 All right. Good morning. It's good to be with you here this morning and happy to be able to have this opportunity to talk about the church's song. You know when Christians discuss worship today, they often focus on one element of worship above all of the others and that often is the issue of music. Music is probably without doubt one of the most controversial aspects of worship and one of the contributing factors I think to that is the fact that many of our church musicians do not know the scriptures and are not theologians and the reverse of that many pastors theologians know nothing about music and so you have people talking past each other and not really getting at the heart of the matter and I'm really convinced that if we give some careful thought to what scripture has to say about the church's song about singing within the context of worship if we have an understanding of the purpose and power of singing in worship and if we have somewhat of a grasp on how aesthetic form in our Christian songs shapes the doctrine shapes the theology of our songs then that will at least go a long way to helping us come to some biblical conclusions about what kinds of songs we should include in our worship and perhaps if we had more church musicians who knew their theology which is one of the great blessings of having a School of Church music within a seminary, but also if we have more theologians who know something about poetry and music I think we'll stop talking past each other and we'll be able to have some very fruitful Conversations and so one of the things that I want to focus on this morning is Some of the things that I think we need to understand all of us We have some of our music students in here as well But all of us who are currently leading in Christ's churches or are going to be leading in Christ churches There are a number of things that we need to understand regarding the church's song that I think will help us to understand About how to choose songs and how to go about leading people in in this important area of our corporate ministry I think the first important question that we need to ask in this discussion is why do we sing in Christian worship at all Why is it that we sing is singing in corporate worship optional? Is it something that churches do simply because it's enjoyable to affirm truth through song if a Congregation or an individual decides that they don't want to sing in their worship. Can they just get rid of it altogether? These are important questions to ask I think because they get right at the heart of what the primary purpose and function of songs are in the context of corporate worship So a very simple answer to that question of why we sing in the context of our worship is because the Bible tells us to Because scripture is our supreme authority We must do whatever it tells us to do in corporate worship and we may only do what God commands He has the prerogative to determine how he wants to be worshiped and since the Bible commands that we sing together as his people Then we must have songs in our corporate worship So let's begin by just looking at a couple broad examples of God's commands to sing together Corporately for example Psalm 149 verse 1 says sing to the Lord a new song But notice the specific context of this command in the assembly of the godly God has commanded us to sing to him not only individually certainly we should do that as well But also corporately and there are many other Examples just in the Psalms of commands and instructions to sing praise to God in the corporate assembly So God has given us a biblical mandate to gather together as churches to gather together as God's people To worship him and one of the elements that should be part of those gatherings is singing But what about the New Testament Church? Well, you're no doubt familiar with two of the most well-known New Testament commands to sing together Let's look first at Ephesians chapter 5 and do not get drunk with wine for that is debauchery But be filled with the spirit Addressing one another in Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs Singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart giving thanks always and for everything to God the father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ Submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ or its parallel command in a feat in Colossians chapter 3 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom singing Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs With thankfulness in your hearts to God now there are a number of things we could say about these passages, but notice the specific one another Contexts of these commands which indicates the corporate nature of singing And so singing must be a part of our corporate gatherings. It's not optional Very simply we sing in our worship because the Bible tells us to now that may seem to be Obvious and simplistic, but it raises an important point. It's not optional whether or not we have singing in our corporate worship It's not an option an individual can't just decide that because he doesn't like singing He's not going to participate in that part of the service. I've heard people who've talked that way before a Church can't simply decide that they're going to eliminate congregational singing in favor of having a concert on a stage The New Testament clearly commands that we sing and make melody with one another in the context of our corporate worship But let's get a little deeper than just simply singing because we're told Why exactly has God told us to sing in worship? We can certainly recognize why God has commanded things like preaching and scripture reading and prayer in corporate worship But why sing? Is singing just another way to teach and affirm biblical truth? I think a lot of people think that way a lot of Christians