Wise words on worship

There is much more to worship than singing songs in our Christian meetings, so much more.  But worship is certainly not less than that as we respond to the truth, with words processed by our mind, and sung by our lips.  So how do you choose songs that will lead to praise from our hearts and mouths that satisfies the diversity of  backgrounds and expectations found in the church?

Here are a few questions you might want to answer as you choose songs to lead worship in a church or CU:

Who is the subject of the song?  Is the song declaring God's character and what he has done, or is it about me and how I am feeling?

Songs about my response are a good thing (just look at the Psalms), but we need a balance.  Psalm 96 instructs us to: 'Praise his name' and 'proclaim his salvation' (v2) 'Declare his glory' (v3), 'Ascribe to the Lord glory and strength' (v7), 'Worship the Lord in the splendour of his holiness' (v9), 'Say among the nations, the Lord reigns' (v10).

Lets try and be people whose songs are centred on the character  and works of God - as well as our right response to him.

Who is singing this song? - Is it 'I' or 'we'?  Whether we are thinking 'When I survey' and 'We rest on thee' or 'Here I am to worship' and 'We cry Holy, Holy, Holy', lets make our emphasis one of corporate worship.  There is special privilege in meeting together and singing songs of praise and worship corporately.  Let's not make all our songs so intimately personal that we shut out the rest of the group we are with - we can do that at home!  Paul even speaks of singing to one another whilst making music in our hearts to the Lord (Ephesians 5:19).  Again, let's be balanced, the Psalms have both personal and corporate - so let us do both.

Do the words engage my mind and my emotions?  Are they true?  Are they faithful to the Bible?  As Charles Wesley one wrote 'Have an eye to God in every word you sing' .  In a day when there is concern over what Eminem's lyrics are teaching children, what are the lyrics that we sing teaching us?  This is a warning and an opportunity - let's 'teach and admonish one another' (Colossians 3:16) as we sing.

Is the tune engaging?  What songs do we want people to be singing on their way to work, school or university in the morning (...if we are up to singing at that time!)?

Invariably people sing songs with catchy and engaging tunes.  This is not the be all and end all, but good tunes do make a world of difference.

How should the songs we choose relate to the theme of the talk or part of the Bible being looked at?  Are the songs before or after the talk?  If before, try picking songs that will prepare people and lay the groundwork to hear what is said.  If after, how should we respond to God's Word?

A few extra hints worth thinking about

• What can the musicians play?
• How many people will be in the group?
• Aim not to teach too many new songs to small groups unless you are really confident.
• Start and finish with songs people will know well.

I first wrote this article for 'The Blurb' Student culture Magazine, Vol 01, Issue 03 pg 44-45