"From the Inside Out" - Question on a portion of the lyrics

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Kinghezy

Puritan Board Sophomore
I will preface this question with the statement that (a) it disturbs me that this song is associated by Phillips, Craig, and Dean as well as Hillsong AND (b) there other portions I would quibble with as well.

That being said, the "losing yourself" in the snippet below strikes me as wrong but I can't think of why it bothers me and how I would support disagreeing with it scriptural. Can anyone help me on that? Or am I just off base?

Thanks,
Chris

Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
 
I don't think the concept is wrong, maybe just different wording than the Bible. I think the idea is of dying to self, decreasing, and carrying our cross.
 
I would count this as a form of mysticism. Losing yourself in praising God is synonymous with having an emotional/"spiritual" experience, a mini-mountaintop of sorts.
 
There are different possible meanings of "lose oneself". Yet I suspect this is referring to a kind of state of mindless euphoria brought about by the rock concert-style "worship" so popular today. Note the repetition of the chords as well as the lyrics. This is not a song designed to make one think.
 
As others have said, the meaning of "losing myself in bringing you praise" is something to wonder about. My reaction is that the first line shows the intended meaning to be that I deny myself and serve God instead. Nothing wrong with that sentiment. But I don't know the larger context of the whole song, and some worshipers might take it a different way.
 
The mystic interpretation resonates (originally no pun intended) with me. That it is vague enough that different conclusions can be drawn, almost concerns me more. It also gives cover for those who wrote it.
 
Here's a better approach from Joseph Addison:

When all Thy mercies, O my God
My rising soul surveys,
Transported with the view I'm lost
In wonder, love, and praise.
 
I've heard this song a lot in my days. The song is both mystical in content and form, focusing a lot on your own personal feelings and experiences ("Consume me from the inside out, Lord"), vague lyrics that only mean things from an abstract sense ("Let justice and praise / Become my embrace / To love you from the inside out")
 
I was narrowing my question to a particular line. If we are talking more general, yes the song is bad. "Quibble" was probably not a strong enough word in the original post.

Another line is "Your light will shine when all else fades". I am not sure what light even means. Is that referring to the symbolic meaning of the "light of the world"? Do they think there is some illumination from God? It is just too devoid of context to make sense. Then on top of that, it is a pretty simple exercise to do a word search to find things that last forever (e.g. love in 1 Cor) per the bible.
 
Doug,
You're not supposed to think about these songs--that ruins the experience. Just chant the mantra, wave your hands in the air, and let it overpower you. That's what worship is all about.
 
I was narrowing my question to a particular line. If we are talking more general, yes the song is bad. "Quibble" was probably not a strong enough word in the original post.

Another line is "Your light will shine when all else fades". I am not sure what light even means. Is that referring to the symbolic meaning of the "light of the world"? Do they think there is some illumination from God? It is just too devoid of context to make sense. Then on top of that, it is a pretty simple exercise to do a word search to find things that last forever (e.g. love in 1 Cor) per the bible.
But how does the song make you feel? That's where I start....
 
You could take a passage like Psalm 131, "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul," and also apply that in a mystical fashion or one that suggests thoughtless worship. All our songs need to be accompanied by well-rounded teaching, or they will sometimes be misused.
 
You could take a passage like Psalm 131, "I do not occupy myself with things too great and too marvelous for me. But I have calmed and quieted my soul," and also apply that in a mystical fashion or one that suggests thoughtless worship.

I don't think that's comparable. If you sang that one line on repeat ("I have calmed and quieted my soul, I have calmed and quieted my soul") then it would be more similar. But Psalm 131 is not vague, and the meaning is not difficult to discern. But the above song? It is repetitious, mindless.

Moreover, all the psalms are from God, so I think we will be less likely to pick them apart for error.
 
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I don't think that's comparable. If you sang that one line on repeat ("I have calmed and quietex my soul, I have calmed and quieted my soul") then it would be more similar. But Psalm 131 is not vague, and the meaning is not difficult to discern. But the above song? It is repetitious, mindless.

Moreover, all the psalms are from God, so I think we will be less likely to pick them apart for error.

*Psalms and Methodist revival tunes ;)

Not to get off onto an EP tangent, but I can't believe how often I hear preachers quote hymns and even shallow praise choruses as if they are authorities or even inspired. I would venture to say that they shape evangelical spirituality more than the Scriptures.
 
I don't think that's comparable. If you sang that one line on repeat ("I have calmed and quietex my soul, I have calmed and quieted my soul") then it would be more similar. But Psalm 131 is not vague, and the meaning is not difficult to discern. But the above song? It is repetitious, mindless.

Moreover, all the psalms are from God, so I think we will be less likely to pick them apart for error.

I take your word for it, since I don't know the "Inside Out" song. I do not mean to argue for or against songs other than psalms, just to point out that good teaching should inform our singing even when the songs are very good ones.

The limited context presented in the opening post, where the song mentions surrendering one's life to God's will, still suggests to me that the line in question expresses a good truth, or at least it might. But like I say, I have little knowledge of how the song as a whole gets sung. Even if it was originally written to express denying oneself, people could hear it some other way—which, again, is why we need good teaching.
 
Here are the lyrics along with a video of how they're meant to be sung.


A thousand times I've failed
Still Your mercy remains
And should I stumble again
I'm caught in Your grace
Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending Your glory goes beyond all fame


In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out,
Lord, let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love you from the inside out.

Your will above all else
My purpose remains
The art of losing myself
In bringing You praise
Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame

In my heart and my soul
Lord I give You control
Consume me from the inside out,
Lord, let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love You from the inside out.

Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out

In my heart and my soul
Lord I give you control
Consume me from the inside out,
Lord, let justice and praise
Become my embrace
To love You from the inside out.

Everlasting
Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending
Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out.

Everlasting Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending Your glory goes beyond all fame
And the cry of my heart
Is to bring You praise
From the inside out
Lord my soul cries out
 
Reminds me of an incident some years ago. A young man was leading the singing in our singles group. His eyes closed, his head went back, and he kept repeating the refrain over and over again. Except for the movement of his hands, he appeared to be in a trance. I spoke to the singles pastor about it afterwards, and I noticed that the gentleman never came back to lead the singing.

I guess he'd discovered the 'art of losing himself' in bringing praise. But it certainly wasn't Presbyterian.
 
Doug,
You're not supposed to think about these songs--that ruins the experience. Just chant the mantra, wave your hands in the air, and let it overpower you. That's what worship is all about.

LOL. That reminds me of this parody:

 
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