Part 7 in the “Why We Do What We Do” series.
Have you heard comments like these?:
- “A lot of songs have too many ‘I’ and ‘me’ words.”
- “It’s hard to worship when the lyrics are too dry and wordy.”
- “We need to sing more songs about the attributes of God.”
- “We need to sing more songs that simply express our love for God.”
There seem to be two basic trains of thought: The first says that worship is to be all about declaring the holiness of God, His “otherness.” The more we sing lyrics layered with doctrine, the deeper our understanding of God and our love for Him will be. The second train of thought says that worship is meant to be a time of drawing near to God, a conversation with Him, an experience of expressing our adoration to Him and listening to what He is impressing on our hearts.
The problem with setting one perspective up against the other is that we create a false dichotomy that Scripture doesn’t support. In his excellent book Worship Matters, Bob Kauflin writes that there is to be a “healthy tension” in worship between God’s transcendence and His immanence. Yes, God is holy and dwells in unapproachable light, but He also has brought us near to Him through His Son Jesus Christ and has put His Spirit within us. Kauflin cites this Scripture that beautifully brings the two truths together:
For thus says the One who is high and lifted up, who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy: “I dwell in the high and holy place, and also with him who is of a contrite and lowly spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly, and to revive the heart of the contrite” (Isaiah 57:15).
The Psalms provide a rich resource for the many ways we can come to God in worship:
- Declarations to God (Psalm 5:4; 22:3; 86:10; 139:8)
- Declarations about God (Psalm 11:4; 18:31; 25:8; 89:6; 145:3)
- Expressions of adoration for God (Psalm 18:1; 16:2; 73:25; 139:17)
- Statements of resolve; “I will worship” (Psalm 9:2; 16:8; 118:17; 130:5; 144:9; 146:2)
- Gratefulness for what He’s done for me (Psalm 6:9; 71:6; 118:6)
- Pleas for Him to speak to our heart (Psalm 27:7,8; 139:23; 143:10)
- Cries of contrition (Psalm 32:3-7; 41:4,5; 51:1-18)
- Reverent fear (Psalm 22:23; 33:8; 15:1; 96:9)
- Familiar nearness (Psalm 23:1-6; 139:1-16)
Whether the words are about God or to Him, whether they express awe or intimacy, whether they declare His attributes or express what He’s done specifically for me, whether they joyfully exclaim our resolve to worship Him or introspectively admit our failure to be all He asks of us — every word, when offered humbly and from the heart, is an act of worship that both exalts the Lord and expands our love for Him.
On any given Sunday morning we may include all types of lyrics to experience the broad spectrum of worship. Or we may hone in on just one aspect of worship in order to more fully explore a particular theme. But the prayer of the worship ministry is that no one would ever walk away from a Sunday morning service without having deepened both their understanding of who God is and their love for Him.
Kauflin ends his chapter on this subject with a profound statement by Charles Spurgeon:
“I can admire the solemn and stately language of worship that recognizes the greatness of God, but it will not warm my heart or express my soul until it has also blended therewith the joyful nearness of that perfect love that casts out fear and ventures to speak with our Father in heaven as a child speaks with its father on earth. My brother, no veil remains.”
May our holy, merciful God help us to embrace the full spectrum of what it means to worship Him.
Worshiping with you,
Jeanelle
