How true, Benjamin. I once heard a Pastor giving a lesson on the 6th Psalm, and when he said that he didn't think it was normal for us today to "water our couches with tears" like David did, I thought, "Man, something must be wrong with me!". Seems like I've been doing that for most of my life.
Usually reformed folks diss the modern church for being too emotional, not just emotional in a lop-sided way.
Excellent post and very thought-provoking observations.
No probs with being emotonal in worship - just make sure the emotions match Scripture. And, as the post says, if this were so, wouldn't there be more weeping?
Well that is a side reason for the promotion of Psalm-singing. That they, unlike our Hymnbooks, force us to sing about all the travails of life, both victory and destruction, unrelenting sadness and unstoppable joy, etc...
Great article! I know that only the psalms could have been a comfort to me the last two weeks. Happy pappy songs just don't comfort a Christian who is experiencing affliction and the chastening rod of God. There just is no substitute for the psalms. Even the great old hymns don't come close to psalm 38 in describing the highs and lows of the Christian walk.
Psalm 38
A Psalm of David, to bring to remembrance.