Recovering Sola Scriptura

Do we delight in Christian songs rather than the Word of God like the Psalmist

A confession and repentance

Many songs are etched into my memory. I don't need to look up the lyrics to these songs. I know them by heart.

Here are some of them:

1. Above all

2. Ascribe greatness to our God the rock

3. Blessed assurance

4. Bless the lord oh my soul (10000 reasons)

5. Come thou fount of every blessing

6. In Christ alone

7. You are my strength (Jesus lamb of God)

8. Lord I lift your name in high

9. God will make a way

10. It is well with my soul

11. How great the father's love for us

12. Yet not I but through Christ in me

These are probably less than 25% of all the songs I know by heart.

In contrast, I can not think of even 10 chapters in the Bible that I have in my memory.

Here are 3 things this reveals about me.

1. I have consumed (through listening) more Christian songs than I have consumed the word of God (today's technology allows me to even listen to the word of God).

2. I have rehearses more songs than the word (by singing it over and over)

3. I have mediated more on the songs than the word of God (by playing it in my mind).

Here's some more things that this reveals about myself:

1. My lack of scripture memorization is not due to lack of time. If I had the time to commit entire songs to memory, I had the time to commit scripture to memory. All it needed was constant consumption and rehearsal.

2. My lack of scripture memorization was not due to lack of ability. If I had the ability to commit entire songs to memory, I had the ability to commit scripture to memory.

It is also interesting that we use the expression “knowing something by heart” to refer to something stored in our memory? Do Christian songs dwell “in my heart” more than the Word of God?

I have disobeyed the word of God. The word of God says:

This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. (Joshua 1:8)

But I have disobeyed. My life reveals that I read the verse as

Christian songs shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on them day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in them.

The word of God says

All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness (2 Tim 3:16)

I have taken it to mean

Christian songs are breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness

I sometimes find it easier to say, "my sins they are many, his mercy is more" than to say where exactly the Bible says it (I know the Bible does say it. I bemoan that I do not know the scripture enough.)

May the Lord have mercy on my tepid love for his word.

A call to the church

Many of us in gospel centred churches despise legalism. But how often have we used legalism as an easy excuse for our own lack of love for the word of God?

Can we say with the Psalmist:

The law of your mouth is better to me than thousands of gold and silver pieces? (Ps 119:72) Often times it is not even better to me than YouTube shorts.

Can we say:

Your testimonies are my delight (v24)

In the way of your testimonies I delight as much as in all riches. I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. I will delight in your statutes; I will not forget your word. (Ps 119:14-16)

Legalism is no doubt a problem. Many of us grew up in legalistic cultures and despise it. But I wonder if we threw out the baby with the bathwater. In our efforts to remove legalism, we reduced the importance of storing God's word in our hearts. (Ps 119:11)

Do we find it easy to give theological platitudes and cliches than to back them up with scripture. Examples:

We shouldn't be legalistic. We should be gospel-centred.

Amen. I agree 100%. But where in the Bible do we get that from?

Sola Scriptura

This was one of the rallying cries of the reformation.

The reformers claimed (rightly) that the Word of God alone ought to be our rule for our faith and conduct, and not the words of church leaders such as the pope.

I wonder if we today need to say that the Word of God alone ought to be our rule for our faith and conduct, and not the words of the Christian song writers.

I'm not saying the Christian songs aren't biblical. I think they are. But if we don't know the scripture like the back of our hand, how will we know if the songs are biblical or not? Is it not likely that we will read scripture through the lens of the songs rather than read the songs through the lens of scripture if our memory is filled more with songs than with scripture?