I’ve been thinking today about music and in particular worship music. I love music. I have music playing a lot of the time- quietly when I’m studying, loudly when I’m getting ready in the morning, love some funky beats when I’m driving (and dancing- although I don’t do both at the same time too well). So yeah basically I love music.
But when it comes to worship music I seem to have different experiences/feelings towards it. Sadly, I find that sometimes there’s more worshiping going on in secular music than there is in Christian music. It’s almost as if worship music has become about ‘us’ and ‘me’ and making ‘me’ feel good, whereas much of secular music is about worshiping the opposite sex. Think about it- here are some lyrics from random songs I can think of off the top of my head: ‘these words are my own, from my heart I sing ‘I love you I love you I love you’. And another song: ‘I was lost before I found you, you make me whole inside’. Now…which is the secular and which is the non-secular? The thing is that both of them could be either.
Don’t get me wrong- I’m not suggesting that worship doesn’t involve singing love songs to God. But if you take out God’s name and many Biblical concepts from much of today’s worship music, I think there’s a danger of our worship becoming a little empty and God-less, all the while becoming more about ‘us’.
I grew up in a little Anglican church where aside from in Sunday School we only ever sang hymns. It was painfully boring after a while. However now that I feel ‘older and wiser’ I’m able to read over the words of those hymns and see that perhaps they had a point there that I was missing out on. Most hymns simply take chunks of text from the Bible and put it to music. How much more genuine could we be with our worship through song? And no I don’t want to only ever sing hymns in church for the rest of my life thankyou! But there’s truth and power in the fact that we can use David’s Psalms written generations upon generations ago and worship a God who was just as real then and He is real now.
I’ll finish up with the lyrics of a hymn that I happen to love. I’m aware that it’s not super popular because it’s a tad hard to sing…but that’s not the point! When I sing this song I’m not confused about who I’m singing it to.
As the deer pants for the water
So my soul longs after you
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship you
You alone are my strength, my shield
To you alone will my spirit yield
You alone are my hearts desire
And I long to worship you
I want you more than gold or silver
Only you can satisfy
You alone are the real joy giver
And the apple of my eye
You’re my friend and you are my Father
Even though you are my King
I love you more than any other
So much more than anything
