The Best of Worship

I guess I am old.  I have a great deal of difficulty identifying with and enjoying present day music…not just the secular type, but also the worship music currently utilized in most churches. 

First of all, it is terribly repetitive.  Sometimes phrases are repeated dozens of times, verses are repeated over and over, and many of the songs have similar lyrics. There is certainly a place for repetition, but when I compare modern worship choruses with the rich doctrinal statements in many of the old hymns, the difference is notable.  An understanding of the deeper concepts of our Christian faith was often derived from phrases in hymns.  Many old hymns are mini-sermons.

Secondly, many of the modern songs aren’t very “sing-able.”  The audience/congregation struggles to sing along.  They can’t find the melody line, much less be able to figure out a way to sing harmony.  The ability to fully participate is lost for those of us who “read music,” when all we have is the words and no access to the notes.  The beauty of music is obscured without a clear melody and harmony.

Thirdly, it is tempting to wonder if true heartfelt worship is being replaced by the lifting of hands and other physical motions.  If these are sincere, that’s great…but what is happening inside the heart is more important.  I feel that lifting my heart and voice is more important than lifting my hands.

Every time I see familiar hymn lyrics on the projection screen, I am tempted to get excited thinking we are about to sing an old hymn.  Then I discover the lyrics are being sung with a different tune which has no interesting melody to reinforce the meaning, and something else mundane has been stuck in between the verses.

Sigh….

In my entire life, the most intense worship I have felt in singing took place in the 1960s while I was a student at Wheaton College.  I don’t remember who was in charge of chapel that day, but we were told that we would be singing the hymn “Holy, Holy, Holy.”  It is true that this hymn was very familiar to me.  I had probably sung is a hundred times before.  It does also utilize repetition, although the repetitive portions are interspersed with statements about the nature of God Himself.  What made this experience unique was that we were instructed to sing a cappella, and the first verse was to be sung only by the sopranos.  The altos were to join in on the second verse, the tenors on the third and the basses on the fourth and final verse.  There were about 2000 young adults present.

The sopranos only on the first verse created a light and ethereal sound.

Holy, holy, holy!  Lord God Almighty.

Early in the morning our song shall rise to Thee.

Holy, holy, holy! Merciful and Mighty

God in three persons, blessed trinity.

The altos joining on the second produced a sweet harmony. 

Holy, holy, holy! All the saints adore Thee.

Casting down their golden crowns around the glassy sea.

Cherubim and seraphim falling down before Thee

Which wert and art and evermore shall be.

When the tenors joined, the harmony was richer.

Holy, holy, holy!  Though the darkness hide Thee.

Tho’ the eye of sinful man Thy glory may not see.

Only Thou art holy, there is none beside Thee,

Perfect in pow’r, in love, in purity.

But, when the basses boomed in on the final verse, creating the full four-part harmony, I felt as though a jolt of electricity passed down my spinal column.  My spirit soared upward with my voice.

Holy, holy, holy!  Lord God Almighty.

All Thy works shall praise Thy name in earth and sky and sea.

Holy, holy, holy!  Merciful and mighty.

God in three persons, blessed trinity.

I suppose I will have to wait until heaven to experience this again. 

As one ages, there seem to be increasing reasons to look forward to going there.