Why I Love Hymns

I love hymns mainly because of their words. Hymns have such beautiful words! It's sad how often people either ignore the words or just don't go to a church that uses hymns. I read an article by one man supporting contemporary worship music, saying that it had "singable lyrics." What is not singable about hymn lyrics? What makes them so unacceptable in so many churches today? Forget the often slow music that (I admit) sometimes threatens to put you to sleep, and focus on the words! "Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; naught be all else to me save that thou art---thou my best thought by day or by night, waking or sleeping, thy presence my light", "Amazing love, how can it be, that thou my King shouldst die for me," "When we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, We've no less days to sing God's praise than when we've first begun." Just read through the hymnbook! There are so many beautiful, unknown hymns with amazing lyrics in there. I don't see how people today can just throw it all away. Or say that "I wish we wouldn't sing songs in church that I don't know." Really? Are you being serious? Learn! Go home, look it up, learn it! Read it through, look up the passage it is based on if there is one. Its always good to keep learning, and there is no reason not to sing a hymn just because you don't know it.

I don't just love the "old" hymns that are in the Trinity Hymnbook. There are new, modern hymns that are just as good. "In Christ Alone," "See What a Morning," and "The Power of the Cross" are just a few new and amazing hymns. We should add them to our list of those we sing in church.

I also love the hymns that are old and traditional. They have stood the test of time. They have been sung for centuries in the church, so why not now? Why all of a sudden do we have to change? I don't buy the whole "contemporary music to reach out to teens" thing. Teens are perfectly capable of singing hymns and understanding them. Do Hard Things! Sing some thee's and thou's and thy's and ye's!

I love hymns because of the many occasions where you can look at the history of the person writing the hymn and see why they wrote it. Horatio G. Spafford wrote "It is Well with My Soul" after he lost his wife and children to a shipwreck overseas. "When peace, like a river, attendeth my way, when sorrows like sea billows roll; whatever my lot, thou hast taught me to say, 'It is well, it is well with my soul.'" What great faith and trust in God to be able to write such words when going through such pain! I am sure I could not do it.

So you see why I love hymns, their words, their endurance, and their history. What great songs to sing in worship to God! Praise be to Him alone.