With the recent release of “Refuge”, Psalm 5 has been on my mind. After reading it again, there is a reflection that stands out that I would like to share.
When the Psalmist sings
3 In the morning, O LORD, You will hear my voice; In the morning I will order myprayer to You and eagerly watch.
Psalm 5:3
He immediately follows it up with
4 For You are not a God who takes pleasure in wickedness;
No evil dwells with You.
5 The boastful shall not stand before Your eyes;
You hate all who do iniquity.
6 You destroy those who speak falsehood;
The LORD abhors the man of bloodshed and deceit.
Psalm 5:4-6
What is remarkable is that the Psalmist’s eager expectation is not based on a trade deal with God. Instead, the Psalmist eagerly watches because of who God is.
How many times do we try to strike a deal with God, saying something like “God, if you do this for me then I’ll never do (enter random sin, questionable action, or distracting hobby here) again!”.
Praise the Lord that He answers prayers in accordance with His character and not in submission to my misguided demands! He knows that trade deals, like the one above, lead to both parties being disappointed. Not only would we not get what is best for us, since we rarely ask for that which is best, but the odds are we would also go back on our word, making us a “speaker of falsehood” (which does not mesh well with verse 6).
Instead, the Psalmist eagerly waits because he knows that he is praying to a holy, good, powerful, and just God and no evil will stand against Him! The more the Psalmist knows God the more sure his hope is.
So if you’re in the middle of some tough times take hope, not in your own striving, past deeds, or questionable future, but take hope in knowing who God is and what He has done through Christ. It is in knowing God as our loving father that we find our refuge.
New song is up! This is one that I started with my friend Jarred in one of our songwriting sessions. I asked “so what are we going to write about?” And be said “how about a Psalm?”. Then it only made sense to do some sermon prep at the same time (the last Psalm I preached on was Psalm 4). So this is the result of studying scripture through songwriting. Let us know what you think in the comments and feel free to share it!
Last 4th of July I remember sitting back among a crowd of strangers as we all watched a fireworks show. This year, our celebration of independence will look a bit different. It will be smaller and socially distant (but at least I will get to use my new grill!). Yet even with everything that is going on I still find it good to pause and reflect on the things, values, and rights that I am thankful for.
As a songwriter, I am thankful to live in a land where I have access to the technology I need to write, record, and publish songs. Just 50 years ago it would be unthinkable for the common citizen to have the gear needed to make their own, quality, music videos, lyric videos, and audio recordings. Today, I can just reach into my pocket, pull out my phone, and if the algorithm on Youtube is kind, I’ll reach a global audience.
I am also thankful for family. Both my biological family and my church family. Without them, how could I ever experience the encouragement that comes from fellow Christians speaking in Psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs? Hearing them sing brings such uplifting joy. It is one thing to write a song then sing it in the solitude of my office. It is quite another thing to hear the body of Christ join together in one voice and use the words of that song to praise our Creator.
Finally (at least for this post), I am thankful that I live in a country that upholds our freedom of speech. I can run a website with the tag line “writing songs to glorify God” and not once have I feared that the government is going to come and lock me up for expressing my beliefs. We can openly gather for worship, even proclaim the message of the Gospel through blasting PA systems and publicly available livestreams and never think “will the government try to kill me for this?”. I could have been born in a country that arrests pastors if they stray outside of the government’s teachings or in a place where missionaries are kidnapped, tortured, and killed for trying to spread the good news. Instead, I was born in America where I am free and able to proclaim the Gospel, write and record worship songs, and flip burgers on the grill.
I pray that God will preserve these rights through His church, our politicians, and people of this country. May these rights be preserved not just for me and the people who think like me but for all people, of every race, culture, religion, and background. No government will be perfect, at least not until Christ returns. In the meantime may we strive to uphold justice, love our neighbors, and give thanks for all things, both the blessings that bring us joy and the trials that transform us into the image of Christ.
Happy 4th of July. May your burgers come out medium and you laughs be many.
