Bad worship songs: How deep the Father's love for us - by Stuart Townend

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 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 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
• Lyrics that do not create uncertainty or cause confusion
• A certain amount of profundity
• A singable, interesting melody
• Allusions to Scripture
• Doctrinal soundness
• Not excessively metaphorical
• Not excessively repetitive
• Jesus is not 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 this song, How deep the Father's love for us.

------------------------------

Youtube link.

Lyrics:

How deep the Father's love for us

How vast beyond all measure
That He should give His only Son
To make a wretch His treasure

How great the pain of searing loss
The Father turns His face away
As wounds which mar the Chosen One
Bring many sons to glory

Behold the man upon a cross
My sin upon His shoulders
Ashamed, I hear my mocking voice
Call out among the scoffers

It was my sin that held Him there
Until it was accomplished
His dying breath has brought me life
I know that it is finished

I will not boast in anything
No gifts, no power, no wisdom
But I will boast in Jesus Christ
His death and resurrection

Why should I gain from His reward?
I cannot give an answer
But this I know with all my heart
His wounds have paid my ransom

Overview

This of course is not a new song, written around 1995. And actually, it's not a bad song, it has some very notable features. It's sort of a modern day hymn as opposed to a contemporary worship song. It's a popular song in Reformed circles, partly because it conveys a lot of doctrine, and partly because it's not Hillsongs or Steve Furtick. It has a lot to offer, but yes, there are some things that detract from it.

The Music

The song benefits from a very singable and interesting pentatonic melody that falls naturally on the voice. The production is refreshingly simple and basic, which lends to the hymn-like feel. 

There are several versions of this song, each with its own set of chords, meter and rhythm, and some even come with an added chorus or bridge. The original song has no chorus or bridge , however, which is in keeping with the traditional form for hymns. Hymns do not have choruses or bridges.

The original version has one set of chords that repeat throughout the song: 

First stanza: I, then a walk-up to IV

Second stanza: I/6 - vi - V

Third stanza: I, then a walk-up to IV

Fourth stanza: I -V- I

The Lyrics

The first thing to note is that all of the lyrics are self-focused. All the lyrics are directed towards the congregation. There are no statements of worship directed towards God. Thus this song might be a testimony song, or perhaps a teaching song, but it is not a worship song.

We don't necessarily have a problem with this approach, but we should not confuse the idea of telling others about God through song vs. proclaiming the glories of God directly to Him through song. 

There are a couple of problematic lyrics, but only one lyric aggrieves us:

The Father turns His face away

We must emphatically state the Father did not, never, ever, EVER turn His face away from the Son. This needs to be clearly understood. There is no verse in the Bible that says such a thing. Check for yourself, dear reader. You will not find anything anywhere that says the Father could not look upon the Son.

Well then, from where does the idea come? 

Reformed doctrine teaches that the Son was imputed with our sins and the Father punished the Son in our place. Thus Jesus' statement on the cross in Mt. 27:46, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken

me” is interpreted to mean that because of the grievous nature of the sin the Son carried, the Father could not look upon Him at that moment.

We understand this conclusion, but it is only possible if one goes into the situation with Reformist theological baggage. However, an honest Bible student would not allow his doctrine to interpret the Bible. He would actually turn to Psalm 22 and read it. 

There he would find that this Psalm is heavy with messianic prophecy. After several prophecies, prophecies which Jesus fulfilled on the cross, David wrote this:

Ps. 22:24 For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.

David directly contradicts the song. The Father never hid his face from Jesus. Jesus was not describing His abandoned state. 

Then why did He utter these words? 

He quoted the first verse of Psalm 22 because that's how the ancient world referenced a Bible passage. There were no chapters or verse numbers. Jesus quoted the verse expressly because of the contents of that Psalm. He was essentially saying that everything in that Psalm was happening right then and there before their eyes! 

Look at all the messianic prophecies:

• Ps. 22:7 All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads:
• Ps. 22:8 “He trusts in the LORD; let the LORD rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.” 
• Ps. 22:13 Roaring lions tearing their prey open their mouths wide against me.
• Ps. 22:14 I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me.
• Ps. 22:15 My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.
• Ps. 22:16 Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet.
• Ps. 22:17 I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me.
• Ps. 22:18 They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.

Could there be a more perfect description of what was happening to Jesus at this very moment when He uttered those famous words?

Conclusion

So the Father never turned His face away. Jesus was never abandoned. In fact, Jesus was not punished in our place. We have written extensively about this here.

Generally we grant songwriters some artistic license when composing song lyrics. Some lyrics may not be precisely correct theologically, but we give them a pass. Other lyrics cross the line in that they misrepresent Jesus, misrepresent the Bible, or misrepresent salvation. Certainly in this particular case we have false doctrine, and we should not sing false doctrine.

We sadly cannot recommend this song.