see Music and worship as simply a pretty way to affirm truth But if that's the only purpose of Christian songs an enjoyable way to affirm truth Then I can see why some people don't really see the value of singing Songs certainly do teach But they can't teach as much truth as preaching does can they? I mean there's no way that we can absorb all of the truth contained in a song text as we sing it So why bother? What is what is the purpose of this? Why why can't we just take a song and read it together certainly we'd be able to comprehend it more I mean when you sing it it's flying by and you really can't absorb all the truth And so if the only purpose to singing is that it teaches truth that that's its only purpose Then perhaps there are better ways to accomplish that goal. So what is the point of singing doctrine? corporately While Christian songs can teach truth and they do teach truth and they do help us to affirm biblical truth The reason we sing in our worship goes deeper than just teaching truth to the mind the purpose and power of Christian songs is rooted in what we are doing when we worship and I think we can see a crystallized expression of the essence of what we are doing when we worship in Christ's words to the Samaritan woman in John chapter 4 Jesus said to her God is spirit and Those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth Notice the two essential elements of worship that Jesus outlines spirit and truth that is expression of our inner beings as we Encounter truth about God expression of our hearts to our knowledge of God expression of our Affections as they are evoked by our encounter with the true and living God Now how can songs help us to worship God in spirit and truth? Well Certainly Christian song texts do teach us truth about God and thus present him to us as one who is worthy of our affections we we cannot worship unless we have encountered truth about God without a knowledge of God We cannot worship him in that way. That's why it is essentially important to make sure that the texts of the songs That we sing are actually true without truth. There is no worship But it's the second element of worship for which music finds its primary purpose spiritual expression of our affections We've all likely heard the statement music is the language of emotion you see music gives expression to our hearts when words alone are not quite enough and this is exactly the emphasis Reflected in both Ephesians chapter 5 and Colossians 3 both of those passages identified the heart as the focus of our singing and Throughout scripture God's people use song to express the heart's affection to the Lord When Moses and the Israelites Crossed the Red Sea when they were delivered from the Egyptians. They sang praise to God for their deliverance When David wanted to express a broken and contrite heart to the Lord He did so through a poetry set to music song 51 Many of the Psalms command us to express our hearts to the Lord through song in Acts chapter 16 when Paul and Silas were in prison and probably fearful for their lives They sang hymns the text tells us to express their trust independence upon the Lord James chapter 5 and verse 14 says anyone cheerful. Do you have that affection in your heart? Well express it through song You see Christian songs go beyond simply teaching us truth about God They do that but they go beyond teaching truth and they actually give us a Language for the expression of our affections as they are evoked by God and not only that Good songs teach us what kinds of affections are appropriate for expression to God You see not all emotion is appropriate for the Lord It would be inappropriate for example to express to the Lord the same kind of love that a man expresses to his wife And so an important question to ask as we worship the Lord whenever we gather for worship is are the affections that we are expressing to God worthy of him and One tool that helps to shape the way that we express our hearts affections to the Lord is the songs that we choose now We need to be precise in our understanding of what exactly songs do with relation to our affections when we're talking about corporate worship Notice that the songs themselves are not what evoke the emotions Our affections are evoked by our knowledge of God It is truth about God that evokes our affections not the music itself rather the music gives a language to the expression of the affections that have been evoked by truth Let me give an example of this It's like the difference between laughing because you've been tickled and laughing because you get a joke If I tickle my children the laughter that is produced is an involuntary response to a stimulus But if I laugh at a joke something happened in my mind first in my understanding first that produced the result Music and worship should not be simply a stimulant that creates a mood It should be a language that we employ to express our affections when we understand truth about God Truth produces the affection and music gives us the language for expression of those affections It's one thing to have an understanding of God's God's truth and for it to produce affections in our hearts it's another thing to know how to express those affections and Music gives us that language Christian songs can give us a language for the expression of our hearts There's a great difference though between looking to music to evoke those emotions and Looking muse looking to music as material for expressing expressing emotions that have already been evoked In the first sense the music picks us up and does the work without any thought in our minds Without any spirit at all in the second sense music provides us with the tools to do the work ourselves This may seem like I'm nitpicking, but this is an important distinction that theologians have historically emphasized