It is my great pleasure to introduce my good friend, Sean Ellis. He joined The Worshiping Songwriter early on and, if I remember correctly, had not written any worship songs yet. Then one day, in one of our monthly meetings, he decided to try it out even though he had not prepared anything for the session. So we started from scratch.
At first it was daunting because the possibilities were endless. Where do you start to write if you can write anything you want? Eventually we latched onto a form, this sort of question/statement and repeated answer. Something like you would find in “Nothing But The Blood”. Sean started playing, sang the lyrics “The Love of the Savior”, and everything started falling into place.
I hope you enjoy this song as much as I have. If you do, please leave a comment below to let Sean know that we should put up more of his songs!
For free lyrics, chord charts, and lead sheets, click here.
Originally, I planned on releasing a hymn arrangement this month. However, with the events of the past week, this song came back to my mind. I had started it early on in the lockdown. In the first session I wrote the first verse and chorus then let it sit for a while. Today I came back to it and penned the second verse and chorus. I don’t expect many churches to use this song on Sunday morning but I hope that you find it encouraging.
The song itself is one part lament and one part confession. It follows the pattern of Psalm 13, beginning with the cry before taking refuge in the Lord. I think it is important to have laments and confessions in our worship libraries because life isn’t always happy. Carl Trueman gives some great insight into this in his article “What can miserable Christian’s sing” . In that article he draws two conclusions. First: we need to learn to lament again. Second: we need to study the prayers in the Bible and transform the priorities of our own prayers to match the priorities of those prayers.
This song is an attempt to give miserable Christians a voice. To give them something that they can sing and pray while, hopefully, encouraging them through the trials they endure. You can find the lead sheet, chords, and audio here.
While we dwell in this fallen world we will always experience injustice and rage. Sometimes we will even be the ones spreading injustice and rage. Whether we find ourselves experiencing or dealing these terrors may we turn to Christ, our only source of hope and forgiveness, and rest in His promises.
1 How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?
2 How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?
3 Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,
4 lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.
5 But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.
6 I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.
So far in our series of “Writing Songs That…” we’ve explored “Writing Songs That Teach” and “Writing Songs That Encourage”. Now we come to one of the most obvious topics that is so often misunderstood or misapplied. That topic is: Worshiping songwriters should write songs that worship.
That seems so obvious. So why state it? Well, before I explain, let me share another picture. Over there, on the right. After discovering the power of royalty free stock photos, I began creating a library to use on this blog and in my church’s online services. When I was planning this article I downloaded this picture (formally titled grayscale-photo-of-people-raising-their-hands-1666816) to be the featured image. What better way to show that this article is about worship than to show people in the act of worshiping. Right?
But as you can see, I didn’t go with “grayscale-photo-of-people-raising-their-hands-1666816”. Instead, I realized I needed to focus on the cross. I share this rather insignificant decision making process because it illustrates the great challenge we face when it comes to writing songs that worship. That challenge is to answer the question “what are we worshiping?”.
Before we dive in, lets define “worship”. According to Google, worship (as a verb) is to “show reverence and adoration for (a deity); honor with religious rites”. That’s fine, but scroll down a bit and there’s a definition that I like a little more. The archaic definition is “honor given to someone in recognition of their merit”. I like this definition because it separates the act of giving honor to the one being worshiped from their inherent worth. The one being worshiped does not gain merit or value because they are worshiped. Instead, we, the worshipers, acknowledge what is praiseworthy and render an appropriate response.
This does two things for us as worshipers. First, it forces us to know the one we are worshiping. With this definition, we cannot recognize merit if we have no knowledge of that merit. Second, this leads us to examine our own act of worship. If worship is “honor given in recognition of merit”, and we understand the merits of the one we are worshiping, then it is only natural to compare the honor we give with the value of the merits. Do we do justice to the merits with our honor or do we belittle our God with what we offer? Here I am forced to look at my own life and ask “Do I give more praise, enthusiasm, and honor to the things of this world than I do to God?” Or perhaps this self probing question, “How will my praise for my lunch after the service compare with my praise during the service?”. If those praises, those levels of enthusiasm or gratitude, are even comparable then I have a major problem. Either I do not know God’s merits or I am willfully honoring Him as much as I honor a cheese burger.
