“Praise” that uses only “upbeat” songs can be extremely destructive to worshipers because it denies the reality of doubts concerning God, the hiddenness of God, and the feelings of abandonment by God that cloud believers going through difficult times.

I have counseled numerous people whose experience of worship that focused only on happy praise left them with huge feelings of inadequacy. …That is because the worship has not dealt with their feelings of guilt, their doubts and fears, their sense of hypocrisy and sinfulness.

Many question their faith because they are not able to be as happy as their fellow believers. They can’t enter into upbeat worship if their lives are in shambles. Instead of recognizing the inadequacy of worship that teaches only one aspect of our relationship to God, they blame themselves for inadequate faith.

from Reaching Out Without Dumbing Down