Especially when it comes to what music we choose for our corporate worship Christians historically have avoided kinds of music for worship that simply work up our passions Instead they have chosen music that modestly supports biblical truth and gives expression to appropriate affections the purpose of our songs is Not to attract people or get them excited or create a worshipful mood whatever that is The purpose of our songs is to express appropriate affection to the Lord Affections that have been evoked by our knowledge of him Charles Spurgeon warned about this he warned about being careful not to depend upon External means to create excitement in worship But rather to rely on the Holy Spirit's use of truth to create true spiritual revival. He said this Intense excitement may produce a revival of the animal in other words may stir up the physical excitement But how can it operate upon the spiritual? For the spiritual demands other food than that which stews in the flesh pots of mere carnal enthusiasm The Holy Spirit Holy Ghost must come into the living heart through living truth And so bring nutriment and stimulant to the pining spirit for so only can it be revived So the importance of the corporate ministry of song goes much deeper than just Traditional accuracy although that's certainly important and it goes deeper than just enjoyable melodies and Therefore choosing songs for corporate worship should be based on something more than just personal preference Sacred music Christian songs Give us a language for the expression of our affections to God and can actually teach us what we should be expressing when we don't otherwise know how and So understanding the primary purpose and power of music in our worship Reveals the necessity of evaluating not just the texts of our songs But also the form in which those texts are presented Because it is the form in which the song is presented that involves our affections If you as leaders of Christ's churches are going to make wise decisions about the kinds of songs You'll use in corporate worship And really this requires that you know at least something about poetic and musical form This is why Martin Luther said that he would not ordain a man to ministry who do not know music So again, just like we need more church musicians who have a better grasp of theology and scripture I think we need more theologians more pastors who have at least a basic understanding of how Christian songs work Kevin bowder wrote an article a couple years ago in our journal that was mentioned a few moments ago artistic theologian Called why pastors should be learned in worship and didn't mean you have to be skilled and you have to be you have to perform And you have to know a music instrument But he did argue that you have to know at least a basic understanding of poetry and music and he gave nine reasons Why pastors need to have some knowledge of poetry and music and he summarizes argument this way since right affection including right worship is at the heart of the Christian faith and Since right affection is both expressed through and evoked by the arts and Since the church is biblically required to employ certain arts and the execution of its ministry i.e. Christian songs Then pastors should possess sufficient learning to lead the church wisely and knowledge Concerning the artistic productions that the church adopts in worship. I recommend you read the whole article. It's worth reading It's online at artistic theologian calm Now if a pastor has the means I would strongly encourage him to hire a qualified Church musician like those that we educate in the school of church music to help making these sorts of decisions But ultimately the responsibility falls to the pastor So what I'd like to do for a few minutes this morning is to give you a quick crash course in aesthetic form in Christian songs to show you the importance of Considering these sorts of things as you choose songs for worship For many people a Christian song is nothing more than some truth made pretty But such an understanding would be like describing a person as a soul with some pretty skin But he's more than that right? We're more than that Just as a human has a whole anatomy working together to make him who he is So a song has many components that help it give expression to the hearts affections Austin Lovelace wrote a classic book in 1965 called Anatomy of hymnody in which he summarized the importance of understanding of this Look at what he said he said a hymn is not an amorphous bit of spiritual Protoplasm designed for the enjoyment of the man in the pew and for the creation of a pious feeling or religious mood Like the human body a hymn and he's using him very broadly to refer to all kinds of congregational songs has a skeleton which can be called its metrical design and Characteristics determined by the choice of poetic foot. We're gonna look at some of these It is a complete body made up of several parts stanzas each with its definite function It's visage or physiognomy is determined by the poetic devices the poet chooses Underlying all the physical features of her however is the soul of the hymn man's response to God So in order to understand what kinds of songs express appropriate affection for the Lord We need to understand something of how Corporate songs work and in order to understand how they work. We need to examine their anatomy So I want to look at just a couple of the features that make up Christian songs An important distinction to make first is between content and form Content is simply the message of the text so with the hymn like holy holy holy for example The content of the hymn would be the holiness of God the trinity God's mercy praise things like that But unless you just list God's attributes like that or you list truths like that Aesthetic form is always