaded word like grace.
Yes, how ridiculous to sing “Just forget about yourself’!!! - Reminds me of the Indian Fakir who sold an englishman the secret of turning water and sand into gold. He was simply to stir them in a bucket while NOT EVER ONCE thinking of a red monkey.
There was just an amazing number of the personal pronoun in those ‘worship’ songs! (Makes you wonder really WHO we are worshipping!)
Yes we MUST say “God be merciful to ME, the sinner!” - but to me the REAL worship songs are those that have lots of “YOU”, & “YOUR”, addressed to HIM, as do all the great scenes of worship in Scripture, as also do all the great prayers. Only with this direction of thought being a reality will you EVER ‘forget about yourself’!
As apastor of acongregation of Christ’s church, I can’t help but feel a nearly overwhelming responsibility to the King of the church for the quality of service that He receives when His people assemble upon His command to give Him what He has demanded.
Please don’t quote that anywhere; if I ever write a book on worship, that’s the only thing I’ve got so far. However, if I’m just remembering something that I have read, pleaseemail me and save me from plagiarism.
At any rate…
As the Prophet to His church, the King, whose worship we bring on the Lord’s (read: His) Day, included a Songbook in the royal Book, which He addresses to all of His subjects. For me, the problem has always been that this goes about 80% of the way to deciding in favor of exclusive psalmody. I’m still wiggling around in that other 20%, but it gives me great pause with what I do with it.Of course, the point of my comment is my amusement at those who race to the psalms to defend impoverished worship for whom my struggle to wiggle in the 20% is probably a sign of not being free from the bondage of the Law or whatever such slander is routinely made against those who fight, struggle, toil, labor, wrestle, do battle, put to death, etc., to keep it (like our New Testaments tell us to).
Isn’t the personal response and connection to God accomplished through our understanding and appreciation of what we are singing ABOUT God…rather than singing about OUR response and connection?
Certainly, the study of God (theology) should lead to a greater devotion to Him. The danger is that it can also lead to a sort of neo-gnosticism, where the Christian life is reduced to simply thinking the right things about God. That’s dry theology. And again, I’m in agreement that if “I will worship” is all the farther we get, we’re not worshipping in spirit and truth.
I will continue to insist, however, that songs of response should definitely have a place in our worship. “Take My Life And Let It Be” is every bit as appropriate as “Holy, Holy, Holy,” they simply express different ideas.
Tim, great article again! (I remember it from the first time!) And I still agree with you, with one exception, and it’s the one that was mentioned by several other commenters-many Psalms express the thought of the Psalmist by use of the phrase “I will.” “I will sing”, “I will bless Thee, oh Lord,” etc. I take these Psalms, and contemporary songs that may use the same phrase, to be expressions of our heart and will to please the Lord…to align our will with His…not phrases that denote some future intention.
And I just got the humor in the title of your post. That’s funny!
This is such a great topic. I used to belong to a church that only sang emotionally charged lyrics and choruses, finding myself more “caught up” with the feelings these songs produced in me, than with my actual worship of God—I’m just being honest. Now, I love hymns and the great theological truths they convey about God, and find I am worshipping God with not only my heart but my mind also. Having said that, I just want to interject this point: Ever since hearing J. MacArthur preach about Matt 5:23-24 “Therefore if you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (NKJV), it is all I can do to make sure that I have a right heart before God, before a song comes out of my mouth. In this sermon, MacArthur said that we have it so backwards: we wonder how we can improve our worship? by considering different songs, music? is it the choir, etc? No. In fact, we should examine our *hearts* instead. Husband and wife, are you mad at each other? Parents and children, is there strife amongst you? Brother, do you despise another of your brethren for something they’ve said or done? IF so, please, go be reconciled, and THEN come to church and offer your sacrifice of praise and worship, and then He will be pleased!!!
Tim,Is it possible you are putting too much of a burden on a song to say everything you need it to say? After all. there ismore than one chapter in a book and often more than one point in a sermon. And even that book or sermon may not be exhaustive on a subject. Many of these songs may not be particulary helpful out of the context of an overall service of worship. But a non-stop string theologically dense songs with no time for reflection can be an issue as well.
Of course this means, the worship leader/ worship service planner have a task that requires wisdon and discernment to allow the use of a number of types of songs and elements to facilitate corporate worship. I just think the issue is a bit more comlex than diagnosing perceived ills or strengths of various worship songs.
