Worship & Theology: Singing the Psalms Verbatim with My Church and My Daughter

🎹 My Heart Says Seek His Face

Hello friends, and welcome new subscribers! You will notice we have made a domain change from oikonandwesley to oikonstudios. This is to solve the problem of sounding like a law firm or being confused with the Wesley Foundation campus ministries. The moniker change to Oikon Studios is a double entendre. First, it helps clarify that we are an organization that creates resources (liturgies, music, teachings, curriculum). Moreover, a studio is a place of practice, imagination, and creativity. And the Christian life is to be practiced with a renewed imagination in every context we find ourselves in. May your very life be the “studio” in which you practice and reimagine a rich life in Christ.

What ‘Modern’ Worship Song Should We Sing?

One of the most terrifying things for me as a pastor was picking music for the congregation to sing.

Like a parent meticulously scouring through the ingredient list before buying anything for their children at the grocery store… I was excruciatingly particular about the kind of theological imagination each lyric of a ‘modern’ worship song might create…

For Instance:

• I wanted to make sure songs did not lean heavy into any one atonement theory.

• I wanted a collection of songs that balanced personal, as well as communal language, in addressing God.

• I wanted songs that signified the intimate nearness as well as the transcendent distance of the Triune God. It’s cool to sing Jesus is my boyfriend songs. But in moderation. But not too creepy.

• And speaking of Triune God — there are something like 2 worship songs that name God as Triune. If you know of any good ones, please message me.

It all was too much.
And I was being too much.

You can’t stay in the grocery store forever.
At some point, you have to prepare and serve the food.

So I decided to have the church sing the Psalms verbatim.
When in doubt, stay close to the Scriptures.

I did the thing — I played G C D Em.
Well, it was C C/E F G.
You know.
Basic chord structure.

And I added a basic melody to these ancient words that the people of God have been singing for generations, casting their image of God as a Deliverer to seek in times of fear…

Psalm 27

The LORD is my light
The LORD is salvation
Whom shall I fear
The LORD is salvation

When the darkness falls around me
Should an army come surround me
I will not fear

My heart says seek his face
Your face Lord I will seek

My Daughter’s Imagination of God

We sang this song a few times as a congregation.

Frankly, I doubt a single church member would remember the song.

Like a sermon forgotten by Sunday afternoon, I’m not sure how much formative work this song actually made on the church.

But about a year later, as I am putting my 5 year old daughter to bed, she asks, “Dad, can you sing me that song… the Lord is my light?”

And to this day we sing this song as her lullaby.

These words and this melody is now embedded in her body.
Sometimes, I hear her humming the tune around the house.

One night she asks me, “Why do we say ‘seek his face’? What does that mean?”

And I respond.

“When you look at someone’s face, you see what they are feeling, what they are thinking. When we pray, we don’t want to just seek God’s hands and ask for things. We want to look upon God’s face. See what God is feeling.”

“Oh… I think God feels happy, dad.”