And yet, and yet…

This morning I happened across the video of Hozier singing “The Humours of Whiskey,” found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQ-UItNBoMw It’s a beautiful rendition of the song, a haunting recording.

It started me thinking on a concept that has often rolled around in my head: why don’t people sing in worship services? If a man can jump on a microphone and belt out a beautiful a capella song praising the valors of alcohol distilled out of grain, why don’t the gathered faithful sing the praises of the Lord who saves? Why is it through history that the singing and playing the local pubs outsings the voices of the redeemed? Why is that marching songs of those going to war inspire hearts to battle, while worship leaders beg for believers to voice their songs of victory?

I’ve read that when Martin Luther would write hymns, he would sometimes take popular drinking song tunes and put Scriptural lyrics. It seems like an odd juxtaposition of the tune of sin belting out words of praise to the Lord.

In my mind, I think Luther understood something that we don’t when it came to composition of worship songs. He understood that the heart wants to sing to music, but when approached with the complexity of our invention, many feel unable to compete. What is common about drinking songs? Easily remembered repeating tunes. What is common about marching songs? Steady repeated rhythm, rhyme, and simple vocabulary. In short both of these styles of music are directly designed to be belted out by a group together. They encourage (and in fact need) the chorus of many to fill the sound. Without the group, the song falters.

When we as faith leaders develop worship services, do we compile them knowing that if we alone sing as worship leaders that the song will falter? Or do we design our worship services around a desire to impress the congregation? Or even worse, to limit the amount of complaints we will receive?

It may be that in our generation in order to restore the voice of the congregation that we need to compose simpler tunes. It may be that we need to become “green” as worshippers, recycling old familiar tunes with new Scriptural poetry. It may be that we as leaders must sacrifice the idols we set up in our hearts of creativity to give voice back to our people.

I would encourage you to think back over the worship songs that have abided in your life over the long term, the ones that you hum as you work, the ones that you sing under the stars, the ones that you pray in your difficulty. You may find that the songs of the heart are much simpler than we would expect. It reminds me of one of the songs of Scripture:

Awake O Sleeper/Arise from the dead/And Christ will shine on you.

So me boys, let’s open the Scriptures and sing the powerful Word of God that saves!