Rock and Worship

This week I want to take a look at worship lyrics in Christian rock. These lyrics are pure worship songs unto God. The main focus of these songs is bringing praise and glory to God.

Before we can dissect these lyrics, we must first take a look at the definition of worship. According to the free dictionary website, worship is, “To regard with ardent or adoring esteem or devotion.”

In Christianity, this definition means that we are regarding our Lord with adoring esteem and devotion. When we, as Christians, are worshipping God through music, we are making a joyful noise unto the Lord. But, the question is, “what is a joyful noise?” How do we know that we are making a joyful noise unto the Lord? How do we know we are truly offering this song up to God as worship?

For me, I believe the cornerstone of worship is sincerity of heart. I kept thinking to myself, what is a joyful noise? What does God consider a joyful noise? I kept coming back to one answer: sincerity of the heart. It doesn’t matter what you are singing, whether it is Christian rock, Contemporary Christian music, Hymns, or Gospel music. But what does matter is whether you are singing with a sincere heart. It doesn’t matter if you sing bad, good, loud, soft, scream, or whisper. What matters is whether you are sincerely offering this song up to God, giving praise to Him. I think that is what true worship is all about.

The really cool part is when we are truly worshipping God, God delights in our praise! In Psalm 149: 3-4 it says, “Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp. For the Lord takes delight in his people; he crowns the humble with salvation.”

For this post, I have five worship songs I want to share with you, including: a crunk rock song, two ballads, and two punk rock songs. But, I will give you a warning. This isn’t your mother’s Sunday School worship service. This is pure worship to God through rock and roll.

The first song is by the crunk rock band Family Force 5. This song is called Replace Me. For me, I believe this song is a cry out to God to break us down to our very core, and then rebuild us back up in His presence. This song is all about God being the potter, and we are the clay. Replace Me is a song asking God to mold us into His image and glory.




This second song is called Breathe You In by Thousand Foot Krutch. This is a ballad off their album The Art of Breaking. This song is about wanting to breathe God in. As Christians, we want God to fill us and consume us with His love and grace. That is what this song is all about. This is a live video of the band performing the song at a music festival.




The third song is an upbeat punk rock song by Stellar Kart called Rescue. Rescue is simply a fun worship anthem that serves as a reminder to us that God is our hope and our rescue. Because He is our hope, we need to shout this truth out to the world. This video is a cool homemade video that features the lyrics of the song.




The fourth song is a powerful acoustic ballad by Eleventyseven. Its Beautiful is a song about the beauty of God’s grace. God takes our failures, mistakes, and mishaps, and turns them into miracles to be used by Him. This is a cool video that features the lyrics of the song and some Bible verses spread throughout as well.




The final song is a Celtic punk rock version of the beloved hymn Amazing Grace. Flatfoot 56 puts a fresh and exciting take on the classic song. The video is a live video of the band performing Amazing Grace.




I hope you have enjoyed my first look at worship through Christian rock. Once again, it doesn’t matter if you are playing guitar riffs, head-banging to the drums, or softly singing your favorite hymn. What does matter to the Lord is whether you're sincerely offering this song up as praise to Him. When we do that, God delights in us.

You can check out Rock and Worship Part 2 here.