What makes a good song?

One of the great joys of church is standing with others from all ages and stages to sing together songs that remind us of the wonderful things that God has done for us and to help us trust in the awesome promises that he has made to us.

That’s why it’s so important that we sing the best possible songs when we gather together.

When I choose songs for church, I try to pick songs that people like to sing!

Some songs are really hard to sing because the tune is complicated, or there’s a jump from the lowest to the highest note that is too large, or maybe the high notes are just too high!

But since it’s also important that the words work well, a good rule of thumb from Bob Kauflin is to determine if the song would ‘work’ if, for some reason, we had to simply read the words and not sing them.

In other words, is it a song that has a depth and beauty to it, even when there is no tune or accompaniment?

Ultimately, as people who love to know God deeply and truly, we want to make sure that the words go ‘with the grain’ of the teaching and the vibe of the Bible.

Good songs will help us grow in our Biblical knowledge of God, and reframe our minds in such a way that we see the world through God’s eyes.

And when a song works well, then it is a beautiful gift from God to help stir up in us a powerful emotion of joy, thankfulness, passion, and sometimes even repentance as “the word of Christ dwells richly among us” as we “sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. ” (Colossians 3:16)

JODIE McNEILL

(Photo credit: michael_swan via Flickr.com)