Worship can be such a contentious issue can’t it? I’m called to love God with all my mind, soul and strength but for too long I settled for loving God with all of my mind. When I fell in love with my wife I didn’t then make a shopping list of all her good points to read back to her, showing how wonderful I found her. I didn’t count how many times I told her I loved her so that I could stop after 10 repetitions.
Have you guys lost the joy of having your sins forgiven? Aren’t you still excited at how gracious God is? Aren’t you delighted at his mercies, new every morning? Doesn’t it make you want to burst singing “Precious Jesus I love you - I love you - I love you - I love you?”
Or have you lost the joy of your salvation? Have you lost your first love for the Lord? I’m praying that you haven’t. Because expressing our wonder, love and praise to our saviour is what worship is all about. When we reduce our worship to loving God with our mind only, not only are we failing the command of scripture to love him with our whole selves, we’re missing out in our relationship with God.
Songs of childlike simplicity with lots of repetition maybe aren’t your cup of tea, but there are many like me who find the such songs are helpful in exhorting ourselves like the psalmist: “Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God.”
Brother Brian…the reason I quoted those chapters (knowing what they said) was because of either repetition or the use of the future imperative. Tim’s charge against some of these modern songs was that they were songs of procrastination—a point that can easily be applied to something like Psalms 101.
I will sing….why not sing now?I will sing praises…why not sing the praises now?Why is it focused on what I will do?
These charges were brought against modern songs. They can be equally leveled at Scripture. Why not read it as future imperative instead of procrastination…like wedding vows? I will love you and keep you through sickness and in health, to death do us part. That way it’s not so much procrastination (ie: why don’t you love me right now through sickness and in health) but a song of dedication.
I will give you all my workshipI will bow down hail you as king and I will serve you.
Etc. Future imperative…not procrastination.
So I’m not saying these songs are the Psalms. I’m saying the charge leveled at them (ie: repetition, use of the future tense, centered on the I making proclamations) can be leveled at the Psalms.
Now, does that mean I think these songs are perfect? No, not at all. Do I think the ends of some people being moved to worship by these songs justifies their use? No. Do I think we should search a deeper charge than those listed? Oh surely.
Tim,
I appreciate your comments, and believe that you are right. Graham Kendrick also used the statement ‘worshipping worship’ once. It is pretty easy to worship a feeling I have inside, rather than worshiping the God who made us. We all can find ourselves guilty of that.
While I’m not excited about the songs you mentioned, I think they can have a place. I think they fit well to introduce worship, rather than to be the foundation of worship.
An example from the Bible would be Psalm 18. It starts out by saying, ‘I love the Lord…’, which is a statement of adoration for Christ. But after that statement, David builds a huge foundation of who God is, and His works. So he started with one of these statements, but didn’t just leave us there. I think good worship is like that. It’s okay to have a song like this in there, but don’t leave the people hanging. If we’re going to sing, ‘I want to see you’, then we should look at Him.
Related also to Psalm 18, and our declarations of love for God… Psalm 18:1 is one of two verses in the entire book of Psalms where the singers declare their love for God. So declaring our love for God really isn’t that crucial to worship. That’s kind of hard to realize.
It’s very difficult to change anyone’s mind on this topic. If we really are ‘worshiping worship’, it’s not easy to give that up.
Thanks again,Ron
Is it even appropriate to use the word “I” in corporate worship songs?
What Scriptural examples can we look at to give us an indication of what might need to be included in our corporate praise and prayer to God?
Off the top of my head, I can think of one event in Acts 4 when everyone lifted their voices in unision to praise God for what He had done through Peter and John…can anyone think of any others that might lend some guidance on this?
The word “I” is used 250 times in the Psalms
“The word “I” is used 250 times in the Psalms”
That’s nice…how about in examples of corporate praise?
Well said Tim. I find the differences between the two sets of songs you cited to be very interesting. The two songs of the “procrastination” genre as you call it are centered around feeling or experience. The last two songs you included are pure theology. It is as if the writers of these songs focused on sound doctrine rather than manipulation. In this sense, the problems we are seeing in worship are no different than those in the realm of preaching. It all comes down to one question. Do I trust the power of God, whether in song or sermon, to bring about true worship and renewal? Or, do I have such a low view of the power of God and His word that I result to manipulative wording to bring about a desired response?