involved a Form is the way in which something is shaped or presented a form takes the basic content And it shapes it in a certain way. I think the easiest way to understand this is to consider various kinds of vessels When you pour liquid into a vessel the liquid takes the shape of the vessel the content is not changed But the shape of the content changes with any art form is always involved Form always shapes the content in a way that it communicates something about the content Form doesn't communicate in the same way as content in a discursive way Form communicates to the imagination and to the affections Form changes the feel and the perception of the kind of the content So let me give you some examples and I want to start with some some more concrete examples and then and then move to the issue of songs Consider the example of typefaces or we call them fonts You can take a particular word or a phrase and communicate different things dependent upon the font that you use right so consider the word cool Cool can mean a couple of couple different things cool can mean the opposite of hot or cool can mean calm or cool can mean hip Right, and I can I can use form aesthetic form to communicate which definition I intend So look at these examples The first font is short of shivering and so it communicates probably what we mean here is the opposite of hot Right the second font is kind of flowing and smooth so it communicates the idea of of Smooth that meaning of cool and the third one is sort of edgy and it communicates the idea of cool That means hip right you can use you can use aesthetic form and Communicate something beyond just the word Now let's take this a step further and consider the word of God part of our knowledge of God is what we imagine him to be like and Form communicates our imagination. So look at these different graphic representations of God Each of these font faces these aesthetic forms shape our imagination of what God is like in different ways Now I use the example of typefaces only because it's visual and it's pretty obvious to see these sorts of things but now let's Talk about how content shapes shaped by form in our Christian songs There are several different ways that content can be shaped in a song and the first is very simply with what words are chosen To communicate the message Words are very important and how we put those words together into phrases are important Words are important because different words have different connotations. They have different feelings attached to them For example, if I were to describe my grandfather to you I might describe him as ancient or elderly or frail or rickety or seasoned Now each of these words has the basic meaning of old right? They all mean the same basic thing But each word conjures up very different kinds of images about my grandfather He'd probably rather be called seasoned than rickety, right? The same is true with the texts of songs What words are chosen and how they're put together and what images are used shape content? For example, the Bible is full of metaphors about God that shape how we imagine him He is a king a rock a fortress a Shepherd But some images are inaccurate pictures of God. What if we changed Psalm 23? So that instead of saying the Lord is my shepherd we changed it to the Lord is my cattle driver Different image Does it quite work? right Or consider this example Suppose I wanted to communicate the truth that God is all powerful and that we can trust in him Here are four different ways to communicate that same content through poetry and notice How form shapes content a little bit differently in each of these examples Look at this first one a mighty fortress is our God a bulwark never failing our helper He amid the flood of mortal ills prevailing Or how about this example How strong and sweet my father's care that round about me like the air is with me always everywhere he cares for me Or how about this example God is bigger than the boogeyman. He's bigger than Godzilla or the monsters on TV Oh, God is bigger than the boogeyman and he's watching out for you and me from that great hymn writer vegetaels Same basic content shaped a little differently or how about this example? Draw me close to you never let me go I lay it all down again to hear you say that I'm your friend you are my desire No one else will do because nothing else could take your place to feel the warmth of your embrace Help me find the way bring me back to you. You're all I want you're all I've ever needed you're all I want Help me know that you are near Now in each of these songs the basic content is the same God is great and we can trust in him on the Propositional content level each of these songs is saying something that is true But when we get to the level of form What words are chosen and how they are put together each of these songs is shaping the content in some cases very differently So what words are chosen what images are communicated is a significant element of how songs shape our affections and imagination of What God is like in our worship? But the next level of form is poetic meter Don't groan We won't go to the specificity of an English high school class, but this is important Poetic meter is basically how many syllables are in each line of the poem and the natural stress That's within those syllables. So look at this example Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me Right. There's a natural syllabic stress For a song like this and most most English songs whether you knew this or not have some kind of meter like this And we name the meters based on the syllable stress patterns So for example with amazing grace the pattern is weak strong weak strong weak strong. That's the most common form Poetic form in English poetry. It's called iambic Good poets know as Loveless relates in his