Three R’s of Biblical Worship Music

(Revised October 22, 2014)

If a worship song quotes the Bible, references the Bible, alludes to the Bible, it must be biblical. Yes?

If only it were that easy!

Lyrics that appear to come straight from Scripture may not actually communicate whole biblical truth. Scriptural song texts are often rewritten, edited, and styled to support anthropocentric (man-centered) religion. They serve to boost our egos, instead of increasing our understanding and reverence for God and His Word.

Unbiblical use of the Bible is no new thing. From the beginning, Satan has used half-truth and spiritual deception to mislead God’s people. He excels at misrepresenting the Word of God and raising doubts about God’s meaning (“Hath God said...?” Genesis 3:1). False doctrine almost always masquerades as real, incontrovertible truth—otherwise, it wouldn’t deceive us.

And Christian worship music is certainly not immune to his corruptive influence.

False teaching may not be immediate or obvious. Those who teach it may be deceived as well. It can even appear to help a generation of believers that first embraces it. But mishandling or misrepresenting God’s Word enables future generations to compromise His Truth in detrimental ways (cf., Numbers 21:9, II Kings 18:4).

So, how can we distinguish between a song that says something biblical and a song that is truly biblical in content?

Many Christian pastors, teachers, and musicians have offered various ways to evaluate worship music based on Scripture. Their biblical formulas, functions, and objectives for worship music are a great aid to true worship (John 4:23, I Corinthians 14:15). I would like to add some further thoughts to their already-rich pool of ideas.

The ultimate example and pattern for worship lyrics is the inspired poetry of the Bible itself. In the book of Psalms we find at least three keys to biblical worship lyrics:

1. Biblical Roles — humbling our hearts to acknowledge and reverence God as our Creator, Ruler, and Lord.
2. Biblical Reasons — exercising our minds to recall specific acts and merits of God’s holiness, righteousness, mercy, and victory.
3. Biblical Righteousness — engaging our wills and instructing our emotions to return proper love and service for the glory of God.

Each of these keys is found in every Psalm in the Bible, though not always in this order. They provide a biblical framework for God-focused, God-honoring worship. A framework—as opposed to legalistic rules—can help blow away the chaff of self-absorbed praise, without stifling our individuality and creativity in writing new songs to the Lord.

Biblical Roles

How we view God will fundamentally shape our worship practices. The more we understand and submit to God’s role, as the only Creator and Ruler of the universe, the more biblically God-focused our worship will become.

The New Testament reveals a mystery: Jesus Christ is God the Lord. This is the gospel (cf. I John 5:20–21). We like to think the gospel is about us—“Jesus loves me and died for my sins”—but that is not “good news” apart from Who Jesus Is. What God has done in Christ Jesus is for His preeminent glory, not ours (Ephesians 2:4–10). He is superior in all things (Colossians 1:18).

The songs of the Bible use royal titles and noble attributes to identify God’s holy character and exalt His majesty. For example, Lord, Anointed, God, King, Priest, Redeemer, Savior, Protector, Judge.

We are not God. Seeing God in His high holiness gives the proper perspective of our own lesser role and responsibility as His creation—created in His image for His pleasure (Revelation 4:11); being conformed to the likeness of Christ (Romans 8:29), but not evolving into a higher life form (i.e., aspiring to be God; Isaiah 14:12–14; Genesis 3:5). God-honoring worship will always contain Psalm-like expressions of humanity’s lowliness, neediness, and humility as compared to the Lord.

God's people are not the world. The Psalms make a clear distinction between the godly versus the ungodly, the righteous and the unrighteous, God’s people and His enemies. These distinct roles are essential to rightly proclaim the gospel of the kingdom. The reality of the kingdom of God is that many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:1–14). The Lord Jesus is the Savior of the world, but He is also the Judge of all the earth. The grace of God’s holy separation must be expressed in our hymnody, if we are to be true to the Word of God.