But perhaps you have started on your journey of knowing God and you have correctly recognized that you will never be able to fully grasp the depths of His merits. He is so wonderful, holy, loving, just, and good, that we could spend all of eternity trying to know Him and still just begin to scratch the surface of who He is. If that is the case, how would you render appropriate honor for who He is and what He’s done?
Well, simply put, you can’t.
You and me, us fallen, created beings, will never be able to appropriately worship a good and holy God. Nothing we offer ever come close to accurately reflecting His worth. No religious tradition (Isaiah 29:13), no vibrant singing (Amos 5:21-24), no flood of tears (Malachi 2:13), no cascade of dollars in the plate (Mark 12:41-44), will worship God. In fact, those references show certain times that God condemns all of these actions. Now within true worship there is a place for traditions, and for singing, and emotional responses, and generous giving, but outside of true worship God finds these acts detestable. Instead of worshiping Him, these acts become a shallow mockery of His character.
True and proper worship is to offer our entire life as a living sacrifice (Romans 12:1). Why is this? Because when we place our faith in Christ we acknowledge that the only sacrifice that can accurately honor God’s merits is God Himself. Then, our only appropriate response is to be transformed into His image. True worship is placing faith in Christ and loving God (and your neighbor) with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. Anything less fails to give appropriate honor to God and transforms our acts of worship into hypocritical mockery.
So in order to have songs that worship, we need songs that encourage us live a holy life. We need songs that lead us to be transformed into the image of Christ. We need songs that help us love our neighbor as ourselves. But don’t stop there. Because in order to worship we also need to know God’s merits. We need songs that teach us who God is and what He’s done.
And here we come to the major conflict.
When we are singing our worship songs are we focused on who God is and what He has done or are we focused on the worshiper’s experience? Do we praise God for His gifts while ignoring the Giver? There is a place in worship music for singing about our relationship with God but if that is all we sing about then our spiritual diet will be greatly lacking.
There have been many songs written throughout the history of the church that glorify the worshiper’s experience more than they glorify the God who gives those experiences. Also, there have been many Christians who claim that if they are not “feeling it” then they are not worshiping. In this scenario, worship is reduced to an emotional state that is brought on by a culturally appropriate harmonic progression and beat (I say culturally appropriate because each culture responds to specific harmonies and beats differently. That tritone may sound sweet and jazzy to us but our spiritual ancestors would have called it the devil’s tone). Here, the worshiper is more important than the one being worshiped.
And here’s the major problem with this.
If we worship the experience instead of the one who gives those experiences then we equate the feeling we get with the presence of God. Then what happens when we don’t feel it any more? We have to ask “Where is my god?”. Or perhaps we’ll go to a secular concert and discover that we can get the same feeling from their music. Then perhaps, even worse, we begin to say “I want my worship experience to be more like that secular experience”. Then what happens to God’s holiness, or His wrath against evil, or the way He condemns sin? Well, those topics don’t really lend themselves to that experience so we better focus on love!
When we focus on the worshiper’s experience we inevitably sacrifice the knowledge of God.
Then, if we are no longer concerned with singing songs that lead us to know God, how can we accurately worship Him? Perhaps you might say “well, there’s a sermon. I’ll get to know God better in the sermon” but if we are at church for the preaching of the Word why do we need to get pumped up to receive it? Shouldn’t we be as hungry and excited for the Word as we are for lunch? And again, if we are at church for the preaching of the Word, why would we be satisfied with music that does not teach the Word?
I’ve critiqued specific songs before but I don’t want to do that here. Everyone is at a different stage in their Spiritual journey. One person needs Spiritual milk while another needs Spiritual meat. Those who eat Spiritual meat may find the milky songs to be lacking and those that require milk may find the meaty songs to be ineffective and inaccessible. This does not mean that one is more valuable than the other. It just means that certain songs will minister to certain people in different ways throughout their lives. There may even be a time when a meat eater hears what they thought was a milky song and the truth of the song pierces them to their heart. In that moment, instead of scoffing, they fall to their knees to remember what they have forgotten. On the other hand, someone who enjoys Spiritual milk may one day find that their appetite has increased to the point that it can only be satisfied by something more substantial than their current diet.
