Pastoral Thoughts on Hymns

By Phil A. Newton

            As a teenager, I received a phone call almost every Saturday morning from a dear lady in my home church asking if I could "help her" at the local nursing home. The help she needed was in conducting a worship service for the residents of the nursing home. It included singing favorite hymns, with and without accompaniment, and a devotional message. At times I was the "preacher" for the service, and found it challenging to preach to some who had difficulty hearing, others whose mind had been transfixed upon former years, while at the same time meeting the needs of those who were hungry to hear. On every occasion of our gathering there was singing-lots of singing. In key, out of key, harmony, and melody, we sang the old hymns that had nurtured these people in their youth and carried them to the last days of their lives. Occasionally, my grandmother was wheeled into the service. But the one person that stood out most was a blind man, Mr. Drugger. He knew every stanza that we sang, and with perfect harmony lifted his voice to God week after week. The deep satisfaction of a relationship with the living God through Christ shined clearly through his expressions and voice. The old hymns sustained and encouraged him.
Let me fast-forward a few years. I remember a night that two college-aged young men visited our evening service. We sang hymns-ordinary hymns to us, the kind that evangelicals have been singing since the Great Awakening and before. These two fellows were amazed! They had never heard any of these hymns yet had grown up in a local evangelical church! And they had never used a hymnal. I asked what they were accustomed to singing, and as you might guess, they replied, "Choruses." Yet they immediately loved the richness, depth, and comprehensive instruction found in the hymns we sang that night.
Next to the preaching and teaching of Scripture, I can think of nothing that has had greater impact on generations than the singing of doctrinally rich hymns. Since Benjamin Keach, Isaac Watts, and others began to popularize hymn singing (amidst much opposition), the poetic lyrics have taught, clarified, and reaffirmed the theology of the church. Do we still need theologically packed hymns? Take a look at the American Evangelical scene to answer this. How doctrinally grounded is the average professing Christian? How stable are congregations when facing the difficulties of living Christianity in the midst of paganism? How ready is the average Christian "to give an answer (an apologia or reasoned defense) for the hope that is in him" as Peter commands?
The first century church understood the need for doctrinally rich hymns. Paul encouraged the Ephesian and Colossian believers to speak to one another in psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs. While the Psalms contained the ancient hymnal of Judaism, some of the early Christians' hymns showed up in the pages of the New Testament. Among these are Philippians 2:5-11 and Colossians 1:15-20. Read them for yourself. Though we may not see the poetic language in our translations, New Testament scholars are convinced that these were ancient hymns, now transposed into the content of Paul's epistles. Through the repetition of hymnody, Paul taught the church the essential truths of the faith.
Can the church today learn from the past? If hymns were effective for worship and instruction for centuries, we err to think that "modern times" have changed all that. Our sophistication has not eliminated our need to understand truth and keep it ready at a moment's notice for application, as is accomplished in singing theologically sound hymns.
The reality that hymns served the early church and comprise some of the New Testament (as well as Old) leaves us with a few important lessons that must be considered as Christians plan the content of worship services. (1) It shows the high value placed on hymnody in the early church. (2) It shows the excellence of content in hymns as a means to instruct the church. (3) It is demonstrative of truth that qualifies as the content of church worship, focusing upon the reality of Christ. (4) It shows the value of repetition in hymnody for teaching the church. (5) The blending of hymns with clear theological instruction and proclamation (preaching) help us to see the union of hymn singing and sermons in worship as a first century model. (6) Passionate, lively singing of Christ-centered hymns helps to seal the believer from falling prey to false teaching, a reality settled by grasping the context of Paul's Christological hymn in Colossians 1:15-20.
So when you open your hymnal on Sunday to join in worship, think of how the same words you verbalize have carried believers through trials, imprisonment, illness, banishment, persecution, wars, financial crises, tragedies, and even the "normal" times. Consider how these same words have given expression to heart-felt, passionate worship for centuries. Give attention to the words penned by Wesley, Watts, Spafford, Newton, Cowper, Crosby, Luther, Williams, Davies, and a host of others, that realized the effectiveness of singing hymns in congregational worship for aiding the church in letting Christ dwell richly within (Col 3:16). Engage your mind, unlock your heart, open your mouth, and sing doctrinally rich hymns to the glory of God and the church's edification.

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