In Part I of this series, I discussed why we should not continue to sing two songs, Jesus, Rose of Sharon, and The Lily of the Valley. This post addresses three more songs that I think have problematic texts.
More Love to Thee is a great song that sets forth our desire to love Christ more. Stanza 3 reads, “Let sorrow do its work, Send grief and pain; Sweet are Thy messengers, Sweet their refrain, When they can sing with me, More love, O Christ, to Thee, More love to Thee, More Love to Thee!” I do not find any Scriptural basis for asking God to send grief and pain, so I refuse to sing these words. I think we should not sing this stanza.
Another song with problematic wording is Must Jesus Bear the Cross Alone. Stanza 3 reads, “Upon the crystal pavement down, At Jesus’ pierced feet, Joyful, I’ll cast my golden crown, And His dear name repeat.” Part of the wording of this text is based on Revelation 4:10-11:
The four and twenty elders fall down before Him that sat on the throne, and worship Him that liveth for ever and ever, and cast their crowns before the throne, saying, Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for Thou hast created all things, and for Thy pleasure they are and were created.
This passage speaks of the saints casting down their crowns at the feet of “Him that sat on the throne.” The following verses make clear that the Father is in view in these verses because He is the One on the throne from whom the Lamb takes the book (5:1, 7). Because the Father and not Jesus is the One before whom the elders cast down their crowns, we should not sing this stanza because doing so promotes a wrong handling of Scripture.
All That Thrills My Soul is Jesus is another song that I think has some problematic wording. The sentiment expressed by the seven words in the title, which are also the beginning words of the refrain, is wonderful. If I understand these words correctly, however, to sing these words is to affirm that nothing else thrills one’s soul.
I wonder then how often we can sing these words truthfully. If we sing these words but they do not truly reflect the reality of our hearts, do we not engage in improper worship? To address the problem that these words create whenever a believer’s heart is not all that it should be, he should either not sing them or alter them in some manner so that he expresses the desire that such would be true for him.
Copyright © 2011-2024 by Rajesh Gandhi. All rights reserved.
i didnt notice how problematic some of these songs are, on the”must Jesus bear his cross along” song, i thought every appearance of God was a Christophany
In Revelation 4, John is up in heaven in the spirit (4:1-2). The account there is not an appearance of God. Keeping in mind that the original text of Revelation did not have any chapter or verse breaks, we need to understand that what we read in Revelation 4 and 5 are not two separate accounts. Because Revelation 5 reveals to us both the Father who is on the throne and the Lamb at His right hand (5:6-7; 13), we know that the Person in Revelation 4 is God the Father.
Thanks Rajesh your explanation makes much sense.
You are welcome, Kojo.