Picking
out the right hymnal at a church can be as time consuming as picking
out the stain glass windows. In the past years, I have been
involved in the process of both activities. Hymnals were not always
supplied by the church. I have a hymnal from one of my ancestors,
that makes them older than grandparents, which dates back to 1889 and
was in Wanatah, Indiana. It is written in German and the hymns do
not have bar lines or time signatures. In one hymn, there were seven
half notes and a bar line and then another seven half notes. They
were written on a music staff and have a lot of half notes and the
words written on each page. Every church member in day of Minnie
Dankert, had to have their own hymnal if they were going to sing in
the Lutheran church in Germany. It is old and has her name printed
in gold on the cover of the little hymnal. In the days of my
ancestor, there were no Bibles to carry to church as they were not
mass printed as they are today. A lot of theology, however, was
packed into the hymns of the church.
Colossians 3:16-17 says, “ 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. And whatsoever ye do in word or deed, do all in the name
of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God and the Father by him.”
Singing in church has always been an important part of worshiping
God. The Apostle Paul mentioned three categories of songs in the
passage for today, Psalms Hymns, and spiritual songs. The Psalms
are obvious and refers to the 150 Psalms of our Bible today. Hymns,
in my estimation, refer to songs that were specifically sung to God
such as “Great is thy Faithfulness” or “How Great Thou Art.”
The majority of the songs that are in most hymnals are from the
category of “spiritual songs. These songs will usually have a
personal pronoun in them such as, “I,” or “We” in the song
such as “Victory in Jesus” which begins with “I heard an old,
old story...” or “It is Well with My Soul.” Our singing of the
Psalms is probably the least done in the church but there are a few
selections in most hymn books that come from the Book of Psalms. A
lot of theology has been packed in much of the music that is usually
sung in the church. Singing is just as important today in our times
of worship as we have an opportunity to express our feelings. Some
things are just so great inside, that you feel you need to burst out
I n song about them. You would have a hard time containing them
inside and so just need to be expressed. So, we sing. There was one
professor, not a musician as such, but he taught that the 4th
and 5th
chapters of Revelation were laid out in the form of an orchestral
symphony. It had an introduction, a theme and several variations and
a “coda” ending. G. F. Handel recognized it as it became the
primary words of the final movement of “The Messiah.” I can't
read the words without hearing the melody of that work. There was a
time when the Isrealites did not feel like singing and hung their
harps upon the willows. There may be those times in your life also
but they don't stay for very long as you find that you have to
proclaim the goodness of the Lord to you in mighty song. You may be
singing in your car, your shower, or even in Wal-Mart as you journey
on each day of your life. You have to let it out just as the chorus
of one hymn expresses it, “Then
sings my soul, my Saviour God, to Thee, How great Thou art, how great
Thou art.” Praise God today for the hymn He has put in your heart.
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