The Songs We Sing

"Give me the hymns of the church and you can teach whatever you want," said Martin Luther. The great Reformer understood the powerful role music plays in shaping our views of God and of the Christian life.

The songs we sing should throb with biblical truth. "Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom, and as you sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God" (Colossians 3:16).

Some songs are too narrow in their focus. Many of the gospel songs written in the late 1800s and early 1900s as well as some contemporary worship songs focus too much on individual Christian experience "He Touched Me" and ignore many of the other subjects found in Scripture.

In a survey of contemporary worship music historian David Wells discovered that the church is mentioned in only one percent of contemporary worship songs. In contrast, 22% of the classical hymns are explicitly about the church, more accurately reflecting its prominence in Scripture.

Wells also found that only four percent of the contemporary tunes mention the themes of sin, repentance, and longing for holiness. The majority of contemporary songs emphasize God's love but only a few mention his holiness.

Some songs have little doctrinal content. The "old" gospel songs (e.g. "Victory In Jesus") were written in the early part of the century to reach unbelievers at evangelistic crusades. This explains their simplicity and lack doctrinal depth. They never were intended for worship services.

Of contemporary songs, David Wells found that 59% offer no doctrinal grounding or explanation for the praise. Bill Gaither's "Let's Just Praise the Lord" is a good example: "Let's just praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! Let's just lift our hearts to heaven and praise the Lord; Let's just praise the Lord, Praise the Lord, Let's just lift our hearts to heaven and praise the Lord!"

Besides the cheesy "let's just" and the lack of theme development, it offers no reason as to why we should praise God. How different from the seventeenth century hymn, "Praise to the Lord the Almighty, the King of creation."

Many contemporary Scripture songs are wonderful, as are some of the old gospel songs. I do, however, make two suggestions: First, we need to be discerning. Sincerity is not enough. We are to worship not only in spirit, but also in "in truth" (John 4:24). Second, let's not be so quick to discard the classic hymns of the faith, hymns like Luther's "A Mighty Fortress," Charles Wesley's "O for a Thousand Tongues," or Isaac Watt's "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross."

Hymns like these have a depth, breadth, and maturity of expression not found many of the songs written after 1900. The Apostle Paul said, "I will sing with my spirit, but I will also sing with my mind .... in your thinking be adults" (I Corinthians 14:15,20).

Peter Kemeny, Pastor
Good News Presbyterian Church
P.O. Box 1051, Frederick, MD 21702

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