What in heaven’s name are we singing?
I was at a workshop last week, when the person leading morning worship asked us to sing “Days of Elijah”. This was greeted enthusiastically by those present and they joined robustly in the song – while I stood there open-mouthed wondering, “What in heaven’s name are we singing?”
For those unfamiliar with the words (as I was) here is a sample – first verse, chorus, and final refrain:
These are the days of Elijah
Declaring the word of the Lord
And these are the days of your servant, Moses
Righteousness being restored
And though these are days of great trials
Of famine and darkness and sword
Still, we are the voice in the desert, crying
“Prepare ye the way of the Lord!”
chorus:
Behold he comes, riding on the clouds
Shining like the sun, at the trumpet’s call
So lift your voice, It’s the year of Jubilee
And out of Zion’s hill, salvation comes.
There’s no God like Jehovah,
There’s no God like Jehovah,
There’s no God like Jehovah!
The lyrics raise at least three questions for me about what we sing in worship:
- Why do many of our newer songs, especially those coming out of the more conservative wing of the church, persist in using images from the Hebrew Scriptures (which some still refer to as the Old Testament) as the primary language of worship? We are those who know the revelation of God in Jesus of Nazareth and are called to live as Jesus’ followers in bringing to birth the presence of God’s reign. Are we really living in days like those experienced in the time of Elijah, Moses, Ezekiel, and David – or are we living in days of hope because God’s love and grace have been revealed to us in Jesus the Christ?
- Why do we think that cobbling together pseudo-biblical phrases, as in the chorus above, actually means anything? Do people believe that such language is somehow more worshipful? And who is the “He” it refers to? This is just a mish-mash of words that neither honours God, nor elucidates the faith community asked to sing them.
- Why, as in the final refrain, do some parts of the church persist in using the title “Jehovah” to speak of God? It is not a biblical word. In fact it’s not even a proper word being a miscegenation of consonants from one Jewish name for God and the vowels from another. It’s like us taking the consonants from “Jesus” and the vowels from “Christos” and forming a new word “Jisos” as a shorthand name for Jesus Christ. We wouldn’t do it! So why do it to the language of our Hebrew ancestors in the faith?
We can do better than that in our worship of God.
Posted by Rob
