My question is, how can you discern between desire and proclamation with very direct statements (such as “I will give you all my worship” or “It is well with my soul”, etc.)?

I agree that it would be very appropriate to tell my wife, “I am completely satisfied in you.” In the same regard, I would not choose to say to her, “In all I do, I honor you.” One is a statement of affection that reflects the attitude of the heart. The other is a definitive statement of perfect obedience. It seems to me that the same logic applies to congregational singing.

Thanks for such an excellent and thought provoking post.

Scott

Thanks for the response; it helped to clarify some things for me. As Dave mentioned, your response also reminded me how important it is for worship leaders (and preachers for that matter, as I am)to spiritually prepare people for worship, thinking critically about what we are singing.

Our worship pastor has addressed this same issue, and said something like this (his tongue is more velvet than mine, so bare with me!)

When we sing such a bold statement, “I will do so and so” - it’s not only a declaration, it can also be our desire - our prayer to God for His grace to carry it out.

I.e., “I will glory in my Redeemer - though I don’t always - help me, Lord, to glory only in you, and not another…” or “I love you Lord and I life my voice…but oh how I long love you more…”, etc.

So Bob’s marriage illustration is helpful in understanding this.

Thanks Bob!

My major concern is with leading a congrigation in making these declirationsGreat post!

My major concern is with leading a congregation in making these declarations. Songs which focus on God’s glory can be sung by anyone at any time, but a line like “I will bless the Lord at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth “, while biblical, shouldn’t be taken lightly. Often visitors can just be encouraged to join in; if a song contains any such declaration then a worship leader carries the responsibility of ensuring that the congregation knows where they are being led. We must say something like “these are serious words.”

Looking to the psalms leads me to ask another question: are we often “lying” emotionally by only generally expressing happiness in our worship. The psalms are full of pain and confusion - “my enemies surround me”…”Why have you forsaken me” etc… When so many of our songs only express devotion it can leave people feeling dishonest by missing out many of their true feelings.

After all, which gives more glory to God – a happy person saying “I am happy and God is good”, or someone with real struggles expressing their pain and then saying “yet I WILL praise the lord and trust in him”?