Thanks for the blog!Jay
I think there is a reason we are to sing in psalms, hymns and spiritual songs. I personally appreciate a mixture of the above. I can sing theologically rich worship songs, and songs that emotionally engage me in my relationship with God.
Hey…but the all time pet peeve song of mine is……..
Yes Lord, yes Lord, yes, yes Lord. Yes Lord, Yes Lord, yes, yes Lord…..Aaaaaamen!
Psalms were (and are) often sung corporately.
A few years back we started attending a Sovereign Grace Church. I was unaccustomed to singing the same song for twenty minutes and standing for worship for an entire hour. Eventually, I learned to sing the songs off the wall and I started to actually pay attention to what I was singing. Then, I attended a large church for a missions conference. The music was familiar, the orchestra beautiful, but instead of hymns we were singing the older praise and worship songs that I had grown up with. I realized that although it was easy to harmonize, I was not worshipping. My eyes were not lifted to my savior but to myself. We were all joined together singing about how great we were since Jesus had come into our lives. Weeping I realized I had no reason to raise my hands in worship (I would have been the only one). I would have only been raising my hands to worship myself. I was overwhelmed with thankfulness that God had brought me to a place that had taught me to worship in spirit and in truth. I agree with you wholeheartedly that the words to the songs we sing for worship are just as important as our desire to worship.
Is it even appropriate to use the word “I” in corporate worship songs?
You’re being sarcastic, right?
A wise minister, and good friend of mine, once said…”It is unlikely that any first century christian would recognise what we call worship in our modern age.”In our modern time of convenience, we have transformed what was a time of devotion and praise of God and all He is, to a collection of proscribed alotments of time, so that our schedules and need for efficency will be beneficial to the overall needs of our respective congregations. Heaven forbid that God would interrupt our lives.Although there is some sarcasm and some…deserved pokes in the eye of modern christianity, in that statement…it is true none-the-less. In the first century of Christianity worship was an outward thing. It was a time of devotion and praise of a great and worthy God. Songs were sung, prayers offered, praise was given, the Lord’s supper was taken. While seperate and apart from worship of God…lessons were taught, discussions held on scripture and so on. One was directed at God, and the other was us learning more about Him and His expectations of us, His people. They were seperate. But our modern need for convenience has led us to combining all those things. And doing it in the worst possible way. All the things directed at God have been minimised and shrunk…praise, song, prayer, communion (Lord’s supper) have become the smallest things of our worship…if that is a correct term…while all the things directed at us…our supposed learning…the minister’s preaching, class times and so on have the majority of the time. We teach ourselves that we are the most important things. That our time is more important than praising God. But that is just “Sunday’s”. Our Worship of God is a daily thing. A wise man once said…”We don’t come to together to worship on Sundays…we come on Sundays, to worship…together.”Admittedly what I have said is subject to many interpretations…but the bottom line is…we teach ourselves what place God has in our lives. And we learn that place from what we see…unless we are very lucky. We need to be aware of what is directed at God…that is worship. What we get…is not. Because of HimSteveE
Tried to trackback but Haloscan wouldn’t accept your urls.
You are linked at The SHEEP’S CRIB.
Q-Is it even appropriate to use the word “I” in corporate worship songs?
A-You’re being sarcastic, right?
It is called a question, to which I have yet to see any kind of reasonable response. Corporate worship is together worship - plural - not individual, so I was just asking whether or not it is even appropriate to sing songs that make the worship singular.
I asked for biblical examples of corporate worship where “I” was used…not saying there aren’t any, just asking for some examples. Anyone have any?
Brian,I think Rey’s answer to your question is more than satisfactory. In this case, the onus is on you to justify throwing out the Psalms as examples for us to follow.
Q: Is it appropriate to use the word “I” in corporate worship.
A: We have been doing it for decades.
Using the criterion listed in the many posts above, would this song pass the “Acceptable for Corporate Worship” test. And please, try to be fair.
***********************************************I Am Thine, O Lord
Verse 1I am Thine, O Lord, I have heard Thy voice And it told Thy love to me;But I long to rise in the arms of faith and be closer drawn to Thee.
Verse 2 Consecrate me now to Thy service Lord, by Thy power of grace divine; let my soul look up with a steadfast hope, and my will be lost in Thine.
Verse 3O the pure delight of a single hour that before Thy throne I spend, When I kneel in prayer and with Thee, my God I commune as friend with friend.
