A Capella singing and our "Heart of Worship"

Doxologue has a great post on the plans to worship with no instrument other than the human voice this coming weekend. I agree with their post when they say that this is not the only way to worship. What caught my attention here was David's thoughts about the words and even the thoughts behind what we're singing. He also mentions that even if we sing beautifully, God doesn't want that offering if the words we sing don't match the attitudes in our hearts.

First, we need to concentrate on what we're singing. As one of my pastors used to tell us - the only thing that makes a song "Christian" is the lyrics. A lot of our more popular hymns have melodies taken from popular songs of the day, including drinking songs.

Second, do the words we sing line up with what's in our heart? Are we singing songs that praise God for his blessings while we are consumed with thoughts on how we can manage our money better? Do we completely contradict those words by thinking, "What blessings?"

Third, are we so consumed by the type of music we're singing that we don't really mean what we're singing? I tend not to prefer "contemporary" style worship. However, that does not mean that it should affect my ability to worship God through guitars and drums. Other countries have completely different styles of music used to worship God - probably a whole lot different than anything I'll ever hear in the USA. Will that stop me from offering my praise? If I were to attend a church that only used guitars/drums/praise band, will that hinder me? (And I'm not proud to admit that I've definitely put self first some of those days when that did happen.)

Lastly, David brings up a good point on how our main instrument to worship God is our voice. And behind that, our hearts. The best band, the best choir, the best praise team, the best director - all mean nothing if our heart is not in unison with the words proceeding from our mouths. God looks at the heart. He knows what we're offering to Him.

Am I offering my best when I sing to Him or am I just singing? Am I singing to glorify myself or Him? I know that I'll be thinking about this next time I'm singing corporately.