The Joy and Power of First-Person Worship Music
In this previous article, I discussed how first-person worship music is many times egocentric. But just because a song or hymn is written in
First Person Psalms
Many Psalms dig deeply into the human experience and explore a wide range of emotions. In Psalm 17:1 David declares “Hear a just cause, O Lord; attend to my cry!” Again in Psalm 13:1 the Psalmist asks “How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?” And the most famous Psalm, 23 unabashedly declares “The Lord is my shepherd” [Italics added].
God’s people have been given an unparalleled blueprint for worship in the Psalter. For there we find deeply personal prayer and worship. The Psalms are infinitely profound in that the writer approaches God in an unguarded, unpretentious and authentic way. Yet the Psalms transcend the writer’s station and situation to reveal God himself as the subject. Simply put, the Psalms are not about the author at all.
Amazing Grace
In the same way, quality worship songs use first-person language to glorify God rather than to muse on sentimentality. Like the Psalmist, authors may write of their own fallen or embattled situation, but only to magnify God’s qualities as savior and redeemer. In like manner, the apostle Paul declares, “Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.”
Such is the case with hymns like Amazing Grace. Although the first three verses appear to be about the author’s formerly fallen and depraved state, the verses are actually used to contrast verse four, which begins with “The Lord”. In this manner, John Newton builds up the cause of Christ and puts all attention on Him.
Newton goes on to affirm that God is the source of deliverance and that His Word is the root of faith. The character of God and his works are clearly communicated by the use of the self-deprecating first-person.
Celebrate What God has Done
Rather than sift through the miriad of poor worship songs, it may seem easier to toss out first-person worship music altogether. But when we do, the church loses the opportunity to declare what God as done in our own lives. Not for the sake of ourselves, but to give glory and thanks to Him.
The people of Israel were commanded to make remembrance part of their national identity when God instituted the passover. “This day shall be for you a memorial day, and you shall keep it as a feast to the LORD; throughout your generations, as a statute forever, you shall keep it as a feast.”
“When your children ask in time to come, ‘What do those stones mean to you?’ then you shall tell them that the waters of the Jordan were cut off before the ark of the covenant of the LORD. When it passed over the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan were cut off. So these stones shall be to the people of Israel a memorial forever.”
There is certainly a large amount of worship music, both older and modern that revels in self-centeredness. This type of worship causes the congregation to believe that the worship gathering is for their benefit. And it makes individuals look for themselves in the biblical narrative. (Hint. “The Bible Is Not About You“)
There is, however, a great need for people to know that God relates to them on a personal level. That he loves them on a personal level. And that he died for them on a personal level. There is no better way to communicate the need for a personal relationship with God than through first-person Psalms and worship music.
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