Set aside whatever songs have come to your mind as you have been reading this. Categorizing specifics is not the point of this article. Instead, this is a plea, for all worshiping songwriters, to write songs that worship God and not the worship experience. Write songs that accurately reflect God’s character. Write songs that teach the Word. Write songs that encourage the body of Christ to act like the body of Christ.
Remember those two pictures at the top of the article? The crosses and “grayscale-photo-of-people-raising-their-hands-1666816”? Write songs that lead people to the cross and not to themselves. Then may we respond to the revelation of who God is and what He has done with holy reverence, sincere repentance, and unfettered joy.
3 “This is eternal life, that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom You have sent…
John 17:3, From Jesus’ prayer for His disciples
May our songs worship God by leading those who sing them into a deeper knowledge of Him and His Son.
My fellow worshiping songwriters, lead your singers to the cross.
This is only a cursory glance at writing songs that worship. There is so much that goes into worship that it would be impossible to cover it all in one article. If you have thoughts or questions on the topic feel free to leave a comment or visit The Worshiping Songwriter on social media. As always, thank you for reading.
It’s been a while since I’ve posted here and I hope you’ll forgive me. With Covid-19 life has gotten a little crazy. As a worship pastor I’ve been facing the challenge of leading others in encouraging, instructive, and worshipful music even though we can’t meet or sing in person.
I’ve finally come to a point where I feel comfortable but I’m sure that won’t last long! Anyways, with a bit of free time I decided to record a little and post a new song.
This one comes from 1st Peter 1:1-9. What stuck me about this passage is the idea that the proof of our faith is more precious than anything in this world. If proof of our faith is so precious then the natural question to ask is “how do I get this proof”?
Peter’s answer is rather astounding. We find the proof of our faith through suffering and trials. We may want good times and we may try to hold onto comfortable lives but are these worth it if they don’t yield good fruit? Even though we might suffer now, that suffering is revealing the proof of our faith, which reminds us of a glory and goodness that are assured. May we find peace and hope in the promises of Christ even though we face trials in the here and now.
Now, more than ever, we need encouragement, right? We live in turbulent times full of fear and uncertainty. In these trials, millions upon millions of people will turn to music for strength and a sense of community, especially if they cannot gather in person. For one example, I look to Italy and see those who are stuck in their homes singing from their balconies.
Singing brings communities together in such a beautiful way. Part of this is due to the nature of singing. I can sing a melody by myself but unless I go and master Tuvan throat singing I’ll need others if I want to sing harmonies. Not only that, but I will need diversity if I want a full range of harmonies. I can’t have a bass sing like a soprano and each singer is going to bring their own timbre, texture, and culture to the mix. Together, many singers reach musical accomplishments that I as a soloist simply cannot touch. The same is true for the spiritual and emotional sides of music.
There is a certain comfort in singing a song that only I know. Perhaps I whistled a tune and stuck words to it because I needed a song to help me through a certain time (I’m looking at you, Greek exams). Yet this experience is completely different from singing along with someone else’s song. When I sing a song from the radio, or one that I streamed, or heard in church, my singing instantly becomes part of a communal experience. Even if its just me singing in the shower, its still me, the person/people who wrote the song, and all the memories attached with it. When I’m going through a rough time I’ll put on some Jon Foreman and suddenly, I have solace. I’m not the first person to experience this and there’s this unconscious recognition that if they could make it through this feeling, write a song about it, and keep going, then there’s a chance for me!
But there is a fine line between the solace that sad songs bring and feeding despair. This is where our songs of encouragement come in. Now when we use the word “encourage” we generally mean one of two things. First, to encourage someone could be to give them hope. Second, to encourage someone could also be to encourage them towards something. In essence, to encourage is to support.
