Friday, July 21, 2006

What do Miserable Christians Sing?

Carl Trueman mentioned something very interesting in this interview. He asks the question, "what do miserable Christians sing?" The question often elicits uproarious laughter from those who hear it. Trueman's answer is that they can sing the Psalms. His suspicion is that the American church does not sing the Psalms because they are about the sad, unhappy, tormented, and broken. He asserts that these emotions do not have credibility in the church today. To admit to these emotions is to admit failure. But he says the Psalms give a voice "that allows us to express even the deepest agonies of the human soul in the context of worship." By excluding them, "we exclude those the voices of those who are lonely, disposessed and desolate. He says, "only in the Psalms do you have a full range of human emotions, that allows you however desperate you feel to go in, and offer praise to God."

Find this article in The Wages of Spin. Or listen to the interview with Mark Dever here.

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