Do We Really Have to Sing This Again?

Consider this

One of the loudest critiques of contemporary worship music I have heard over the years is that newer worship songs are overly repetitive. I have heard the “7/11 song” punchline (directed toward songs that have seven words sung eleven times) more times than I can count, so I can sympathize with the frustrations of redundancy. The argument against repetition in worship music is that the doctrinal potential of the song is being watered down by repeated lyrics sitting in the place of newer, deeper lyrics that could unpack a bigger, more complete picture of who God is.

On the surface, this critique seems valid. I mean, who would argue against expanding our view of God through extending the language we use in our worship? As a worship leader, I am always searching for songs that use new, fresh, and creative language to declare old, familiar, and unchanging truths about God. 

But does a higher volume of words or ideas used in a song automatically make it a better song? What about Psalm 136, where the phrase “for his steadfast love endures forever” is repeated 26 times? What about the sixteen word refrain we see repeated, day and night, without ceasing, in Revelation 4:8? What about the countless other uses of repetition throughout the Psalms? From these examples and others, I would argue that God values repetition in our worship.

So why does repetition bother us? And while we’re at it, what is the appropriate number of times to sing, “I’ve seen you move, you move the mountains, and I believe I’ll see you do it again” before we’ve sufficiently covered that aspect of God’s faithfulness? (Answer: Do It Again.) 

I think repetition in worship music bothers us because we can sense our hearts subtly shifting from passionate declaration to mindless recitation with each repeat. We too quickly grow numb to the powerful truths we are declaring and can sense our spirits groaning, “Thank you, next.” However, I believe this internal discomfort is actually an example of God’s grace—like an alarm that lets us know our engagement is slipping—and in that moment we are given an opportunity to respond.

The easy solution would be to remove or shorten the repetition in our worship songs. But if God does value this repetition, what would it look like to change the way we engage in these moments? How can we use these repetitions to deepen our expression of worship and protect our hearts from moving too quickly to mindless recitation?

A dear friend and mentor of mine, Matthew Westerholm, wrote this article as an encouragement to those of us who may struggle with repetition in worship. I encourage you to read it. Ask yourself if repetition has ever been a stumbling block to your deeper engagement in worship and explore the reasons why that may be. The next time you find your heart shifting from passionate declaration to mindless recitation, I would encourage you to try one of the three helpful tips he offers to keep your mind and your heart engaged in worship.

It’s my prayer that as Christ Church, we would agree with Matthew and see how great of a gift it is “…when our worship affords us the opportunity to dwell on the truth of what we sing. Let’s receive God’s gift of time and fan the gift of repetitive lyrics until our hearts burn within us.”