Repetition in Musical Worship: Friend or Foe?

As a worship leader who desires to lead others in a true and passionate worship of God, I have often wrestled with the way in which we use repetition in worship songs. I'm not the only one who wrestles with this; last week, I met a worship leader in the midwest whose pastor would not allow him to play the same song twice in three months (not kidding). Another worship leader living in Oregon expressed that her pastor would not even allow her to repeat the chorus in any worship songs, ever.

This kind of aversion to repetition appears to be reactionary: “We don't want to be like those charismatics,” they assert, “so we're not going to repeat anything in musical worship.” I wonder if these pastors have ever read the Psalms or other passages of scripture where repetition is a vital part of teaching and worship (see Psalm 136 as the perfect example of this).

But, on the other side of the spectrum, we see that the charismatic/contemporary worship scene abounds in repetition. Two songs in particular come to mind: “Fill me up” and “Break every chain,” perfect examples of songs that employ ceaseless repetition. Will Reagan, the writer of these two songs, spends about seven minutes (each) on his recorded songs (which is actually relatively short when you think of United Pursuit or Jesus Culture concerts, where after ten minutes, the song is just beginning.)

This worship style is incredibly popular, catchy, easy to learn, simple and sincere. And lest you think that I am a Will Reagan/Jesus Culture hater, much of this kind of music is on my Ipod, and I have led both of these songs on a number of occasions.

But, the more I think about and sing songs like “Fill me up,” the more I feel like something is lacking. When I'm struggling with sin, needing to be encouraged, weighed down by heartache, or whatever the case my be, singing “fill me up” has instead left me empty. Why is this? It seems to me that

The repetitious singing of “fill me up, God” ironically misses the means by which God actually “fills us up.”

How does God “fill us up?” How are we encouraged in our faith? How are we “filled” in our love for God and our satisfaction in Him alone? By a greater vision of Christ, by seeing Him more clearly. So when I sing “fill me up,” It's possible that I'm not actually getting "filled up," because the lyrics are vague, shallow, and are not necessarily pointing me to the greatness and goodness of Christ.  There is something to be said about the simplicity and dependency expressed in the song, but by itself, the song is woefully insufficient to provide a Christian with a clearer vision of Christ.  

I'm going to upset a number of people with my critique of “Break every chain,” because a lot of my friends love the song. But after a lot of thought, I really think that

The repetitious singing of “break every chain” misses the means by which God actually breaks every chain.

Why? Because Paul says in Romans 1:16-17 that he is not ashamed of the gospel, because THE GOSPEL is the power of God unto salvation. Singing about God breaking chains is not really that powerful. Recognizing that God shattered the chains of sin and Satan through Jesus Christ's death and resurrection? Dynamite. So, I can sing for seven minutes about the general fact that God “breaks chains,” or I can specifically worship him for the way that He ultimately defeated sin and Satan at the cross through a song that more specifically displays this truth.

Repetition is biblical, and repetition is important. But repetition will serve the church best if we repeat soul-anchoring and Christ-exalting truth as opposed to vague, subjective, open-ended songs (or if we are not willing to abandon these kinds of songs, that we would at least provide some sort of soul-anchoring, Christ-exalting foundation before/after them.)

Thoughts about repetition in musical worship? Examples of songs that are unhelpfully repetitious? Examples of songs that are not repetitious enough? I'd love to hear your thoughts.