Now I think we have a good understanding of the first definition. I just want to make sure that the hope I give is a substantial, relational hope not a shallow “hope you get well soon” hope. I want people who listen to my songs to find hope in the content of the truth instead of in the feeling of being encouraged (or manipulated by the I-V-vi-IV chord progression underneath).
The second definition, however, is a bit more tricky. Suddenly, the encouragement itself is not necessarily good. Instead, if we want to write songs that further the kingdom of God, we must ask the question “encouraging what?” or “supporting what?”. Because those sad songs that we sing could easily turn from solace to supporting depression, or dread, or loneliness. Now we do need songs that express all these emotions. They are part of the human experience and to bottle them up or push them aside without dealing with them first is a quick way to mental health issues. However, we as songwriters need to be aware that our songs can either encourage people to stay swamped in negative emotions or can help people through these emotions. The same is true for the happy times as well. We can write songs that try to keep people trapped in a perpetual happiness (because how could a true Christian ever be sad?) or we can write songs that help people carry joy through life’s trials.
Essentially, we need to be aware of what our songs are doing. Our songs always teach something, our songs always encourage something, and in my next “writing songs that…” article I’ll assert that songs always worship something. The question is “what are we teaching? What are we encouraging? And (in the next article) what are we worshiping?”
“So what should church music be encouraging?” Well I’m glad you asked. How I see it, church music needs to encourage the Spirit filled life. I think it is important to focus on being Spirit filled and not on any particular emotions or desired state of being because we can be Spirit filled in all stages of life. We can be happy and Spirit filled (Luke 1:41). We can be tired and Spirit filled (1 Kings 19) . We can even feel like God is far away and still be Spirit filled (Matthew 27:46). But notice, especially in the instance in Matthew 27, which is a quote of Psalm 22, that the Spirit does not leave us in a hopeless place. Psalm 22 may start with “my God my God why have you forsaken me?” but it ends with “But I know You have done great things, God” (in summary, not in quotation).
Consider this and how we songwriters can write songs that encourage the individual and the community towards a Spirit filled life. Consider how to write songs that encourage love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Gal 5:22-23) Consider that this is also Paul’s purpose statement for music in the church. In Ephesians 5:17-21 (entire chapter included for context) Paul begins by saying “Do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is”. That is to learn what God wants you to learn. Then in verse 18 “and do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit”. I might add to this point that it is also possible to be drunk with a chord progression (Once again, I’m looking at you I-V-vi-IV). But what does being filled with the Spirit look like? Well verses 19-21 give an illustration. It looks like singing songs to each other and giving thanks to God and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ. So Paul says, in modern words, “learn what God wants you to learn and act in a way that God wants you to act. Also, one of the most notable ways of doing this is singing songs that teach you what God wants you to learn and that encourage you to act like a Spirit filled Christian”.
Then, when Spirit filled Christians sing songs that remind them of the truth and encourage them to be Spirit filled, those Christians become a light to the people around them. Suddenly, we accomplish the first definition of encouragement, that is giving hope, by pursuing the second. It is when we are Spirit filled, and not grieving the Spirit, that our singing moves beyond the shallow platitudes of Hallmark encouragement and progresses into the great adventure of advancing God’s kingdom.
As a closing thought, I’ll leave you with two songs that I consider great encouragements in this time. The first is the third verse from an upcoming song that I have written called “Joy Inexpressible”. I hope to record this while Corona and the government have me stuck at home for two weeks. The second is a tried and true hymn excellently arranged for a modern audience by the Norton Hall Band (no affiliation with The Worshiping Songwriter). I hope you enjoy and are encouraged!
” Joy Inexpressible” – By Dan Loch
Even though it’s tested by fire Even though there’s pain on the road Proof of my faith is more precious Than comfort, pleasure, or perishing gold
One thing that most denominations hold in common is that they all tend to hate how someone else worships. If you want to experience this try clapping at a Presbyterian church or suggest a liturgical service to a Baptist.
