# Psalms and hymns not addressed to God?



## Mr. Bultitude (Oct 14, 2013)

It seems to me that there are a couple categories we could break hymns down into:


Hymns we're singing to God.
Hymns we're singing about God in third person.
Hymns being sung from God's perspective, a la "How Firm a Foundation" (especially the third verse)
Hymns not _directly_ about God or to him. The only example that comes to mind is "Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken," based on Psalm 84.

What I'm interested in is other examples of the last bullet point. What other hymns and Psalms do this?

And if I left any categories out, or if you have some thoughts on when such songs are proper and when they're not, I'll welcome those contributions as well. But I'm chiefly concerned with more examples.


----------



## Leslie (Oct 14, 2013)

Psalm 1 is in the last category.


----------



## jambo (Oct 14, 2013)

Hymns that are not addressed to God are not worship hymns and should not be sung as worship. Some hymns are more like prayers of commitment or dedication such as 'Take my life'. Other hymns such as 'O for a closer walk' or 'O for a heart to praise my God' are hymns expressing holy aspirations. I am happy to sing them but not as worship but something expressing our longing for God after the sermon.

Personally I do not like hymns that are written as if it was God who was speaking, unless of course it was a portion of scripture.


----------



## Logan (Oct 14, 2013)

I struggled primarily with praise songs and certain hymns for many years. It seems to me to be rather dangerous to be penning a hymn sung from God's perspective: dangerous for both the writer and the people learning the hymn.

I also noticed that almost all the hymns we sung were ones that made us feel good, or that focused on things about God that were pleasant (love, mercy, sweet Jesus etc.) but wouldn't touch on other attributes of God. Perhaps that is why I fell in love with the Psalms. I felt they were completely balanced and I had no problem singing any songs that were from God's perspective, because this time they really were 

I found it a relief actually to be able to sing and not always be analyzing to see if there was error.

Psalm 127, 128 might be more examples of your last bullet point.


----------



## JML (Oct 14, 2013)

Logan said:


> I struggled primarily with praise songs and certain hymns for many years. It seems to me to be rather dangerous to be penning a hymn sung from God's perspective: dangerous for both the writer and the people learning the hymn.
> 
> I also noticed that almost all the hymns we sung were ones that made us feel good, or that focused on things about God that were pleasant (love, mercy, sweet Jesus etc.) but wouldn't touch on other attributes of God. Perhaps that is why I fell in love with the Psalms. I felt they were completely balanced and I had no problem singing any songs that were from God's perspective, because this time they really were
> 
> I found it a relief actually to be able to sing and not always be analyzing to see if there was error.


----------



## Scottish Lass (Oct 14, 2013)

Logan said:


> Perhaps that is why I fell in love with the Psalms. I felt they were completely balanced and I had no problem singing any songs that were from God's perspective, because this time they really were
> 
> I found it a relief actually to be able to sing and not always be analyzing to see if there was error.


Yes, me too.


----------



## Southern Presbyterian (Oct 14, 2013)

**Moderation**

Please stick to the scope of the original post. 

If you wish to debate the merits of EP, there are plenty more threads in which to do so.

Blessings.


----------



## Mr. Bultitude (Oct 15, 2013)

jambo said:


> Hymns that are not addressed to God are not worship hymns and should not be sung as worship. Some hymns are more like prayers of commitment or dedication such as 'Take my life'. Other hymns such as 'O for a closer walk' or 'O for a heart to praise my God' are hymns expressing holy aspirations. I am happy to sing them but not as worship but something expressing our longing for God after the sermon.



To clarify, are you saying you'd be fine singing them _during_ church but not _as_ worship?


----------



## jambo (Oct 15, 2013)

Mr. Bultitude said:


> jambo said:
> 
> 
> > Hymns that are not addressed to God are not worship hymns and should not be sung as worship. Some hymns are more like prayers of commitment or dedication such as 'Take my life'. Other hymns such as 'O for a closer walk' or 'O for a heart to praise my God' are hymns expressing holy aspirations. I am happy to sing them but not as worship but something expressing our longing for God after the sermon.
> ...



Yes


----------



## Mr. Bultitude (Oct 15, 2013)

Cool. I guess to me that raises a question about the definition of worship, and of how much non-worship is proper in church. Probably both can be answered by looking in the WCF.


----------



## jambo (Oct 15, 2013)

At a Sunday service worship is the key thing. However a Sunday service is more than worship. Prayers are offered up and although there is an element of worship in prayer, it also consists of confession, thankfulness and intercession. When it comes to preaching there should be a response of one sort or another. Sometimes praise is the proper response to preaching, sometimes repentance may be a more appropriate response to the sermon. It could be that the sermon has provoked a desire for more earnest devotion or a longing after a closer, deeper walk with God. Very often of course more than one response is required. Thus the closing hymn that may be the most appropriate may not necessarily be a worship type hymn but one that reflects more thanksgiving or repentance or commitment depending on the tone of the sermon.


----------

