Christian Worship Series Introduction

“Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation! Let us come into His presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to Him with songs of praise! For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods” (Psalm 95:1-3).

This series about Christian worship music is based on my final project of high school. I’ll be exploring the question of whether the songs we sing in our churches should completely align with scripture, and where we should draw the line between biblical and unbiblical worship.

Some of the earliest worship music is found in the book of Psalms. King David and other men recorded Psalms of praise, petition, and lamentation, creating the Bible’s own songbook, which has been passed down through the ages as God’s inspired Word. The Psalms influenced the music of the early church, the Middle Ages, and songs and hymns of the Reformation, leading to the famous hymns written in the 17th-19th centuries, which we still sing today.

Hymns such as A Mighty Fortress is Our God, Nearer my God to Thee, Amazing Grace, Be Still my Soul, and Be Thou my Vision are some of the best examples of songs that have lived on through the generations and are still beloved by global Church congregations today. But it seems songs of worship in the latter half of the 20th Century and into the 21st Century have shifted focus away from sound theological or orthodox doctrine and to emotional self-empowerment and affirmation.

The question is, how did we get here, and how has it affected us as the Church?

For the purpose of this series, Biblical Worship will be defined as anything that is done to glorify God, including (but certainly not limited to) singing, praying, and learning about God, and focusing on or attending to Him.

Right worship of God reminds us that our salvation is by grace through faith in Christ. As His followers, we are to worship Christ alone, through Scripture alone, to the glory of God alone.

The Bible is God’s Word, the story of the Creation, Fall, and Redemption of man through the perfect life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, who is the second person of the Trinity and is both fully God and fully Man. Theologically sound worship must reflect these truths found in Scripture and point to the saving work of Christ. This orthodox view of worship is not man’s idea, but God’s idea revealed through His Word and passed down for thousands of years.

While all evangelical Christians can agree that singing to God is a form of worship, the subject of what kind of songs to sing in our churches and how to sing them is heavily debated. Some believe it is mandatory that the theology of the music we sing must be completely in line with Scripture with no exceptions, while others question whether Christian music must be so staunchly Biblical, and if so, to what extent?

The theology of the music we sing in church must be completely aligned with Scripture for three reasons: Music forms what we think, music forms what we love, and music forms how we live. Stay tuned this month as we explore how our worship music impacts us in each of these three areas.

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