29th November 2025 Question box

OK, today’s question:

Is there danger in singing songs that seem to have a concrete praise of God, when we struggle to feel this way sometimes? Is this similar other a broken vow?

Yes, good question. We do need to beware that we’re not being hypocrites.

I mean, most of our songs lyrics describe God and who he is and what he’s done. Mostly they are about declaring the things we hold to be true. So, thinking of the first song tonight: “He is Exalted, the King is Exalted on High…” That’s true whether I feel it or not. Whereas sometimes there are lyrics which are more subjective, or where we describe how we are going to respond: “…and I will praise his name.”

When we turn to the song book of the Old Testament we find a similar pattern. Many lyrics in the Psalms describe who God is and what he does. For example: Psalm 125:1 “Those who trust in the LORD are like Mount Zion, which cannot be shaken but endures forever. ” That’s true whether I feel it or not. Anyone can sing it, if they believe it’s true.

But then, what about this, Psalm 130:1 “Out of the depths I cry to you, LORD; Lord, hear my voice.” What if I don’t feel like I’m down in the depths? Well it can still be true, in a sense. Isn’t it true that apart from God we are in the depths of sin, but we’ve cried out to him for forgiveness? And that in this song we remember our cry and his forgiveness? I believe that, even if I don’t particularly feel it right in this moment. And so singing what we believe is an invitation to our feelings to get on board.

Or here’s a more difficult one: Psalm 131:1 “My heart is not proud, LORD, my eyes are not haughty” I don’t know that CityAlight have done this one yet! But if those lyrics came up on the screen, and I was to about sing them, it would make me pause. It would make say to God: “Forgive me Lord, my heart is a bit proud…” And the funny thing is that in the instant you do that, something happens within you, and then suddenly you aren’t proud, because you are coming before God as a humble broken sinner.

So, when there’s a lyric that doesn’t sit right with you: Ask yourself: “Is there a problem with the song?” If there is, let me know, maybe we can choose better songs. (…I do know sometimes when I first sing a song, there are some lyrics which seem a bit off at first, but then when I think about it I realise that I just hadn’t understood where it was coming from the first time). But we do need to be careful about choosing songs. Also ask yourself: “is there a problem with me and my attitude?” And if the answer’s “yes”, it’s great opportunity to ask God to do something good in your heart.

If we don’t feel like praising God, maybe we can do what the Psalmist does in Psalm 103, which is to talk to yourself. Psalm 103 starts by saying: “Praise the Lord, my soul…and forget not all his benefits…” And that’s actually how our next song begins tonight…

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This question was originally answered in our evening service on 20 July 2025. I’ll aim to post another question and answer next week. You can read about how our question box works here.