book that iambic meter is stately and noble and is best Used for those texts which are propositional iambic meter shapes the content in that way and poets know that Other Christian songs are written in iambic patterns like oh God our help in ages past or Mighty fortress is our God or in Christ alone My hope is found many examples of iambic and you can see how in each of these cases The content is sober and noble and so the poets choose an iambic pattern to shape the content in that way The opposite poetic meter is called trochaic. That's strong weak strong weak strong weak So hark the herald angels saying or Christ the Lord is risen today and Loveless comments that this pattern is more direct than iambic and it's used where directness of thought and excitement are desirable like with these examples I've given hark the herald or Christ the Lord is risen today a Good poet will consider the content decide what it should feel like and then choose an appropriate meter to shape the content two other Common patterns are more rare in classic hymn that a dactylic strong weak weak strong weak weak strong weak weak or Anapestic weak weak strong weak strong weak strong Probably the most famous example of this last one and a pestic meter in the English language is Twas the night before Christmas was the night before Christmas when all through the house not a creature was stirring not even a mouse This meter is uncommon in classic hymnady Unlike iambic or trochaic because it it it shapes the content in a little bit lighter way less stately less majestic less less Direct this pattern feels more light and skippy So let me borrow one more example from loveless before we leave poetic meter to illustrate how poetic meter can change The basic feel of a particular content. So consider this content It's quiet on a house on Christmas Eve So depending on the poetic form the poet can shape that content either to feel light and frivolous or Serious and foreboding So we've already seen this first example That uses an a pestic feet was the night before Christmas when all through the house So you might not know what's coming But the poetic meter Gives you an idea that's probably something fanciful and charming But what if we the author had had used that same contact Content, but instead of using an a pestic meter had used iambic peter iambic meter Look at look at this example Twas Christmas Eve the house was still and not a creature stirred So instead of giving a feeling of fun anticipating something charming an iambic pattern shapes the content to feel more serious So if you combine a serious meter with the content about a quiet Christmas Eve We might expect the Grinch to come rather than Jolly Old St. Nick right we expect something serious to come The point is this form shapes content It's not enough to ask about a song text is the basic content of this text true If that were the only question to ask then God is bigger than the boogeyman would be a great classic him Rather we must also ask how does the form of the song shape the content? Is the result a right way to imagine God? Is it a right way to feel about him? So so far we've only discussed poetry of Christian songs. Let's move on to the song tune itself to the music itself Musical form shapes content in in similar ways to poetic form But as we'll see because music communicates by mimicking natural human expression Anyone can discern the basic meaning of music I want to show you that you don't need a degree in music or play a musical instrument to be able to basically discern How musical form shapes content and that's why I think we all should be asking these sorts of questions Music contains many different structural elements that work together to shape the content But thankfully congregational songs are very simple musical forms And so we really only need to consider our concern ourselves with the three most basic musical elements melody Rhythm and meter and harmony and we'll also throw in performance there at the end Keep in mind that all of these elements work together. So looking at them individually is a bit artificial But our goal in considering these individual elements is that we'll be able to evaluate how they work together to shape the biblical content So let's first consider melody The melody is the basic tune you sing and melody is really just a step above natural human vocal intonation when we want to Shape the way a word or phrase is perceived by a listener. We use tone of voice to do so, right? So if you were to ask me how I'm doing I could answer with the word fine But my tone of voice can shape that content to connote very different meanings. I might say fine Or I might say fine Or I might say fine Same word the content itself remains the same while the tone shapes the underlying meaning It's also important to recognize that tone of voice can actually Contradict the normal meaning of the content as which as when I express harshness with the word fine, right? Every parent is experienced in discerning the underlying meaning of a phrase based on tone of voice, right? If you're a parent have you ever said your child don't speak to me in that tone of voice What is is your displeasure in the content of what was said often not Your displeased because of the tone the tone shapes the perception of the content. So your child can respond. Yes To a question that you ask him, but his tone Leads you to perceive an underlying disrespect at its root Melody is merely an intensification of natural vocal Intonation the earliest forms of music were simply chance not much more than intoning a text and Musical form has certainly evolved and developed far beyond that today, but at its root Melody is still based on natural human vocal inflection American composer and conductor Leonard Bernstein. I think summarized this point. Well He said