Re: [Worship] "He Reigns"... and "worship"

[Bruce Johnson <bjohnson@worshipmap.com>]

Karlene,

It is true that much of the song "He Reigns" is speaking in the third
person, about the singing of "all God's children",  but does that
make it inappropriate for worship?  Consider the following:

1) It is not all about "somebody's else's worship" as you put it.
The song hints, I believe, that those who rejoice to consider/hear
the glorious song of God's children, are also participating in the
song.       Who, in fact, are the ones that truly rejoice about God's
being worshiped and adored by a great host from every tribe, tongue
and nation?   Is it not those who themselves love the Lord?    It is
precisely BECAUSE we delight in God, that we  celebrate and sing
about his being glorified by many.

2) The notion that only songs sung directly TO God (as "you") are
"worship", though popular these days, does not quite match up with
the examples of worship we find in Scripture.
	In particular, we OFTEN find people in Scripture using songs in
their worship that speak about God and his works indirectly, and that
call on others --indeed, all creatures-- to praise and worship God.

	Some great examples --Psalms 46-48,  66, 68,  96-100, 135-136, 
16-150 (the last five psalms!) -- are full of language describing
others worshiping, or calling them to respond to the Lord (along with
US!), with very few words spoken directly to God.
	
	You will find the same in several of the songs of Revelation.
These songs --song uttered AROUND God's throne-- may speak of God
indirectly, and call others to worship him.  (Rev 4, 5,
7,19:1-3,6)

The first of these --the song of the cherubim in Rev 4-- echoes the
great song of the seraphim in Isaiah 6, which is likewise in the
third  person.    Yet their calling out 'to each other' is still
worship directed toward the King, just as we sing psalms and hymns
and spiritual songs TO each other and give thanks to GOD at the very
same time [Eph 5:18-19].

And the last song --in Rev 19:6-- is actually the song at the heart
of "He Reigns"

-------------
Further thoughts:

It is certainly true that worship includes songs and prayers spoken
directly to God.  But that's not the whole of it.   "Worship" is all
about acknowledging the great King  --or in a typical dictionary
definition, 'paying homage, expressing devotion/adoration'.    And
this is not limited to using forms of 'direct address'.
	Examples like those above show us that worship includes such things
as celebrating the deeds of the Lord, calling others to respond to
him and celebrating that response (since it gives glory to God).

There is a danger of defining "worship" too narrowly (e.g.,
restricting it to "You" songs and prayers).  This may lead us to
start devaluing or even excluding from our worship meetings language
and songs that enlarge our picture of God.  Our worship is thus
impoverished, and fails to give God the full glory he deserves and
that we wish to give him.

Along the same lines  We are not looking for just ONE kind of song
(or a handful) in our worship.   Our God is too great, his wonders
too vast for that.

Note, I am not saying that there is no difference amongst these
various expressions --not at all.  We cannot fully interchange the
"you songs" and the calls to other to worship, rejoice...  anymore
than we can equate a song of confession/repentance with a song
celebrating God's mighty deeds  (though a song may overlap such
categories, as the psalms often do!)

I'm saying rather that we need a full RANGE of songs to express our
FULL response to God --that  there are various ways we are to respond
to God and his great deeds (confession, thanks, praise, calling
others to respond...), and we should not get stuck on one and miss
others.    For that matter, one response is enriched by another
(e.g., thanks FOLLOWING prayers crying out to God for mercy); they
don't mean as much all by themselves.


Bruce Johnson
www.worshipmap.com



On Fri, 23 May 2003, Karlene <karlene@carrollsweb.com> wrote:

>Newsboys new song "He Reigns" has a terrific new sound! I have
>someone in my congregation leaning on me to use it for our worship
>services.
>From what I understood in the song on the radio, though, it really
>doesn't strike me as a worship song. It seems more of a song that
>SINGs about someone else's worship!







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