Remembering God’s preeminent role in the universe and our own lesser role as His creation, we are in the right place to recall the reasons why we worship Him.

Biblical Reasons

Biblically, there are three primary reasons we worship God. For:

• His worth (name, disposition, and attributes),
• His works (creation, redemption, and judgment), and
• His Word (Living and written).  [Adapted from Paul S. Jones.]

The Bible offers no empty praise to God. Every statement of faith is backed by some reasoned justification of its truth. For example, look at the first song recorded in the Bible (Exodus 15):

. . . I will sing unto the Lord,
— Why?

For He has triumphed gloriously,
— What did He do?

The horse and his rider has He thrown into the sea.
— Why did you escape?

The LORD is my strength and song, and He has become my salvation:
He is my God, and I will prepare him an habitation [praise Him, Psalm 22:3];
my father’s God, and I will exalt Him.
— Who is this God?

The LORD is a man of war: the LORD is his name.
— What did He do again?

Pharaoh’s chariots and his host has He cast into the sea:
his chosen captains also are drowned in the Red sea.
— How did He do that?

Thy right hand, O LORD, is become glorious in power:
Thy right hand, O LORD, has dashed in pieces the enemy.
— (and so on)

A logical pattern of statement, rationale, and evidence is common to the worship songs of the Bible, whether it be a song of praise, prayer, or proclamation.

Because of the God we serve, we have more reasons to sing than we will ever be able to put into writing. There is no need for us to stoop to vague allusion or empty praise. If we don’t know how to be specific, now is the time to learn to sing with our understanding as well as with our mouths and our emotions (Psalm 47:7; I Corinthians 14:15).

Singing of and to God for the right reasons gives impetus and direction for a righteous response to God.

Biblical Righteousness

“For the righteous LORD loves righteousness . . .” (Psalm 11:7; 33:5).

“God commands self-denial, but the world makes that a reason of their standing off from the very grace of God in the gospel. God also commands that we be sober, chaste, humble, just, and the like; but the devil, and carnal hearts, make these very things the argument that keeps sinners from the word of salvation. Or rather take it thus; God forbids wickedness, because it is delightful to the flesh, and draws the heart from God, but therefore carnal men love wickedness and sin: Therefore they go on in sin, and ‘therefore they say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire no the knowledge of thy ways’ (Job 21:14; 22:15–17)” (John Bunyan, An Exposition on the First Ten Chapters of Genesis).

Righteousness is the mark of a believer in the Lord. By faith, we love the things that our God loves, and we abhor the things that He hates. We do the things our Lord tells us to do, and do not the things that He forbids. This is true grace and discipleship.

But we live in an age where “grace” is commonly preached without active “faith” and “works” (i.e., the fruit of righteousness). These three virtues—grace, faith, and works—are of God, and true worship, in spirit and in truth, is incomplete without them. We have no faith unless God gives it to us by grace (Ephesians 2:8). We have no righteousness without faith in the Lord Jesus Christ (Romans 1:17, 3:21–22, 4:5). We have no proof of our faith without good works (James 2:14–26; Matthew 11:28–30; John 15:10, 14).

This truth is clearly demonstrated in the songs of the Bible. The Psalms model the righteous actions, attitudes, comforts, and desires of God’s people. In every one of the biblical Psalms, the righteous are distinguished from the unrighteous in one or more ways, such as:

• Declarations — “I will...” “I cried...” “I put...” 
• Denunciations — “The ungodly are not so...” “The Lord shall have them in derision...” “The fool shall not stand...”
• Descriptions — “Blessed are...” “His delight...” “The Lord will hear...” “His people...” “My enemies...”
• Desires — “Lead me...” “Hear me...” “Have mercy...”
• Directives — “Know...” “Be...” Serve...” “Stand...” “Praise...”

[Click here to download a color-coded sample from the Psalms showing these different ways in which the righteous are distinguished from the world.]