this music is heightened speech After all what causes such a heightening? Intensified emotion hunger Impatience certainly the deepest universals. We all share our emotions or affects We all have the same capacity for passion fear Anticipation aggression we all display the same physiological Manifestations of affect our eyebrows go up with anticipation our hearts heart hearts pound with passion and fear affects us universally with goose flesh and In the sense that music may express those affective goings on then it must indeed be a universal language And so this is why any person should be able to basically discern the way a textual content is shaped by a melody We can hear what is going on because such shaping is natural to us. We do it every time that we speak The second structural element of a song is its meter and rhythm This is very similar to meter and rhythm of poetry that we discussed a few moments ago The meter of a song is based on the patterns of weak and strong beats very similar to poetry and the weak and strong beats themselves combined in a Variety of durations within a song are the rhythm and Just like poetry meter in a song tune is usually either in a feeling of two or a feeling of three Either strong weak or weak strong or strong weak weak strong weak weak or weak weak strong weak strong So you can see the parallels between meter and poetry and meter in music and By using meter a musician can communicate either something more stately or something more trivial or any sorts of things Well, so how does this work? Well similar to how melody is based on natural human vocal inflection meter and rhythm are based on natural human body language all humans expressed various emotional states using Certain physical expressions. This is why you can look at a person across the room and Basically discern their emotional state by just looking at them again If I respond to your question of how I'm doing with fine, but I have a frown I'm stooped over and I'm moving slowly My physical expressiveness shapes the content in a direction that's actually other than what would normally be communicated with the word fine So meter and rhythm are intensifications of natural human physical movement and just like with melody any person should be able to basically discern The way that a textual content is shaped by meter and rhythm We can feel what is going on because such shaping is natural to us And so we can feel when meter and rhythm communicate statelyness or sobriety or triviality or frivolity a third category of Structural phenomena in a song is its harmony While melody is related to vocal inflection and rhythm is related to physical movement Harmony is related more broadly to the created order in general. Let me explain what I mean simple harmony is the sound that is produced when two or more pitches are played or sung simultaneously That sound production can express various feelings based on the natural relationship between the pitches and more complex harmony is pitch Relationship over longer periods of music used to develop a particular mood We all perceive the feeling of harmony at this level instinctively For instance, if I were to play a C major chord on a piano You would not even have to know what it is But the harmony produced by the combination of those three pitches would sound complete and restful to us musicians call this consonants On the other hand if I were to play two notes that were right together on a keyboard C and a D flat for example the harmony produced would be naturally tense Musicians call this dissonance and in between these two extremes are many many different pitch combinations and relationships that produce various harmonies These harmonies then can shape the content or the feel of a piece of music to be sad happy Restful suspenseful pure harsh longing and much more some of which is culturally determined, but much of which is natural and intuitive We perceive this natural intuitive harmony because harmony is rooted in the created order What is called the harmonic series and I won't go into all of what the harmonic series is or what it implies but if you remember that sound is vibration and That pitches are produced by various ratios of sound waves. You have at least a basic understanding of harmonics When notes are played or sung that fit into natural ratios, the sound is consonant The further the relationships are from that fundamental tone the more dissonant the sound and when you combine these things together You can communicate various moods various emotions. You can shape the content and Thus how we perceive those relationships. You don't have to know anything about music to perceive this Now the explanation I have given is very simplistic and the musicians here today understand that but at Its basic level Just like with melody and rhythm any person can basically perceive how harmony shapes content Because harmony exists in the same ordered universe that we do now one more element to talk about and that is Performance various kinds of structural phenomena and music can be characterized under under performance things like Tempo which is the speed at which the song is performed and like rhythm various tempos correspond to our physical movements or Dynamics the loudness and softness of our performance just like with melody dynamics relates to vocal intonation I shout something that communicates differently than when I whisper something Density the amount of voices or instruments that are used whether a song is sung alone or with piano or with orchestra That affects the content Tamber which is the tone color or quality of voices or instruments the unique sounds of various instruments Contribute to shape the content in different ways some instruments are pure others are mellow some are powerful others are harsh And that shapes the content