I remember one story I heard from a missionary. This particular missionary was an ethnomusicologist (someone who studies and preserves a culture’s ethnic music). If I remember correctly they went to South America, to a tribe that missionaries had already visited. They had a church and played music in their worship services but there was something really strange about it… these people used a saxophone. The ethnomusicologist was justifiably confused. How did these people, who usually just played drums, get a saxophone and why were they using it in worship? Well, it turns out the original missionaries had said “You can’t use those drums and that singing to worship God! You need to use this!” Then because their ethnic music wasn’t written down, the passage of time and introduction of the saxophone wiped out the memory of what they used to do.
Now how we worship God is important, just ask Nadab and Abihu, but that is a post all in itself. Just know that there is no New Testament prescription for what instruments are used in worship. The clearest prescription, when it comes to worship music, is that we are to not be drunk with wine but filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Eph 5:18-19). I want to point out two important things about this command. First, being filled with the Spirit is the opposite of drunkenness. Where drunkenness disables our self control, steals our inhibitions (and thus our ability to be kind), and makes that which is not worthy of praise look worthy of praise, the Holy Spirit produces in us “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, [and] self control…” (Gal 5:22-23). Beware those who claim to be filled with the Spirit but exhibit the fruits of drunkenness. Those filled with the Spirit will produce the fruits of the Spirit. Now the second thing: one of the ways we exhibit a Spirit filled life is we address or encourage one another using Psalms (the Psalms), hymns (other songs within Scripture), and spiritual songs (songs not found in Scripture but ones that still accomplish the Spirit’s mission). Even within this command there is allowance for a variety of styles or genres. The perquisite is that it must encourage Christ’s bride to be filled with the Spirit.
So if I may offer some advice: Don’t hate your brothers and sisters in Christ for their taste in style and genre. Don’t belittle them for what instruments they like or how they like to hear the truth of the Word spoken or sung. Rap can teach the Word just as well as four part hymns. It’s a matter of content not of style and we need to encourage one another to live a Spirit filled life, not tear one another down and create divisions over superficial, fleshly, preferences (and yes, your desire for a certain style of music is not divinely inspired. It is the result of being born at a certain time in a certain culture and experiencing those events that are unique to your life. If you were born in another time and place you wouldn’t even use the same 12 notes that modern, Western music uses!).
But now we come to the reflections on the latest hit song “The Blessing”. These reflections I offer not to tear down but to encourage the church towards a deeper knowledge of God, His word, and the Spirit filled life. Remember, music teaches content so what we sing is important.
One thing I appreciate about “The Blessing” is its use of the traditional Levitical blessing in Numbers 6. It reminds me of Lutkins “The Lord Bless You and Keep You” and if all we had was the verse and chorus then it would be a great benediction. However, 12 minutes is a bit long for a benediction and what comes next concerns me. In the bridge they sing “May His favor be upon you and a thousand generation and your family and your children and their children and their children… may His presence go before you and behind you and beside you all around you and within you He is with you He is with you…” supposedly drawing from the covenant reminders in Exodus 20:6 and Deuteronomy 7:9. Now I appreciate that they are drawing from Scripture for their lyrics but I have to ask, when we sing this, do we know what those covenants led to? Because these are conditional convents! They are only good for those who love Him and keep His commandments! And let me tell you, Israel utterly failed even though they saw the Lord go before them and guard behind them. Even though they ate mana from His hand and drank water that He drew from solid stone the people of Israel still abandoned their God for idols. Consider this!
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 9 “Thus says the Lord, ‘Just so will I destroy the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. 10 This wicked people, who refuse to listen to My words, who walk in the stubbornness of their hearts and have gone after other gods to serve them and to bow down to them, let them be just like this waistband which is totally worthless. 11 For as the waistband clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole household of Israel and the whole household of Judah cling to Me,’ declares the Lord, ‘that they might be for Me a people, for [b]renown, for praise and for glory; but they did not listen.’
