What a joy and blessing it is to praise our God in song! To truly glorify Him, we must ensure that our “singing…to the Lord” is done “in the name of the Lord Jesus” (Col. 3:16-17). That means that we must worship and sing only as He authorizes.
Is it possible to truly WORSHIP Him and GLORIFY Him, if we sing words that are not Scripturally sound? Do the words that we sing matter? Obviously they do! What if we sang, “We have heard the joyful sound, Muhammad saves, Muhammad saves”? Would the faithful Christian have any problem with that? Or, “Come to Jesus, He will save you, just pray this simple prayer…”? So the point is clear—the words we sing must be Scripturally sound!
Some songs present more challenges than others. Most of the songs we sing were not written by members of the New Testament church, so some of them have potential areas of concern. But, there is also the matter of poetic license, where certain lyrics may paint a picture that is not spelled out in Scripture but is not necessarily unscriptural. The main thrust and concern of this article are songs that contain words regarding the Holy Spirit that go beyond Biblical truth.
For example, one song has a verse that states, “Your Spirit moves right through me like a mighty rushing wind.” In Scripture, the Spirit came with the sound of “a rushing mighty wind” when the apostles were baptized with the Holy Spirit in Acts 2:1-4. Baptism of the Holy Spirit is no longer happening today (Eph. 4:5+Matt. 28:19+Acts 2:38), so to sing about that is not using Biblical words in Biblical ways.
Another example is a song that says, “Spirit lead me where my trust is without borders.” What is that asking the Holy Spirit to do? And is it Biblical? If the Spirit will lead me or show me or nudge me or tell me something today, then why did He give the words of the Bible (2 Pet. 1:21) and state that they contain “all” I/we need to know in order to follow His lead (1:3)? God’s Word is our Spirit-given lamp (Psa. 119:105) to lead us. Did He give us what we need therein to actually lead us? Or do I need Him to do something else? Scripture does not teach us to ask the Spirit to lead us.
I’ve also read of a song that talks about being “baptized with Holy’s Spirit fire.” Trust me, you don’t want that! Read Matthew 3:10-12. The blazing fire is that of eternal hell fire. Bible words have a Bible meaning.
As deity, the Holy Spirit is as worthy of honor and worship as the rest of the Godhead! That’s not the question. But, when we worship, all that transpires must be authorized—including what we “do” and what we “say” or sing (Col. 3:17). Let’s worship God “in truth” (John 4:24).