7-11 Songs and the Use of Repetition By: Matt Waymeyer

In the ongoing debate about the value of contemporary worship music, we’ve all heard the criticism of what are known as “7-11 songs”—that is, songs which require us to sing the same seven words 11 times in a row. Although this description is a bit of an exaggeration, it is true that modern worship choruses do tend to have a lot of repetition. This, I believe, is an accurate observation and something of a reason for concern.

But what if I told you that I recently came across a worship song that contained the same five words not 11 times, not 15 times, and not even 20 times, but 26 times! Can you imagine that? What could possibly be more unbiblical than repeating the same five words a total of 26 times in a single song!

The problem with this heartfelt and sincere concern is that this song happens to be Psalm 136.

Selah.

That’s right. Psalm 136 contains the words “For His lovingkindness is everlasting” in the second half of each of its 26 verses. That’s the same five words a total of 26 times. Which, among other things, means that some of us need to back off and remove the anathema we’ve attached to repetition in our songs of worship. Repetition is not only acceptable, it is biblical.

At the same time, it is also biblical to avoid the use of “meaningless repetition” in our worship (Matt 6:7). And even though we can sing the best of songs or hymns in a way that violates this warning (it’s all an issue of the heart, isn’t it?), some lyrics seem to encourage meaningless repetition. I remember sitting in church years ago and singing a really catchy worship song entitled something like “In the Morning Hours.” It had to do with worshiping God when you wake up early in the morning—don’t remember exactly. Anyway, at one point in the song, we kept singing the following words over and over again: “In the morning, in the morning, in the morning hours….In the morning, in the morning, in the morning hours.” During this part of the song, I remember saying to myself, “What am I supposed to be thinking about right now?”

This gets at what I think is the real issue. With some repetition, the mind is no longer engaged by the content of the lyrics and the worship almost certainly becomes meaningless. This is repetition as a substitute for substance. Not at all what we’re looking for.

In Hebrew poetry, biblical writers often used repetition for the sake of emphasis, emotional impact, or rhetorical effect. But however they used it, it was deliberate and it had a purpose. In many of today’s praise songs, I get the impression that the songwriters use repetition because they simply can’t think of anything else to say.

On one hand, then, there is the caution not to anathematize the kind of repetition that is modeled in Scripture, and on the other is the challenge to be more purposeful in our use of repetition as we write and sing songs of praise to our God. And somewhere in between is the need for all of us to ask ourselves whether our hearts are fully engaged in worshiping the Lord as we sing, regardless of how old the song is.

(Matt Waymeyer serves as pastor of Community Bible Church in Vista, California. A graduate of The Master's Seminary (M.Div. and Th.M.), Matt is a regular contributor to the blog site "Faith & Practice". Matt enjoys grammar, Baroque Music, and Thai food, but not necessarily all at the same time. He is also an avid Calvin and Hobbes fan, as are most intelligent and well-rounded individuals (or so he says). Matt and his wife, Julie, live in Vista with their four children.)