Do we ever pay attention to the lyrics of a song? In particular, do we ever pay attention to the lyrics of a worship song? Do the words of a worship song mean anything to us?
At a conference I attended a few months ago, we sang a couple of very popular worship songs "10,000 Reasons" and "This is Amazing Grace". After the praise and worship time was over, the guest speaker thanked the worship team for selecting songs that were 'God focused'. I couldn't have agreed with him more.
I believe the words of a worship song should be deeply focused on God. It is our responsibility to sing words that glorify, exalt and speak of the character of God. I sometimes cringe at some of the worship songs that are sung in churches today. Not because they are such bad songs, but because they contain lyrics that I feel shift the focus away from Christ.
Song lyrics that are repeated like "How I love you, How I love you", I admit I find difficult to sing over and over again. I struggle to continually sing about how much I love God. Am I worshipping myself or am I worshipping God?
This is my conviction. I find it distracting to repeatedly sing of my love for God. For this reason, I would much rather sing about how much God loves us and praise him for that. This specifically places the focus on God rather than on self. I am not saying that we shouldn't sing about our love for God. However, I believe the words should greatly focus on God and not on us. I know many people may think differently about this, but this is my conviction.
So what kind of words should be used in worship songs?
We find great examples of what worship songs should look like in the bible (e.g. in the Psalms). I believe worship songs should comprise of themes such as:
- Proclaiming how holy, majestic, powerful, loving and faithful God is.
- Point to the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Expressions of gratitude for God's grace or what He has done or us.
- Affirming who God is in our lives and the joy he brings.
- Exaltation and praise
- Encouraging us to live by His word
- Testimony of what God has done in our lives
Confession and request for forgiveness
I also find that songs whose lyrics contain the word of God are very powerful and edifying.
Furthermore to this, a question I often ask myself is do I really mean what I am singing or am I just going through the motions? Is my praise honest? Is my heart in it? There are days when I have found myself going through the motions. Sometimes I don't think I even mean to do that. Maybe it's because it all becomes too familiar.
If ever I come to realise that I am simply going through the motions, I pray that God revives me and reminds me that it's His sacrifice that has brought me everlasting life and I should continually praise Him for it. I pray that my praise is honest and pleasing to God and that I never tire of worshipping Him. Having God centred lyrics also encourages me to refocus on Him.
Whenever I am given the task of selecting songs for worship, I will make every effort to select songs that not only create an atmosphere for praise and worship, but that also are primarily focused on bringing glory to God.
"Praise the Lord! For it is good to sing praises to our God; For it is pleasant, and praise is beautiful." [Psalm 147 verse 1]
Kandima Awendila was born in Mozambique and lives and works as an IT Service Desk Engineer on the Gold Coast.
Kandi Awendila's archive of articles may be viewed at www.pressserviceinternational.org/kandima-awendila.html
