I collect hymnbooks, and my New Year’s Resolution for 2022 was to record at least one hymn (it quickly became two hymns) each weekend. These, then, are the hymns I recorded; the hymnbooks credited are the ones I used for that particular hymn.
All these hymns are, so far as I know, in the public domain.
Title | Year | Notes |
---|---|---|
Zangbundel Ten Dienste Van Huisgezin En Samenkomsten (2e Druk) | 1906 | At least I think it’s the 2nd edition from 1906. The cover is too faded for me to tell. The cover also looks very similar to pictures of the 3rd edition, but also similar to pictures of the 4th edition, and it’s clearly not that. This book was a gift from my aunt, who is from The Netherlands. |
The Psalter Hymnal | 1927 | Published by the United Presbyterian Board of Publication and Bible School Work. |
The Hymnary Of The United Church of Canada | 1930 | Published by the United Church Publishing House in Toronto. This particular hymnal came from the Airdrie church. |
Tabernacle Hymns Number 4 | 1960 | Published by the Tabernacle Publshing Company, Chicago |
The New Church Hymnal | 1976 | Published by Lexicon Music Inc. This hymnal was the one my church used when I was a kid. |
Praise! Our Songs And Hymns | 1979 | Published by Singspiration Music of the Zondervan Corporation in Grand Rapids, Michigan |
Worship The Lord | 1979 | Published by Warner Press for The Church of God |
The Hymnal For Worship and Celebration | 1986 | Published by Word Music in Nashville, Tennessee |
Trinity Hymnal | 1990 | Published by Great Commission Publications for the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. |
A hymn that reminds us who is ultimately in charge of the destiny of this world, and to rejoice in that.
There was no way I was leaving this classic off my list, a hymn that speaks of the amazing, unending grace of god, a hymn that’s practically a meme or a cliché nowadays. But, in my mind, there's nothing wrong with going with something so completely predictable; it’s predictable because it’s a classic, and it’s a classic for a reason.
The lyrics are by a man named John Newton, who was a slave trader before his conversion to Christianity, and became an ardent abolitionist afterwards. He lived just long enough to see the British Empire’s abolistion of the slave trade.
Sometimes we find ourself completely adrift if we forget that the basis of our faith is not in our traditions, nor our churchly behavior, but in God’s holy Word. The first verse reveals that God Himself has spoken to us, the other four paraphrase parts of the Bible.
This is one of those hymns that is seemingly from nowhere. Its lyrics—first published in John Rippon’s A Selection Of Hymns—are attributed someone named K—
, but who that was is unclear. Hymnary.org suggests five different people: Robert Keen, George Keith, Thomas Kirkham, someone with the last name of Kennedy or Kennady, or John Rippon himself.
The hymnwriter Charles Wesley (1707-1788) wrote this hymn to celebrate the first anniversary of his conversion. The full poem is actually eighteen stanzas, but most hymnbooks use only about a third of them. The title comes from something a man named Peter Böhler said to Wesley: If I had a thousand tongues, I would praise Christ With Them all
, quoting from the German hymn O daß ich tausend Zungen hätte.
This hymn is a paraphrase of the hymn Come, Lord, And Tarry Not by Horatius Bonar (1808-1889) (which originally had 14 stanzas).
A life of sin will cause God to turn away and leave us to the consequences of our faithlessness. This hymn expresses the sorrow of those who have been so rejected, but also expresses the knowledge and hope that if we turn away from sin, God will accept us back.
Psalm LIX was written by David when he was on the run from King Saul, who had surrounded the house David was hiding in and intended to kill him.
The hymnal I used for this—The Hymnary Of The United Church of Canada has these two hymns right next to each other. While each tune presented below is associated with a specific hymn, the hymnal has a note saying the tunes can be switched. Literally, for the tune Tallis’s Ordinal, it has a note saying Or Gräfenberg below.
and the tune Gräfenberg has a note saying Or Tallis’s Ordinal, above.
I thought it would be fun to reflect that here by offering both sets of lyrics on the page and letting you choose which tune to play.
This is associated with The Excellency Of Scripture in the hymnal.
This is associated with The Interperter in the hymnal.
TheodosiaSteele (1717-1778)
To follow the Lord means, by definition, we let Him lead us. This hymn talkss about the comfort of letting Him show the way.
...considering that the Dutch hymnbook I have contains translations of several English hymns and I can’t read Dutch, I suppose it was inevitable that I’d eventually unknowingly record a translation of a hymn I’ve already recorded. This is a translation of Nearer, My God, To Thee, which was my February 26 entry.
This psalm is one of seven psalms known as The Penitential Psalms—psalms written when one has incurred God’s wrath and is now dealing with the concequences. It calls to God for mercy while admitting one’s wrongdoing.
Psalm XXXIV was written by David after his escape from King Abimelech. In that psalm (and in this song), God is praised for delivering the singer out of trouble; and says that the wicked will come to an end. Both psalm and song also state that we will face danger in our lives, but God will bring us through it—either in this world or, through death, in the next.
It is admittedly hard to trust God when things seem to be going out of control. But we have to trust that He will see us through to the other side, one way or another. Even if we don’t survive physically, those who trust in God have placed their eternal souls in good hands.
LouisBourgeois (ca. 1510-1559).
Displays of worship are good, but meaningless without faith. Even this very challenge I am doing, without faith and obedience to God, is only so much racket. Only through faith and obedience to the Lord does this become worship to him.
The author of Psalm XLII, likely one of the Sons of Korah, compares the desire for the spirit of God to how a hart (an archaic term for deer
, specifically a male red deer at least five years of age) panting for water, describing that desire as a great thirst. Almost every adaptation of Psalm I’ve seen uses that comparison.
Sojourner: a temporary resident. Someone who is living away from home.
A Christian is a sojourner in this world. We know this world, and our mortal lives are temporary and that one day, each of us will move on, to our real home.
I heard this old story about the Devil from a pastor.
The Devil asked three of his servants for a way to turn would-be Christians away from Christ and so condemn them to Hell.
The first said
I will tell them there is no God.The Devil sneered.
These people already know there is a God.The second said.
I will tell them there is no Hell,The Devil sneered again.
They know there is a Hell, and they are terrified of it.The third said.
I will tell them there is no hurry.The Devil smiled darkly.
You will ruin them by the thousands.
A song about trusting in Christ. It’s a reference to Deuteronomy 33:27, which says The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms: and he shall thrust out the enemy from before thee; and shall say, Destroy them.
A prayer to God, to bring us ever closer to him.
This hymn is another reference to the rich young man mentioned in Mark 10:17-22. Too many Christians
think that having received Christ, they need do no more, but the truth is, as the Apostle James warns us in James 2:14-26, faith without works is dead. So let us take up our crosses, and follow Him.
The whole idea of a Christian being a soldier, or Christianity being a war, is strange to modern ears, but spiritual warfare is a reality. Not for nothing are we told to Put on the whole armour of God
(Ephesians 6:10-17). Are you ready for the fight?
A song praising God.
It seemed appropriate to close out Quarter 3 of the challenge with this song of the harvest season.
The Protestent Doxology was originally the final verse of three hymns by Thomas Ken (1637-1711): Awake, My Soul, And With The Sun, Glory To Thee, My God, This Night, and My God, Now I From Sleep Awake, but that shared verse is now normally sung on its own to the tune of Old 100th, a tune which gets its name from its association with Psalm C.
It has appeared in every hymnbook I own with the obvious exception of my Dutch one.
I usually end my busking sessions by playing the Doxology, so I shall close these pages with it as well.
LouisBourgeois (ca. 1510-1559).