Coming Back to the Art of Worship*

*I changed the title of my post because I thought of a cleverer one. 

In our discussion of poetry, we've noted that its musicality makes it similar to songs, in both its sound and its ability to elicit emotion. I believe that the poetry of spiritual songs--hymns, praise music, and classical pieces--is a critical component of worship. The words we are singing to our heavenly Father are our gift of worship and our sacrifice of praise.

Contemplating the words we sing can add to the worship experience. For example, we sang a song in chapel on Friday with these lyrics:

Oh, I'm running to Your arms
I'm running to Your arms
The riches of Your love
Will always be enough
Nothing compares to Your embrace
Light of the world forever reign

Those lines have poetic techniques of rhythm, meter, repetition, and alliteration. Consider the meaning: all but the last lines describe a personal relationship with Jesus: running to His arms, experiencing the riches of His love, feeling His embrace. This is our God as Father. The last line doesn't follow this theme. We praise the light of the world who will reign forever. At first glance, this may seem out of place, but instead, we recognize that our God is both the one who will lavish His love on us and who reigns over the universe.
 
Today's praise music gets a bad rap sometimes due to trite lyrics and repetitive melodies. I think when we compose worship songs we should try to make them the highest quality possible. When we create art, Tolkien said we are subcreators: we are imitating the creative power of God. The turn away from hymns in many churches has meant we no longer experience some of the most powerfully and beautifully written songs of our Christian past. Hymns can be updated, but we shouldn't discard them entirely. Listen to this hymn by Sufjan Stevens.

Listen to and read the lyrics to this praise song from an artist from the past named Rich Mullins. What poetic techniques do you see? Literal and non-literal meanings? Describe the persona and any metaphors. You can also analyze a praise song of your choosing in your comment.