I recently read a verse that really jumped out at me.
let everything that has breath praise the Lord. Psalm 150:6
But even if we’re to do this, have you ever gotten tired of singing the same song(s) over and over? Let’s be honest, as worshippers it can be tiring (not just physically, but mentally as well) to sing the same song week after week. We can’t, however, simply dismiss the idea of repetition. Let us consider a few things;
Is the purpose of the worship set to entertain us?
If this is our attitude, we need to check our hearts. Worship is meant to engage with God. We have the incredible blessing to lead people into His Presence where we are all healed, restored and refreshed! Think about the people around you.
- Are they new to the congregation and haven’t heard the truth you know? A song you may be tired of could be the key for transportation in another person’s life!
- Maybe they are going through something that a certain song speaks to - this could be a chance for them to receive healing!
When you break down lyrics into poetic lines of truth, maybe in that moment, someone needs to hear that “nothing is impossible” or “freely You gave it all for us”, even if we’ve sung it a dozen times!
Music is memorable.
Our brains function in such a way that music is more easily recalled than other information – even over years! Think about a theme song from a favourite TV show when you were young or when an old song comes on the radio that you haven’t heard in years. You remember the words! We remember songs so well that sometimes we think we’ve sung a song more than we actually have.
We offer up a sacrifice of praise to God.
It pleases Him that we posture our hearts toward Him in adoration. It’s to Him that we sing, not ourselves so that we are impressed with our musical abilities.
Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise – the fruit of lips that confess His name”. Hebrews 13:15
Give honour to those leading us in worship.
These leaders are listening for heaven’s sound. We need to support them in the vision and direction they are taking us, even if we don’t understand. In my opinion, the only time that we feel that worship is not effective for us is when we have not engaged our own spirit in it. If we grumble about repetition, we need to ask the question, “What is going on inside of me?”, before we immediately look for issues in anything (or anyone) else!
If a song just isn’t “doing it” for you, that’s ok…it’s probably doing something for someone else and we wouldn’t want to take that moment from them. Be patient… another song will be along shortly!