Bad Worship Songs: Sound Mind - by Bryan & Katie Torwalt

From time to to we examine the lyrics of worship songs. Our desire is not to mock or humiliate, but rather to honestly examine content with a view to calling forth a better worship expression.

With the great volume and variety of worship music available, none of us should have to settle for bad worship songs. We should be able to select hundreds or even thousands of top notch songs very easily.

What makes a song a good worship song? Is it enough to contain words like God or holy? How about vaguely spiritual sounding phrases? Should Jesus be mentioned? We think an excellent worship song should contain as many as possible of the following elements:

• A direct expression of adoration (God, you are...)
• A progression of ideas that culminates in a coherent story
• A focus on God, not us
• A certain amount of profundity
• A singable, interesting melody
• Scripture quotes or coherent allusions to Scripture
• Doctrinal soundness

Further, a worship song should not:

• contain lyrics that create uncertainty or cause confusion
• be excessively metaphorical
• be excessively repetitive
• imply that Jesus is your boyfriend

It's worth noting the most worship songs contain at least something good. That is, there might be a musical idea or a lyric that has merit. Such is the case with today's song, "Sound Mind." 

Audio link.

Introduction

"Sound Mind" is certainly a well-crafted song, but we are somewhat conflicted. It doesn't egregiously violate our criteria, but there is nothing really remarkable about it either. There are a couple of questionable lyrics. The melody is vaguely pleasant, though the rudimentary harmonic content repeats quite a bit. The chord structure is vi - V -I - IV in the verses and the chorus, while the bridge is a walk-up: I - ii - I (first inversion) - IV.

Here are the lyrics:

vs. 1

In the chaos, You are the Peace
In my suffering, You're here with me
In the darkness, You never leave
God of Mercy, you're walking with me
I surrender anxiety
All the striving has to cease
In this moment, You're still King
This is the gift You are giving to me

chorus

A sound mind, for the spirit of fear
A sound mind, so that I can see clearly
A sound mind, Your Spirit is here
A sound mind, a sound mind
A sound mind
Wash over me

vs. 2

There's a table where we meet
It's in the presence of my enemies
I will listen, I will feast
On every word you are speaking to me
I remember, who you are
You are my fortress, and my God
I will stand in, authority
In Jesus Name, all the darkness will flee

bridge

Saved, healed, delivered me
Jesus' blood wash over me
Command my soul awake, arise
Use each breath to prophesy, I prophesy

The First Verse

The song opens with three stanzas that recognize certain attributes of the nature of God (peace, presence, faithfulness, mercy). We consider the recitation and celebration of God's character and nature to be a central component of any worship song. Though we would ordinarily take issue with the self-referential aspect of some of these stanzas, the songwriters manage to turn them from self to God. The Psalms do this quite frequently (for example, Ps. 3:1-3, Ps. 26:1-3, Ps. 39:5-7), so we don't necessarily have a problem with this technique.

The next stanza begins with a statement of action that derives from the previously enumerated characteristics of God: I surrender anxiety, followed by a conclusion from that, All the striving has to cease. Both of these connect thematically to having a sound mind.

The last two stanzas of verse 1 are statements directed to God, first recognizing His kingship, and then a statement that He is granting the songwriters an unidentified gift, perhaps the previously mentioned ceasing of striving.

This is an acceptable progression in the narrative, generally coherent and sensible.

The Chorus

The self-referential nature of the lyrics persists into the chorus, which cause us to feel increasingly uneasy. We think worship songs should be about God and sung to Him. 

The chorus centers around 2Ti. 1:7:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

This is the money statement, the central theme of the song. It delights us to find these scriptural references. 

One of the lyrics of the chorus, however, is a conclusion, ostensibly based on having a sound mind: So that I can see clearly. In some sense it is possible that the spirit of fear might obscure one's vision, but that is not part of the context of 2Ti. 1:7. While it certainly is permissible to draw conclusions or make application of various concepts in song lyrics, we consider this particular instance to be a somewhat long conceptual reach. We think that any supplemental concepts presented ought to be tied to the theme. Thus we would change I can see clearly to I can think clearly. 

It is also important to note that worship songs cement certain ideas in the minds of the worshiper. Song lyrics incidentally teach. This means that lyrics which are based partly on Scripture but cobbled together with loosely associated concepts create a false understanding of the Scripture. We take issue with this. Songwriters who are skilled in their craft, as the Torwalts clearly are, can and should do better.

In addition, this stanza, So that I can see clearly, seems to be the beginning of the divergence of the song from its established theme (a sound mind) as it morphs into statements about prophetic vision and utterance.

The chorus concludes with Wash over me. This does not flow with the theme, and frankly, it doesn't seem to mean anything. Are the songwriters making an appeal to the Holy Spirit? But they previously stated Your Spirit is here. So is He here but just hasn't washed over them? What does this washing over entail? How does one know if one has been washed over? 

The bridge will later mention the washing of the Blood, so perhaps this is a precursor to that lyric. We will discuss this a bit later. In any case, this kind of uncertainty does not belong in a worship song.

Verse Two 

Once again there is a lot of self-reference in this verse. 

This verse opens with a paraphrase from Psalm 23 in the first two stanzas (There's a table where we meet; It's in the presence of my enemies). Stanzas three and four are a personal statement of response (I will listen, I will feast; On every word you are speaking to me). Here again we have a conceptual association with something not contained in the Scripture. In fact, there is nothing about God speaking in Psalm 23, let alone the idea that what He speaks is the meal (although one could make an argument that the stanzas are referring to Mt. 4:4:

Jesus answered, “It is written: `Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’“ 

Since some of these statements are the personal responses of the songwriters, we could legitimately question their inclusion in a song aimed at congregational worship. The sometimes intense personal groanings of the soul should not be contained in a worship song, because that suggests that everyone feels or ought to feel the same way as the songwriters.

The verse continues with a statement, I remember, who you are (loosely, Ps. 63:6), and an answer to that statement, You are my fortress, and my God (loosely, Ps. 91:2). It concludes with another paired stanza, I will stand in authority; In Jesus Name, all the darkness will flee (loosely, De. 28:7). These stanzas can all be connected to the theme, "sound mind."

The Bridge 

The bridge begins with a statement of doctrine: Saved, healed, delivered me; Jesus' blood wash over me. However, this lyric should have been written entirely in the past tense, since our salvation by the cleansing blood of Jesus has already been accomplished (He. 10:10). We don't need to be washed again (He. 9:12, 23).

The narrative then proceeds to a series of unconnected, self-referential ideas in stanzas three and four: Command my soul awake, arise (Ps. 57:8) and Use each breath to prophesy, to prophesy. At first we were to be free from anxiety and striving (vs. 1), but now our souls are to awake, and/or to prophesy. It seems that the theme of the song has now been completely abandoned.

This last stanza is probably the most problematic lyric. It is a quasi-spiritual expression that really makes no sense. We search the Scriptures in vain for any hint that our prophesying is related to our regular breathing. We also note that prophecy, like all the spiritual gifts, are apportioned by the Holy Spirit (1Co. 12:7, 1Co. 12:11), and that not all can prophesy (1Co. 12:29). Thus the stanza is very nearly heretical.

Conclusion

This song teetered on the verge of acceptability for a good while. As we proceeded further the song became more and more problematic. Though it has some solid lyrics and actual biblical references, it also has some weak (or even questionable) lyrics. It's a little too self-referential. It has a nice, though forgettable melody. 

Based on these factors, we cannot recommend it.