I would be very surprised if you donвЂ™t immediately know which song I am talking about. The Unintended Misdirection of вЂњRaise a HallelujahвЂќ

Is there a point in time in your worship service when the song leader says something like вЂњletвЂ™s worship God togetherвЂќ or implies that you are all about to worship God? Assuming as much, shouldnвЂ™t that mean that what follows is worship? I say it should, which is why I say that worship leaders should make certain that it does. This leads to the purpose of this article.

But I have had to explain all three of those songs to individuals in my church (namely the object-jumping), and I have come away with the same worry: вЂњwhat was going through your mind while you were singing that song after I had told you we were using it to worship God?вЂќ. If you have a group of Christians who think about the texts and can actively translate those lyrics into their own heartвЂ™s worship of God, then everything is fine. Matt RedmanвЂ™s popular вЂњ10,000 ReasonsвЂќ does a variant: the song is sung to God, but it mixes in вЂњmy soulвЂќ as a вЂњyouвЂќ in the chorus. Kari Jobe took вЂњBe Still, My Soul,вЂќ a text by Katharina von Schlegel sung to our souls about GodвЂ™s sovereignty, and added a chorus sung to God-вЂњyouвЂќ goes from meaning вЂњmy soulвЂќ to вЂњGodвЂќ and back without warning (the only indicator would be a capital вЂњYouвЂќ which IвЂ™m noticing more and more typists ignore, but thatвЂ™s for another day). Whether or not I like it as a technique, it is not uncommon. вЂњHow Great Thou ArtвЂќ opens up a subcategory in which the text jumps back and forth (verse 3 is aboutВ God, the rest of the song is toВ God). And thatвЂ™s fine! Either category can be defined as a worship song. To be sure, my church uses plenty of songs sung to God, like вЂњLiving Hope,вЂќ вЂњSpeak, O Lord,вЂќ and вЂњHow Great Thou Art,вЂќ but they are in the minority. In fact, looking through the songs my church enjoys singing, many of them are not actually sung to God but are rather sung about God. But none of those songs is actually directed toВ God. All of those songs are clearly about a biblical attribute of God, which is a good mark of a worship song. вЂњHow Deep the FatherвЂ™s Love for UsвЂќ is a song to be sung by Christians to remind each other about GodвЂ™s incredible love.Дid you notice anything about that list? All of those songs really only make sense when sung by a Christian, which is a good mark of a worship song. вЂњGrace Greater Than Our SinвЂќ is a song to be sung by Christians both to other Christians to celebrate GodвЂ™s grace and to non-Christians to invite them to experience GodвЂ™s grace. вЂњJesus MessiahвЂќ could be sung by anyone to make objective declarations about Jesus and salvation in Him. вЂњHis Mercy Is MoreвЂќ is a song to be sung by Christians to one another to celebrate GodвЂ™s mercy. (Please note that IвЂ™m talking about corporate worship in this article personal and private worship opens many unique, and separate, possibilities.) Can we agree to use that definition for now? Now consider those four songs I mentioned above. How would you define a вЂњworship songвЂќ? I define it as a song that is either to or about the Triune God, sung in such a way that encourages corporate participation. There are countless ways this can happen, but I want to focus on the surprisingly common scenario in which we fill our вЂњworship serviceвЂќ with songs that are not вЂњworship songs.вЂќ Sometimes, perhaps regularly, song leaders try to use a song in a way other than its text intends. Finally, because this article is being written to pastor theologians, review the text to evaluate how the song was intendedВ to be used. For example, I used вЂњHis Mercy Is MoreвЂќ as an opening declaration of praise, вЂњJesus MessiahвЂќ to introduce a LordвЂ™s Supper service, вЂњGrace Greater Than Our SinвЂќ during a time of confession, and вЂњHow Deep the FatherвЂ™s Love for UsвЂќ as an invitation to commitment. What songs did your congregation sing? Some of the songs from my churchвЂ™s past few Sundays include вЂњHis Mercy Is More,вЂќ вЂњJesus Messiah,вЂќ вЂњGrace Greater than Our Sin,вЂќ and вЂњHow Deep the FatherвЂ™s Love for Us.вЂќ Then, ask how each song was used. Think about your past few worship services. If you are any kind of pastor theologian, you should be interested. LetвЂ™s start with a basic assumption: you are interested in what happens in your churchвЂ™s worship services.

We raise a hallelujah lyrics