Worship Songs And Hymns

What is a worship Song?

A worship song is any song that is God centered in that it draws our attention towards God The Father, God The Son and God The Holy Spirit. A worship song gives us the opportunity to experience and respond to God's Word and God's presence because it reveals:

God's heart for us revealed through the scriptures

God's "right now" word to us through prophecy or spontaneous sung prayer or scripture

Our heart for God through songs of praise, thanks, adoration and confession

Worship songs can be presented in any style or musical medium. However, time has tested and proven that enduring, global worship songs are those that are written for or adopted by congregations for use in gatherings of believers of many sizes and traditions.

What makes a worship song congregational?

Biblically Sound – Is derived from and holds fast to biblical theology embraced by the majority of Church traditions and styles of worship

Singable – Can be sung by 50% of churches that are comprised of 100 members or less and led by a single voice/instrument. Easy to sign and remember melodies with not too many melodic nuances that surprise the congregation making it hard to sing and remember, discouraging congregants from joining in the song

Accessible – Lyrics should be easy to understand and have logical yet creative expressions of universally common ideas. Musical context should not be so complex that it dismisses the song from the set lists of a majority of churches.

Memorable – A congregational worship song that is adopted and accepted by many churches should sound like anyone could have written it but only one person did. It is creative without alienating the volunteer musician. It is "simply profound" in its lyrical content. They are songs that are easy to hide in our hearts to bring encouragement, teaching and a strong sense of God's presence when remembering or recalling the lyrics and melody.

What qualifies a congregational worship song as a Hymn?

Just as the Wesley's discipled an entire nation on the strength of their songs, songs that receive the honor of being designated "hymns" for now and posterity are timeless in their melodic, musical and lyrical content, Poetic in the style of lyrical expression and theological in the intent to teach and pass down common biblical concepts from generation to generation.

Historically, hymns were in strophic form, meaning that a single verse melody was repeated over and over again with the addition of a chorus or bridge (refrain), methodically developing a theme from one verse to the next.

Even though this approach still underlines the genre in modern era, cultural trends, taste and varying levels of musical sophistication are broadening the medium to some degree, however, what will remain undisputable is that hymns will be those songs that are not only memorable but more importantly packed full of biblical teaching.

Worship Songs through Biblical History:

Songs of Declaration, Prayer and Praise by Prophets, Priests and Kings in the Old Testament

Psalms – as represented in the Hebrew and modern scripture cannon

Hymns

Spiritual Songs

Guiding Scripture:

Colossians 3:16-17