Biblical truth, rightly proclaimed, activates our wills and instructs our emotions to live unto God in a righteous manner: with reverent humility and obedient self-sacrifice for the glory of God.

A Biblical Framework

Certainly, we can see the value of each of these ingredients in worshiping the Lord. I have yet to meet a believer who objects to any one of them. But all three ingredients, used as a framework, can be painfully revealing.

It is surprising how much popular Christian music (old and new) is missing one or more of these keys. Many songs and hymns that seem to have strong biblical themes often fail to incorporate biblical roles, reasons, and righteousness in their expressed worship of the Lord. And many authors alter biblical texts for greater emotional impact—often at the expense of biblical understanding, perspective, and attitude.

Biblical worship in our casual, contemporary culture is neither simple nor easy, but our God is worthy of the greatest effort and the highest honors we can give Him. Christian songwriters and worship leaders cannot be too careful to prepare worship music that:

• Acknowledges God’s ultimate authoritative role in our lives.
• States specific reasons why we trust in God alone.
• Models a reverent righteousness worthy of our thrice-holy Lord.

This is a very high standard—some would argue that it's an impossibly high standard that we couldn't possibly reach. But consider: If it is a consistent, biblical pattern, why would we not at least TRY to copy it?

What is the Gospel?

‎"The gospel is this: that we are more sinful and flawed in ourselves than we ever dared believe, yet at the very same time we are more loved and accepted in Jesus Christ than we ever dared hope" (Timothy Keller, The Meaning of Marriage).

Once again I find myself uncomfortable with Dr. Keller's definition of the Gospel. This "Gospel-centered" pastor always seems (to me) to miss the point.

We Christians have a funny way of abbreviating our way into squishy half-truths. For example, we talk about "The Book of Revelation" and the mystery of the prophecies it contains. And we talk about "The Gospel" and how God lovingly wraps His Band-Aid plan of salvation around our suffering world.

In doing so, we carelessly demote the central subject and object of our faith: the Lord Jesus Christ.

The Revelation of Jesus Christ is not about mapping a timeline of future events. Just so, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is NOT ABOUT US.

The Gospel of Jesus Christ
The Gospel does not revolve around people. It's not about how we feel. It's not about how we act. It's not about what we think. It's not about what we believe. The Gospel is not even primarily about what God does for us.

The biblical Gospel (good news) is Who God Is and how all of His acts display and confirm Who He Is. The Gospel is that God was in Jesus Christ (fully man and fully God), reconciling the world to Himself.

God created us for His pleasure, not ours.
He loves His creation for His sake, not ours.
He allows evil to accomplish His purposes, not ours.
He sacrificed Jesus for His satisfaction, not ours.
He gives us faith for His kingdom, not ours.
He judges the wicked for His honor, not ours.
He rewards the righteous for His glory, not ours.

It is God's supreme position over all His works and His utter holiness that cause us to bow down and worship.

We are convicted of sin by seeing God's perfection, not for believing we are "sinful and flawed in ourselves." We repent of sin because of His holy righteousness, not for the hope of "love and acceptance." And we love and do good (Does Keller's gospel include holy living?) because He left us an example, in Jesus Christ, that we should follow in His steps.

Is love and acceptance the best God that has to offer? If you're tailoring a gospel to my felt needs, you're going to have to do better than that. I can find love and acceptance by joining almost any club. What I may not be able to find in a club, however, is a living and unspeakably holy God, Who purposefully created me and calls me to Himself to show Himself strong and glorious.


"For the grace of God that bringeth salvation hath appeared to all men, Teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world; Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ; Who gave himself for us, that he might redeem us from all iniquity, and purify unto himself a peculiar people, zealous of good works" (Titus 2:11–14).

The Worship-Gospel Continuum

1. What is your Worship focus? (John 4:23–24)
   Do you think more about Who God Is (Spirit and Truth) than about doing the right things? Do you think more about God than even good things, like singing praise and engaging other people?
2. What is your Gospel message? (I Corinthians 2:2)
   Do you talk more about Who Jesus Is than about what He gives us? Do you talk more about Jesus than even good things, like love and grace?

