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The Sacred Trust Of Songwriting |
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Written by Brent Helming
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Sunday, 23 November 2008 |
Brent Helming gives tips on songwriting.
David Ruis once said something that pierced my heart. “The gifts of song writing and worship leading are sacred trusts.” God has entrusted to us the privilege and responsibility of crafting music and lyric together in order to reveal the depths of His truth, character and wonder to His people. What an awesome privilege to partner with God in the writing of songs that convey His glory and draw His people into a deeper relationship with Him.
Music is not a passive medium. God created it (Gen. 4:21) to wield incredible power capable of bypassing the mind while engaging the heart. It has been called the “universal language” for that reason.
The secular world understands this reality and attempts to harness music’s power in a variety of ways. Advertisers construct entire marketing campaigns around melodies and songs while sporting events use music to rally the home crowd. Try watching the motion picture “Titanic” or “Star Wars” without the music behind the story to stir your emotions. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that music is an extremely powerful medium of motivation, inspiration and communication.
Let me bring this point a little closer to home. I would bet that most of you can sing the lyrics to, “This Little Light of Mine” or “Michael Row the Boat Ashore”? Now, how many of you can remember the title and main points to your pastor’s sermon from two weeks ago or even last week? I’m waiting… Chances are that very few of you do.
Did you know that Martin Luther used music (songs) to pass along the reformed theology message to the masses after nailing his theses to the Wittenberg Door. Luther understood that music would be widely understood and embraced by all men, rich and poor alike.
Music that points to God.
Music in and of itself, without lyric, is not inherently evil. By this I mean that there is no such thing as an evil or heretical drumbeat or melody. God is the creator and giver of the gift of music. Satan has no such creative powers. He can only manipulate, taint and distort.
However, lyrics—the message that the music carries—are an entirely different matter. In worship, lyrical content is the primary means of establishing our focus. If the lyrics point to God then on God we focus, however, if the lyrics point to something other than divine truth, we’ve missed the mark and settled for what C.S. Lewis calls, “’the inauthentic.”
The song themes we choose to write about and the words or phrases we use to convey them are at the heart and soul of worshipping in “spirit and truth…” (John 4:23).
Let’s look at an example.
“I am standing beneath Your wings/ I am resting in Your shelter/ Your great faithfulness has been my shield/ And it makes me want to sing/ Blessed be the Name of the Lord!”
(Andy Park- “Blessed Be the Name” Vineyard Publishing)
The above is a good example of a lyric that is theologically sound while remaining relevant and contemporary. The words clearly focus us on who God is (faithful, our shield) and then give expression to what that means for us (makes us sing out “Blessed be the name of the Lord”).
Now an example of a poor lyric: “You are the great and awesome Son/ One of the chosen/ Great are you among all other Gods/ The Father’s beloved.” (made up for this example)
At first glance these lyrics may seem all right, but if you look closely you’ll begin to notice that something is wrong. What does the lyric “One of the chosen” mean? If the lyric is speaking of Jesus (as the first line indicates) then He must be the ONLY Son, and not “one of the chosen”. Also what is “Great are You among the Gods” trying to say?
If you put line two and three together then it becomes obvious that the central Christian truths of Jesus as God’s only begotten Son (John 3:16) and the monotheistic Trinitarian in nature) are being misrepresented. What is actually being sung then becomes “heretical.”
The above example might seem a little contrived but I think the point is clear. Songwriters (at least those who write under the banner of worship) fall under the same scriptural accountability as those who preach and teach the Word (James 3:1).
Therefore we must give careful attention to the lyrics we write. It is not enough to come up with catchy melodies and hooky riffs. We need to be sure that what we are asking people to sing is clearly within the bonds of Scripture and articulated in a clear uncompromising manner.
How do we ensure the correctness of our lyrics? Here are several helpful keys:
· Saturate your mind with the word of God—We must yearn to know and experience God daily through His word. This includes becoming a tenacious memorizer of Scripture because there is no substitute for spending time with God. In speaking with David Ruis about song writing he affirmed that many of his songs come directly out of times of reading the word and intercession.
In John 6:63 Jesus says “The Spirit gives life;… The words I have spoken to you are spirit and they are life.” Here, Jesus makes it clear that worshipping in “spirit and truth” involves embracing His Word.
· Study theology—Reading and memorizing Scripture is non-negotiable, but it is also good to understand how and why everything fits together. This leads us to the importance of studying theology. Usually when the subject of theology comes up most people tune out assuming that it is too mystical or arduous for them to understand. However, theology is far from being a mystical body of academia.
Dr. Don Williams helped to practically define theology as: the process of identifying the non-negotiables of our faith; thereby protecting and defending the church from infections and steeling it for persecution, heresy and idolatry. Familiarity with theology will also help to keep us as songwriters from pulling verses out of context.
Write with a pastor’s heart—One of the main goals of being pastor is to clearly, accurately, and boldly proclaim what we believe so that each person in the congregation is able to understand the character of God and His love for them.
Our task as songwriters for worship must be the same. Worship shouldn’t be a guessing game. We should be able to grasp the concepts and truths that we are singing about and these truths should lead us to the Father.
Perspiration—Crafting lyrics that clearly state the eternal truth of God and yet doing so in a fresh and artistic way takes time and hard work. God may pour out the lyrics or melody to you in ten minutes but you need to remember that “…we only know in part… we see through a glass darkly.” (I Corinthians 13:12). Brian Doerksen once said that, “the world is full of good songs that given a little more work could have been great songs.” I believe that wholeheartedly.
Sometimes we think that giving time to honor our song writing skills is worldly and unspiritual. Actually, the reverse is true. The Bible repeatedly commends the use of skillful craftsmen (I Chronicles 25). When we take time to craft a lyric that is sound and thought-out, we exercise a God-given drive to become skillful craftsmen.
Editorial humility—There is nothing like a fresh set of eyes or ears to review what you’ve written. Many times when I have had someone else look over my song lyrics they have usually been able to point out the rough edges that I had not been able to see.
In reality, we songwriters are attempting to write lyrics that speak about the wonders of God and life with Him. The catch is that this incredible task is filtered through our personal understanding and experiences. No two people see or understand the same thing in quite the same way.
Therefore, it is a good idea to have someone else (preferably someone steeped in scriptural knowledge) read what you’ve written to ensure that you’ve clearly said what you intended to say. When I’ve done this for others the most common response I hear is, “Wow, I never thought of it or saw it that way.”
Closing Thoughts:
Worshipping our Lord is far too important and the stakes are too high not to give ample attention to the lyrics we write. Part of the frustration of “working out your salvation with fear and trembling” (Philippians 2:12) is that we, the creation, are trying to fully comprehend the Creator. The truth is that this side of heaven we will never be able to fully grasp the depth, height and breadth of our God’s wisdom. But He has promised to teach us and lead us (John 14:26). We would do well to press in to write lyrics full of “spirit and truth.” It’s not just a good idea, it’s our part in the “sacred trust.”
Resources:
- Bible (several translations)
- Strong’s Concordance
- Vines Expository Dictionary
- Systematic Theology by Wayne Grudem
- New Testament Theology by George E. Ladd
- How to read the Bible for All it’s Worth – Gordon Fee & Douglas Stuart
- The Complete Word Study Old Testament and
- The Complete Word Study New Testament by Zodhiates
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