by Wes Dunnavant
I am sure that many folks are familiar with the saying, “You are what you eat.” This is true in a somewhat literal sense; while we don’t physically transform into the foods we eat, God did create our bodies to use the nutrients from what we consume as fuel as we go about our daily lives. What we eat can make a difference in how much energy we have, how well we sleep, and how well our clothes fit!
I readily apply this saying to music: “You are what you sing.” Our congregation comes together in corporate worship to give glory to our Lord in all sorts of ways: we read Scripture and hear it preached together, we pray together, we give our tithes and offerings, and we sing together. The congregational singing part of our worship time, though, is unique in that most of the songs we sing are sung at least somewhat regularly. We may sing them multiple times in a season or a sermon series. We sing new songs on several Sundays that are close together so we can become familiar with them. Because of this, when we worship with the church body regularly, we tend to internalize the texts and melodies we sing. Think about it- we can easily recall jingles we hear in commercials on TV after we’ve heard them just a few times. Imagine how much more you will absorb and recall songs you are actively singing in a large group over a period of many months or years!
This thinking is at the forefront of my mind as I consider the songs and hymns we sing in our time of worship. If I am putting tunes and texts into your head, I want them to be melodies that everyone can sing and words deeply connected to the truths of Scripture. My desire is that our church body would sing songs that build up in the faith, that teach about God and His attributes, and that declare His lordship over the Earth and everything in it. Lots of terrific Christian music is being written today, but we also see and hear songs being written that emphasize subjective feelings, (often unintentionally) distort Scriptural messages, and/or are quite shallow in their overarching messages.
One such song that comes to mind, “I Could Sing of Your Love Forever,” has a refrain consisting of only that line, “I could sing of your love forever,” repeated four times. Does the repetitiveness of this refrain make it any less true? Certainly not! We absolutely can (and will) sing of God’s love forever when we see Him face to face. My aim in using this example is not to label a particular song or category of songs as less meaningful, but contrast this chorus with the first half of the first verse of a song we learned together as a congregation recently: “Your Words Are Wonderful,” based on Psalm 119.
Your Words are wonderful, unfolding like the dawn.
A wellspring and a rock we rest upon.
We trust Your promises that keep our hope alive.
They steady us throughout life’s weary climb.
What do we find in just these four lines? We are reminded that God’s Word is our trustworthy, inerrant authority for what we believe and practice. We can turn to God’s Word for hope and comfort in times of trouble. We can trust in God’s many promises. And we can do these things throughout our lifetimes, no matter our stage of life.
Which song would you rather have enter your mind as you rock your newborn child to sleep? What about when you open your Bible in search of comfort during times of distress? In moments of grief or stress, or when we are perplexed and in need of guidance, we need songs on our lips and in our hearts that both help us to express emotion and point us to the truth of Scripture and the source of our real help.
In Christ,
Wes