Contemporary Christian Music (CCM) is often the butt of many a joke by both Christian and non-Christian. Those who study their Bibles are often unamused by the theological shallowness of the lyrics and the copious amount of water references. In fact, CCM is no longer just two adjectives modifying a noun (contemporary + Christian + music). No. Now, CCM is a standalone genre like punk, or metal, country (although it’s most like pop music). Within the first few chords of a song, someone who listens to music will be able to have a pretty good guess of what the genre is. This is true of Contemporary Christian Music.

While modern Christian music is in a drought (despite the water references), there are rivers of living waters to be found in the Christian tradition. Of course, there are timeless hymns like “Amazing Grace” or “It is Well with My Soul.” However, there is an even richer source – the source of every theologically rich song – the Bible. Some seem to either not know or forget that the largest book of the Bible is compilation of songs and hymns. These are the Psalms.

The late famous evangelist Billy Graham read the Psalms and Proverbs daily. He once said, “The Psalms tell us how to get along with God, and the Proverbs tell us how to get along with our fellow man.” Even more important, Paul exhorts believers to worship in “psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Eph 5:19). Some may object that the Psalms are Hebrew and cannot be sung by English-speaking people today. That is blatantly untrue. Shane & Shane, a Christian musical duo, has done some fantastic work making the Psalms singable for the English speaker.  

Next time you feel disheartened by CCM, consider returning to the works of David and the other Psalmists. There’s not much better than God-inspired Scripture that is also beautiful poetry and music.