IN THIS TIME OF FEAR of shortages, there is one thing we will never run out of—a supply of biblical images of God. So, we should never need to make up our own man-made images of the true God.
Now, I am going to try my best to be completely positive on this entire blog (as hard as that’s going to be for me!) But when it comes to something that involves our worship of God—personal and corporate—there is a lot at stake, and negative examples are unavoidable. You see, the quality of our worship is greatly affected by our view of God, and our view of God is affected by the words and images we use to describe him.
The Old Testament psalmist says, “Who may stand in [God’s] holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god.” (Psalm 24:4) If I’m reading this verse right, part of having a ‘pure heart’ is having no false images of God. Jesus likewise said that God’s “worshipers must worship him in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24)
Where do our images come from?
Most of the images we have of God come from the words we use about him. Of course, this applies most to sermons and homilies. But, it also applies to the lyrics of the songs we use in worship. Most churches have sincere and hardworking worship leaders. But these days they appear to have a limited supply of quality praise music to choose from when putting together “modern” worship services.
I am going to list some phrases from that current supply of worship songs—with no composers’ names attached—that I think should be reconsidered as worship music in the light of more truly biblical metaphors available.
Now, these are not just cases of poor poetic structure or clumsy imagery—though that is common too. But, if we use the measure of the two verses mentioned above, these songs verge on idolatry by setting up false images of God and his actions on our behalf.
These are in no particular order (and, my comments are far from exhaustive):
- “Heaven meets earth like a sloppy wet kiss” — Wouldn’t this evoke an image either of an over-affectionate puppy or something possibly erotic? Not many other choices.
- “Your love is like radiant diamonds bursting inside us” — First of all, do diamonds burst? And if they do, that sounds like a painful form of showing love.
- “Love’s like a hurricane, I am a tree” —At least for Elijah, God was not in the whirlwind (1 Kings 19:11). Was the composer referring to, “the wind blows where it wills” as Jesus said to Nicodemus? The Spirit was never meant to uproot and destroy.
- “Let our song be like sweet incense to your heart, Oh God” — This one gets close to biblical, but how many metaphors can we mix in one line?
- “Blow through the caverns of my soul” — though not speaking directly of God, the only uses of caves in scripture are to bury people (think Abraham and Sarah) and to relieve oneself in (think King Saul)!
- And even a classic old hymn: “I come to the garden alone, while the dew is still on the roses … and the joy we share … none other has ever known” — sounds like the garden* is more of a romantic get-away for two than a place of growth for a congregation.
But the lack of quality in worship music is not my main subject here. Rather, it is the assertion that the supply of truly biblical allusions and illustrations is unlimited, and inventing other ones is a dangerous business.
But biblical metaphors are so … ancient!
Perhaps modern lyricists are looking to update some of the archaic or irrelevant agricultural imagery of scripture. That may be fine, but extreme effort (and much theological guidance) must be taken to find exact parallels in more modern dress. If I may offer an example: Perhaps instead of sheep wandering in a valley, one could use the image of a person wandering through the lonely and dangerous streets of the city. This would mirror the meaning of the original and still make it relatable to the modern listener.
To conclude, I do not wish to bind anyone’s conscience in this area where art and exegesis meet. I simply call for more careful thought around what goes into this critical act of worship in the life of the believer.
* “Garden”—Upon further investigation, I find that the composer of this hymn was actually referring to Mary Magdalene at the “Garden Tomb” meeting the risen savior. This context makes the hymn slightly more understandable. However, the reference is so hidden, including in the key final stanza, that even a long-time believer like me can miss it. In fact, even the late president of my seminary missed it!