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All right, welcome back to All Things Reformed Baptists. Um, the thing that I want to talk about today is our worship songs, the songs that we sing in churches. I know that this is a contested debate, and so let us talk about it. Let's talk about the songs that we sing when the church, God's people, gather together. Not the style of the drums or the lighting, not whether the song was written in 1750 or 2025. The deeper question is this: what does God actually require when his people open their mouths in worship? And good thing is that scripture, the Bible, is not silent on this. Paul tells the churches to address one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart. That's right out of Ephesians chapter 5, verse 19. And then in Colossians, another letter he wrote, chapter 3, verse 16, he goes further. He says, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with thankfulness in your hearts to God. Now, notice notice the priorities, right? The word of Christ is to dwell richly. Singing is a means of teaching and admonishing. The direction is to the Lord and to God. Worship music is not primarily about how we feel, it is about who God is, what he has done, and what he requires of us. Jesus told a woman at the well that the Father is seeking worshipers who will worship in spirit and truth. That's right out of John chapter 4, verse 23 through 24. Truth is not optional. And then Hebrews chapter 12, verse 28 to 29 adds that we are to offer worship with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. Biblical worship is not a mood we chase, it is a response to revelation. God reveals Himself in His word. We answer with songs that accurately reflect that revelation. That brings us to a hard button but a necessary distinction. There is a difference between what God demands in worship and what we feel we should offer. We often assume that if a song moves us, it must be good. If it creates atmosphere, if it helps us, quote unquote, feel close to God, if it is popular and well produced, and then we think that it belongs in the church. But scripture never makes our feelings a standard. God is the audience. He determines what honors him. When our preferences quietly replace his priorities, we have already begun to worship ourselves. This is where a fair critique of much modern worship music is needed. We are not against modern songs. We are against thin songs. Many of the most popular songs sung in churches today are repetitive to the point of emptiness, heavily me-centered, and theologically shallow. They circle around my feelings, my breakthrough, my atmosphere, my desperation, my need for God to quote unquote show up. The focus drifts from the objective work of Christ to the subjective experience of the singer. Verses are short, choruses loop endlessly, the cross is mentioned rarely or sentimentally. The holiness of God, the depth of sin, the doctrines of grace, the coming judgment, and the finished work of Christ are often muted or straight up missing. The result is that the congregation is trained to seek a feeling rather than to confess truth. Repetition itself is not necessarily the problem. Scripture contains repetition. The problem is repetition that never lands on substantial truth. When a song spends four minutes saying the same vague phrase with rising emotion, it is no longer teaching or admonishing. It is managing atmosphere. So why don't we maybe make a quick practical check mark for a worship song that could pass the quote-unquote test for a song, right? The first one is this is the song primarily about God, you know, his character, his works, his gospel, or is it primarily about me and my experience? The second thing is, does it contain substantial biblical truth that could actually teach and admonish the church? The third thing is, could the lyrics stand alone as a true confession of faith even without the music? Four, does it avoid endless content thin repetition? A fifth one would be does it speak of sin and grace, the cross, the resurrection, or the glory of God with clarity rather than vagueness? And maybe I'll put another one, would it still be worth singing if the emotional production was stripped away? I think those are really good questions to ask ourselves when we're singing songs, when we're choosing songs. Good and modern songs exist. Some contemporary writers are producing rich, God-centered, scripture saturated lyrics. We should welcome them. Age is not the issue. Depth is. A song written last year that is full of the word is better than a hymn that is merely old and familiar. The standard is the same for both. Does this help the word of Christ dwell in us richly? Does it teach? Does it direct our gaze to the Lord rather than to ourselves? God is not asking us to abandon beauty or creativity. He is asking us to make sure the beauty serves the truth. The church does not gather to feel something first. We gather to hear the word, confess the truth, and respond with songs that are worthy of the God who has spoken. When the songs are thin, the people grow thin. When the songs are full of scripture and center in Christ, the church is strengthened. So let us choose carefully. Sing deeply, make melody to the Lord, not merely to the mood of the room, he is worthy of more than vague repetition and therapeutic lyrics. He is worthy of us singing what is true, great, and glorious about our King Jesus. That is it for today. I look forward to our next time together.