Jeremiah 13:8-11 (NASB)
Or the book of Malachi where God brings His own priests to court
2 “And now this commandment is for you, O priests. 2 If you do not listen, and if you do not take it to heart to give honor to My name,” says the Lord of hosts, “then I will send the curse upon you and I will curse your blessings; and indeed, I have cursed them already, because you are not taking it to heart. 3 Behold, I am going to rebuke your [a]offspring, and I will spread [b]refuse on your faces, the [c]refuse of your feasts; and you will be taken away [d]with it. 4 Then you will know that I have sent this commandment to you, [e]that My covenant may [f]continue with Levi,” says the Lord of hosts. 5 “My covenant with him was one of life and peace, and I gave them to him as an object of[g]reverence; so he [h]revered Me and stood in awe of My name. 6 [i]True instruction was in his mouth and unrighteousness was not found on his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and he turned many back from iniquity. 7 For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and [j]men should seek [k]instruction from his mouth; for he is the messenger of the Lord of hosts. 8 But as for you, you have turned aside from the way; you have caused many to stumble [l]by the instruction; you have [m]corrupted the covenant of Levi,” says the Lord of hosts. 9 “So I also have made you despised and abased [n]before all the people, just as you are not keeping My ways but are showing partiality in the [o]instruction.
Malachi 2:1-9
and again
13 “This is [r]another thing you do: you cover the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and with groaning, because He no longer regards the [s]offering or accepts it with favor from your hand.
Malachi 2:13
Now just this morning I received an email from Praisecharts.com that I found to be eerily relevant. In this email they showcased two songs. The first is “The Blessing” and they say “The Blessing is the fastest song in the history of PraiseCharts to go from the writer’s room to full orchestration. This song, penned in partnership with Steven Furtick, Chris Brown, Kari Jobe & Cody Carnes, was written on a Thursday and sung the following Sunday. Exclusively posted on YouTube, it has already seen over a million views. We are so excited to share this song of benediction with you.” The second song is “Christ Our Hope In Life and Death”, a hymn from Keith and Kristyn Getty from their upcoming “The Life of Christ Quintology” (FYI, for one week you can download the audio and chord sheet for free)
Back in October my wife and I had the pleasure of singing in the choir with the Gettys in Trenton, NJ. We had been practicing the music for months and then the day before the concert we got an email that we might be singing a new song called “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death”. At the conference before the concert we got to hear Matt Papa play it and explain the meaning behind the song, but we didn’t sing it at the concert. It needed more time. So as it would seem, for the past four months or so, this song has been refined to encourage the church and remind them that even in the face of death we have nothing to fear because Christ is our hope.
Yet this song won’t get 1 million views in five days. It might not even get 1 million views in 5 years. Even though it preaches the Gospel it seems that Christ’s church would rather rejoice in the old covenant. This is what I find so concerning: We sing scripture but do not understand it. We ask God to be near us but we do not seek to know Him. We prefer the feeling of faith to the substance of faith. If I can cast my prediction now, “The Blessing” will follow “Reckless Love”, “Good Good Father”, and countless other popular hits into the vast sea of forgotten history while songs like “Christ Our Hope in Life and Death” will minister to Christians for generations to come. One day, hundreds of years in the future, someone will dust off an old songbook and find that those rich words still minister. Those words will be set to new, culturally relevant music, and they will go on like “Be Thou My Vision” has continued for us.
Remember, eternal life is knowing God (John 17) so in our reading, in our singing, in our prayers, and in all that we do we should be seeking to know Him more and more. Do not be satisfied with feeling close to God. Instead, relentlessly pursue a deeper knowledge of Him and His Son every day.
P.S. Even a short lived song can have a positive influence on the church. My main concern here is that “The Blessing” must be justified using material outside of the song’s lyrics. Those who know 2nd Timothy 2:11-13 understand that God is faithful even when we are faithless, or perhaps they recall Matthew 5:17-20 where Christ has come to fulfill the law that we could not, or maybe John 14:9 where Christ says “whoever has seen me has seen the Father” and they connect this with “cause your face to shine upon us”. What I would love is for these connections to be in the song.
