Hymns - Why do they matter?

I love hymns.  When I am in church I get excited when a hymn gets thrown into the order of worship, because that is a rarity nowadays.  Hymns are beautiful and prayerful.  Rich with scriptural depth.  I love all kinds of music that I sing in church.  Chris Tomlin, All Sons and Daughters, Hillsong - they all have great music, and I enjoy worshiping through their music in church and in other places.  But it breaks my heart when we don't crack open the hymnal every once in a while.

I sat down at a piano with my grandma not too long ago and we pulled out a hymnal.  I would open up to a hymn I liked and asked grandma to play.  She didn't even have to look at the page!  She would start playing the hymn in her key of preference, with the variations that she liked.  It is truly a gift.

I have learned a lot from my grandparents.  I have watched them serve in their church.  I have watched them serve God as volunteers at Green Lake.  And there are many other people, in my church and in other places in my life, that I have witnessed as they model a life lived for the glory of God.  We have to learn how to follow before we can be a leader.  We have to watch life modeled for us, before we can live.  That is why we need Jesus.

The hymnal is just a euphemism for bigger things that are going on in our churches.  I'm not here to tackle that right now.  But I do want to make a plea for the hymns.  These were words and verses that were written down by someone before us who was learning about what a life lived for Christ is.  We are not the first ones on this journey.

So I want to bring back the hymns.  Not because I despise contemporary music sung in church.  Hymns are just as much praise music as what we deem to be the "praise music" of today.  When we are singing together in worship we need to praise God through the music, meditate and pray through the words, and listen for His words within it.  I want to bring back the hymns because I don't want them to get lost.

Consider this: when David was writing Psalms, do you think he thought about you and I?  Do you think he even imagined that we would be reading his writings?  I don't know!  I have read several Psalms through which God has spoken into my heart.  I am so grateful that the Psalms did not get lost.  Through David's words I have heard God speak to me about hope, peace and taking refuge in Him.  In the same way, I think that hymns offer another avenue for God to speak into our hearts.  

So look for some reflections on hymns to pop up every once in a while.

~SP    

One of the many things I love about Green Lake is Judson Tower.  Every hour, (usually at 3 past the hour, because the clock is a little off) it plays hymns.  It is wonderful to walk around the assembly grounds and hear the hymns sing sweetly form the carillon.