Verse 4There are depths of love that I cannot know ‘til I cross the narrow sea. There are heights of joy that I may not reach ‘til I rest in peace with Thee.
Hum..I can hear it now.
1. That “I” word is used a lot.2. Too self-centered.3. What, you’ve heard His voice? (Oh, Oh.)4. Commune as friend with friend. (He is God. We must show proper respect.)
We can(and have) nitpicked music to death through the years. IMHO - I find many (not all) of the arguments to be specious.
Based on God’s Word…Where is YOUR HEART when you sing? (Don’t check out to see what the person next to you may be thinking.) What do you want God to do IN YOU? (The correct answer is to become more like Christ.)
Oh, and one more thing. We all need to watch our attitudes. Remember that it’s a group of sinners, saved by God’s Grace who gather together to sing these songs each week. :-)
In response to Susan’s post about “I am Thine, O Lord”…
You seem to have answered the question already, Susan, by making an attempt to head off objections, but in the process you made the case, ie. no, it does not pass the test. The fact that it uses a lot of “thy’s” and “thee’s” does not make it pass the (at least semi-) objective criteria that was cited in the previous discussion from a couple of days ago. Let’s look at the song in question in that light:
1) The Message Test - Fail, marginally. The message in that song is weak. Not as weak as some of the “God as my girlfriend” (GAMG) worship songs, though. (Which points out that this particular test is still too subjective.) I give it a “marginal” because I can’t replace all the occurances of “Lord” or “God” with “Denise” or “Susan” and still have it make sense. But the message here is certainly inwardly focused, “I” and all.
2) The Purpose Test - Pass. Definitely meant to be uplifting
3) The Association Test - Pass. Definitely focused on Scriptural topics, even though the lyrics are do not make Scripture allusions in and of themselves
4) The Memory Test - Pass. Does not focus on a sinful past.
5) The Proper Emotions Test - Pass. Focuses on proper emotions
6) The Understanding Test - ? I have never sung this song, so I can’t make a judgement. But the aforementioned “thee’s, thines, and thous” make it a little difficult for someone today to understand, but that’s not enough to condemn it.
7) The Music Test - ? Don’t know if it’s singable.
8) The Excellence Test - Pass, although if one would update the language to present day language, it may appear to be a little more marginal. In the form quoted, it doesn’t appear to have the insipid quality of some of the GAMG songs.
So, that song appears to pass the vast majority of the aforementioned criteria, with the exception of what I consider the most important factor: the message.
If I were a worship leader, would I chose that song? Probably not, as I believe it is not God-wardly focused, and I believe that that is the primary objective for worship - focus on Him and not on me.
As I mentioned to a friend in an email yesterday, worship is a personal preference, right or wrong. If it weren’t, we would likely not have all the different churches that we have today. So if an individual wishes to worship using a particular song, so be it. But consider what God thinks of it, and not just whether you are particularly fond of it because it stirs something in you - does it please Him?
——bill
Brian,I think Rey’s answer to your question is more than satisfactory. In this case, the onus is on you to justify throwing out the Psalms as examples for us to follow.
Uh, Peter…Rey is the one - not me - that said we should throw out the Psalms if we throw out the types of songs Tim used as examples of poor worship songs.
I am the one who showed Rey that the Psalms are nowhere near the same as these poor, shallow, songs that Tim referenced, so I am not sure how the onus is on me to show we need to do away with the Psalms in worship, when I NEVER said such a thing. In fact, my point was showing just the opposite.
Brian,You asked for examples of using “I” in corporate worship. Rey pointed out that the Psalms were and are still used for that purpose. You proceeded to ask again for examples of corporate worship where “I” is used. Did you just miss Rey’s comment? If not, I’d be interested to hear why, in your opinion, the Psalms don’t count.
Thanks for a good analysis of this subject. I’m pretty sceptical of what I call “vacuous” songs but it’s very hard to put your finger on what exactly is missing from them. Maybe I should rename them meta-worship?
Peter,My bad. I am afraid I did not clearly state what I was looking for relating to the use of “I”. In my mind, when I asked the question of “I” being used, I was specifically thinking of examples of corporate prayer and praise in the NT, and wasn’t even considering the Psalms in the OT in the scope of my question. I did not specify that, which made my comments confusing.
Sorry about that.
Brian,No blood, no foul. Thanks for the clarification.