Matthew 26:30; Mark 14:26 – “And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives.”
Ephesians 5:19 – “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.”
Colossians 3:16 – “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
I Love Hymns!
Noah Webster defined “hymn” as “a short poem, composed for religious service, or a song of joy and praise to God.” Across the United States, churches are eliminating hymns from their services, replacing them with the more popular contemporary “Christian” music. In light of this fact, let me say that it is a tragedy that few churches are acquainted with the blessing of hymns. To put it plainly, the church where hymns are either endangered or extinct is a church that is incredibly deprived. I pity the church where the sound of the old familiar hymns is absent.
Some of my favorite hymns include Day by Day, My Saviour’s Love, Grace Greater Than Our Sin, Marching to Zion, Faith is the Victory, Moment by Moment, Christ Receiveth Sinful Men, Does Jesus Care, Once for All, Burdens are Lifted at Calvary, In Times Like These, All the Way my Saviour Leads Me, Saviour Like a Shepherd Lead Us, The Way of the Cross Leads Home, Blessed Redeemer, The Name of Jesus, and many, many others.
Hymns are Superior to Contemporary Christian Music
There are many reasons that explain why hymns are far superior to the contemporary Christian music of today.
First, the Spirit in the hymns is a different spirit than the spirit behind contemporary Christian music. The Bible teaches that there is a spirit in music. When King Saul was troubled with an evil spirit from the Lord, David played his harp, and the evil spirit departed from Saul.
I Samuel 16:23 – “And it came to pass, when the evil spirit from God was upon Saul, that David took an harp, and played with his hand: so Saul was refreshed, and was well, and the evil spirit departed from him.”
Please note, that David did NOT sing; David only played. It was not LYRICS that drove the evil spirit from Saul; it was MUSIC that drove the evil spirit from Saul. I do not care what the lyrics are. If the music sounds just like the world, the music is worldly, entertaining the spirit of this present world.
Second, the hymn writers were by and large godly men and women. I have read biographies on the lives of Fanny Crosby, Philip P. Bliss, Daniel Whittle, Lina Sandell-Berg, and many, many others. While lovers of contemporary Christian music will insist that contemporary artists are godly, in reality, we know very little of the actual lives of those who write and compose contemporary music.
Third, the lyrics of the hymns are far superior to the lyrics of contemporary Christian music. The lyrics of the hymns contain much sound doctrine, while most contemporary music contains no doctrine at all. I think many churches avoid hymns because they do not understand them. The message of most hymns is over the heads of many modern church members. When they sing Rock of Ages, they do not understand the “double cure.” The lyrics of the hymns are to the sincere Christian often convicting. They speak often of devotion and consecration. Fanny Crosby wrote, “O the pure delight of a single hour that before Thy throne I spend.” The truth is that most church-goers do not spend an hour in prayer all week, let alone in a single sitting.
Fourth, the motive behind the writing of hymns is much different than the motive behind the writing of contemporary Christian music. Many hymn writers wrote their hymns, not as musical compositions, but rather as poetry. In many instances, the poetry was found after the hymn writer’s death, and was then put to music. In many instances, the words of our most beloved hymns were written as a devotion to Christ. In other words, hymn writers were not in the “music business.” Contemporary Christian music, on the other hand, is a completely different story. The vast majority of contemporary music written today is written because artists need a new album. This explains the worldly sound of contemporary Christian music – it is nothing but business, and they must compose what sells. The motive of the many faithful hymn writers was completely different, and far superior the money-making motives of modern “Christian” music.
Fifth, most hymns were written in a dark time in the writer’s life. Fanny Crosby was blind. She wrote many well-known and loved hymns, many of which speak of seeing Christ. Joseph Scriven lost his fiancé just before they were scheduled to be married. He then wrote the words, “What a friend we have in Jesus.” George Matheson was also engaged to be married. After going blind, however, his fiancé left him. He then penned the words, “O Love that will not let me go!” This is why the hymns relate to so many of us. They were written by troubled people who loved their Lord.
