The question seemed innocent: “John, do you have a favorite hymn you’d like me to play at your installation?” My answer to Matt, the worship director at Prince of Peace, was immediately condemning, though: ”You know, Matt, I can’t tell you a song title. I really don’t know the hymnbook very well. In fact, I don’t really pay attention to the words very much when we’re singing in church.”
Shock and Awe followed.
It’s true, though. I really don’t hear/listen to/dwell upon/ingest the words of hymns or praise songs while I’m in worship. I tend to blame this upon my years of instrumental music training. When I hear music I get lost in the beauty of a well-crafted melody, wrapped up in the uniqueness of the instrumentation, or excited to hear the development of the initial theme throughout the song. In the midst of all that, I don’t usually notice if my vocal chords are piping out, “Lift high the cross” or “Blessed be your name”.
Eventually I learn the words. Eventually I digest them and meditate upon them. But the raw beauty of the music captures me first. And I love that! But I also have a need to meditate upon the great words the authors of these songs took so much time to craft. I wonder if you feel that need too.
Based on my own whims and your requests, we’ll take a look at the lyrics of Christian songs to see what value they have for us. In this way, I hope that these songs & words will come alive for me and for you!
We’ll start tomorrow by looking at a song whose lyrics actually do pull me in every time I hear it on the radio: Brandon Heath’s “Wait and See”
Check out the lyrics here.
Watch him perform the song live below.
Tags: beauty, brandon heath, church, hymn, meditate, music, wait and see