Finally the way in which an individual sings a song Can shape the content of that song in drastic ways just like with how a person uses his voice He can shapes shape a song of love for God to sound reverent or casual or romantic or flippant Consider this illustration You all probably know of the infamous example of Marilyn Monroe singing happy birthday to President Kennedy The words that she's saying were certainly not controversial, but her tone her body language her performance style Created a scandal notice how even Wikipedia describes the event There's actually an entry for happy birthday. Mr. President Happy birthday. Mr. President was a song sung by actress singer Marilyn Monroe on Saturday, May 19th 1962 for then president of the United States John F. Kennedy sung in a sultry voice Monroe saying the traditional happy birthday to you lyrics with mr. President inserted as Kenneth as Kennedy's name Afterwards President Kennedy came on stage and joked about the song saying I can now retire from politics after having had happy birthday sung to me in such a sweet wholesome way Alluding to Monroe's delivery her racy dress and her general image is a sex symbol So in this case the textual content and certainly the musical form itself were far from offensive But Monroe's vocal performance her delivery her dress and her image Communicated subtextual messages that were missed by nobody. I raised this point only to illustrate that performance style Shapes content the same is true when songs are sung or played in worship How we sing or play shapes the message of the song So all of these elements that we've talked about and many more really Work together to shape the content Whoops on too far of a Christian song All of these things work together My point in considering the anatomy of a song is not to suggest that you need to memorize all these things or pick apart Each element to determine how form is shaping content. It's not my point My goal was simply to demonstrate how each of these elements does indeed shape content in pretty Significant ways in real life. You're likely never going to try to figure out the poetic meter is of a hymn is or analyze its harmonic progression But whether you've been aware of it or not Form has shaped your affections and your imaginations in pretty significant ways with relation to the doctrinal content of the song and Because all of these elements shape the content based on the relation to human Universals like emotional expression. They shape the content universally This is why a movie made in America can be taken to another country and they translate the words, but they don't change the music music really is a universal language and So it's important to give close attention To whether how the form is shaping the content is worthy of the content rather than just simply Choosing songs based on what we like based on personal preference The corporate ministry of song is important to God only because How we express our affections to God is important to him Some kinds of affections are inordinate. They are inappropriate for expression to God and Because a Christian song through poetic and musical devices can shape the doctrinal content to express various kinds of effect of affections some songs are appropriate for expression to God and others are not and So as Christians committed to worshiping the Lord and spirit and truth to expressing to the Lord to the Lord Affections that are worthy of him It is our responsibility to parse the meaning of our songs to discern whether they are best for used in Christian worship and this is particularly important for ministers in Christ churches I'm going to close by recommending a couple Resources to you if you'd like to investigate any of this any further The first is two books that I've written that deal with these subjects the first Their sound worship was actually was written for laypeople for people who have no knowledge of music whatsoever It's meant to be sort of an introduction And there's also a published teachers edition that goes with that so that the sort of thing can be used in a small group Or a Sunday school class or that sort of thing worship and song is a little bit more involved But still sort of a basic introduction to some of these things to worship in general if the ala biblical theology of worship in general and then understanding how music fits within that theology a couple resources to recommend from secular sources to American musicians who specifically wrote to Non-musicians in order to explain how music works both of these were written for non musicians To help basically understand how music works the first by Leonard Bernstein I quoted from this earlier This is a collection or a transcript of a series of lectures He gave at Harvard that expresses some of these things and then Aaron Copeland what to listen for in music again very helpful in In sort of introducing a non-musician to basically how music works Then two more real quickly This is this book by David Levitton is very interesting talking about the the way music affects us physically And it's very very interesting. I think helpful and then the book I coded from quite a bit this morning Austin Lovelace the anatomy of Hennedy again written really for pastors so that you can Grasp how songs work and evaluate their content not just what the content is saying but how the content is saying it So hopefully you can take some of this hopefully this will maybe wet your appetite And I encourage all of you to come over to the School of Church music and maybe take an elective or two to have a little bit better grasp on How songs work so that you're leading your congregation to choose songs for your corporate worship not just based on Personal preference, but how the form is actually shaping the content. All right. Thank you for listening