My salvation or Your salvation?
I've been listening to Duane Garner on the history of Church Music - you can get these 4 excellent lectures from THE BUCER INSTITUTE via www.auburnave.com.
It has irritated me for some time that one can only sing one kind of inferior stuff or another at church these days. Either you get victorian 'people' focussed, emotional stuff (written largely by women) or you get 'praise and worship' stuff which is low on content and very poor on musical creativity. Couldn't really explain why I'd rather not sing at all if this was what was on offer - had to settle for keeping quiet where I didn't agree with the words mostly.
Well, Garner has filled in the whole picture very nicely. The answer is, of course (as I've known for a long time) to sing Psalms in a virile spirit-filled manner. Where is there a church that does it?
The emphasis in the currently available songs seems not to be in accord with Psalm 51, in one key aspect, 'restore to me the joy of YOUR salvation' - the emphasis now is on MY salvation. Now it is true that I am saved but to suggest that the salvation is MINE rather than God's is, at least, a distortion of the facts. If only we could stop looking at US and 'kneel before the Lord our maker' we could begin to get back on track.

If all else fails (though I wouldn't want to fall into the gnostic trap) the singing will be 'out of this world' in the Glory - come to think of it, it is NOW!