I've been thinking about this a lot. Probably too much, since it resulted in a visual. The horizontal line represents how we worship God. The vertical line represents how we speak the Gospel. Every person and every denomination fits somewhere on this chart.

• In the upper-left quadrant is the Christian's goal: worshiping God in spirit and in truth and proclaiming Jesus Christ.
• In the lower-right quadrant is the majority of religious beliefs: people looking for goodness, peace, and unity, but neglecting the Bible, the Holy Spirit, and the Lord Jesus Christ (the epitome of all that they desire).
• In the lower-left quadrant could be New Age teaching, which invites us to have spirituality, truth, and goodness without Jesus Christ.
• In the upper-right quadrant might be Post-Modern Christianity, which preaches Jesus Christ as a means of uniting people of all faiths and lifestyles. As long as you're sincere, you're in.

Someone could argue that the biblical ideal is in the very center of the chart, at the intersection of Worship and Gospel. I think, however, that the center is where we find the lukewarm church, mixing human efforts with the biblical ideal. True goodness, sincerity, and tolerance are fruits of seeking God, not targets in and of themselves.

There are infinite varieties of beliefs, but my point is, each one has a goal for their gospel and worship.

What are your goals?

Hath God Said?

"[In the song's lyrics, the] biblical emphasis that 'the glory of the Lord shall be revealed' had been changed to how 'we shall see' his glory. This is not nitpicking, for the same inversion characterized all the worship choruses that day. The focus was on us, instead of on God and what he reveals. Such worship fosters the basic perspective that faith depends on how well we notice God's glory, rather than on the gift of God's revelation that God's grace enables us to receive."

— Marva Dawn, Reaching Out without Dumbing Down

Subtle Scripture inversion, as described above by Marva Dawn, is all over today's Christian music, and it is particularly well masked in the modern hymns movement. It is one of the reasons why I have not embraced even the "good hymns" of crossover songwriters, such as Keith and Kristyn Getty. Their songs seem to me to miss the mark of rightly proclaiming God's truth.

I once used the word shallow to describe the "biblically based" and "Cross-centered" lyrics in this movement; I stand by that description, despite some raised eyebrows. While the lyrics allude to a broad range of biblical/gospel texts and themes, the wording still presents a superficially self-focused theology/doctrine. Broad is not the same as deep, hence, shallow.

It is shallow because it has a one-track view of God's:

• Character ("God loves ME!"),
• Works ("He did this for ME!"), and
• Honor ("He exalts ME!").

It is shallow because it praises God's gifts and grace but avoids mentioning:

• Repenting toward God,
• Turning from sin,
• Walking in holiness,
• Sacrificing our lives for God, or
• Serving others in Jesus' name.

Man-centered worship, though based on biblical themes, is an inversion of true biblical worship. Biblical worship is not about ME being redeemed and glorified through God. Biblical worship is a reverent celebration of GOD, in Christ Jesus, reconciling the world to HIMSELF.

Studying the biblical Psalms can help develop our sensitivity, awareness, and responses to God's:

• Holiness ("Let them praise Thy great and awesome name"),
• Creation and Redemption ("Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker"), and
• Sovereignty ("Let men say among the nations, The LORD reigns").

If it were easy to spot Scripture inversion, it wouldn't deceive us. But it is difficult to see, and it is even more difficult to explain the danger to someone who's convinced there isn't any deception (and doubly convinced if a song appears to quote Scripture).

This, however, is preservation of biblical truth at a very basic level—how we receive and understand God’s Word. Twisting the truth was Satan’s first tactic in tempting Eve to sin: Did God really say what you think He said?

May the Holy Spirit teach us to say with Jesus, "It is written."

Related Articles

It appears that I’m still exploring the question: How MUCH can we rearrange God’s truth before it becomes untruth? See Discerning Poetic Truth.