would imagine that everyone who knows the biblical reference where “Psalms and Hymns” comes from asks the same question.

Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.
Colossians 3:16 (TNIV) 

“What about the third category? What about the spiritual songs?”

That’s a great question.

The short answer is that I think that there are enough spiritual songs out there and that the other two categories are neglected (especially the psalms). There are also side issues of simply wanting to write music and not spend hours fine-tuning lyrics when there are perfectly good lyrics out there.

The long answer is that I started writing when I was in college. Every week, I was learning new music. (Or, to put it more accurately, I was playing along with unknown music and figuring it out as I went along. That was a pretty harrowing experience! Thankfully, all of the music was fairly predictable.) There was such a drive for the latest expression of worship, the freshest tune, the newest lyric, that I got burnt out on it all. This isn’t to say that I wasn’t involved with some fine people who were doing a great job leading several hundred college students each week. It was just that the continual drive for what’s new forced me to stop and take a look at what’s old.

What I discovered was a treasury of incredible lyrics that my peers had all but forgotten. Here were words that were not captive to the latest pop metaphors for God but were rich and full of meaning. I found lyrics that had withstood the test of time and were rightfully called “the great hymns of the faith”. (Of course, there are some truly wretched old hymns, just like there are some fantastic spiritual songs being written today. One isn’t better than the other based upon its genre, necessarily. The content is the standard by which it should be judged.)

I found great hymns with some great tunes but also some great hymns with lesser tunes. Different musical settings of the same text can be wonderful counterparts to each other, as long as they both faithfully represent the content of the text. It’s like looking at a diamond from many different perspectives or like reading the bible in several different translations. They all add to each other. “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” is a fabulous hymn whether it’s sung to “Hamburg” or “Gift of Love” (but not when it’s sung to the tune of “Green Acres”). So I began trying to compose tunes that would accurately reflect the content of hymn texts with a musical vocabulary that was more common to my peers.

For centuries, Christians not only sang hymns, but they also had settings of the Psalms to sing (the Psalter). I can’t possibly write everything there is to write on the use of the Psalms right now, but I’ll leave with an observation that we have all but forgotten the Psalms in public worship and it’s to our detriment.

God has given us the gift of music and he has given us a song to sing. Psalms and hymns allow us to sing the same song as the saints of old - the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs and all who have gone before us. We sing along with the “living faith of the dead” (as Jaroslav Pelikan has written) and join in the thunderous chorus praising:

“Glory to God in the highest heaven,
and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”
Luke 2:14 (TNIV)

Note: This was a post that I originally wrote on January 28, 2006 but haven’t posted until now. My thoughts on the subject have changed a little but I still agree with the main thrust of what I wrote. Today, I would only qualify that we be vigilant in rejecting any romanticization of the past, thinking that older lyrics (and older theology) must necessarily be better than more modern expressions. We must always be returning to the scriptures as our source for life and our vocabulary for worshiping the living God.

ichael Spencer (whom I quoted last week in my sermon) has brought to my attention an article that’s come out of the Australian Anglican church. See The Slow Death of Congregational Singing and Michael’s riff on that article, Riffs: The Briefing on “The Slow Death of Congregational Singing.”
Here’s a quote from his reflection on internetmonk.com:

[In the place of robust congregational singing,] we have a lot of songs that a lot of people don’t know, a lot of bad and unknown tunes, a lot of watching the worship team perform (especially if they are female of the right type and dress), a lot of forgettable, narcissistic lyrics, a lot of bad and inexperienced worship leaders, a lot of bone-headed thinking about congregational singing in relation to church growth, a lot of imitation of churches and methods that most congregations can’t imitate, a lot of lay people who simply don’t know how to sing at all, a lot of churches that don’t teach singing, a lot of turning congregations into audiences anyway and whatever else goes into the stew that does away with congregational singing.

It’s unfortunate that the discussion turns into old songs vs. new songs so often. Ultimately, when the songs were written, what kind of beat they have, what instrumentation one uses, etc. are secondary (and even tertiary) issues. The fundamental question that those of us who plan and lead music must wrestle with in terms of our role is “What does it mean to lead in song?” Does it mean that people are supposed to be inspired by the devotion and the passion of the person who sings at the front? Does it mean that we’re to model what the congregation should be ideally doing? Or is it different than that?

For me, leading in song involves a lot more behind the scenes work than overt, up-front action. Leading in song means that we pick keys that are the most comfortable for a congregation to sing in, no matter if they’re good keys for a lead vocalist to “shine” in or not.* (That’s why much, if not most, of the worship music coming out of places like Nashville and Atlanta has to be rekeyed before congregations can even attempt it. In CCM worship recordings, men are usually tenors and women are usually altos, while congregations are typically more oriented toward baritones and mezzo-sopranos. If you’ve been singing along with a worship leader until they reach a high note, at which point your voice cracks and you look around sheepishly to see if anyone noticed, you know what I’m talking about.) Leading in song means eliminating confusion from the musical arrangements so that the congregation feels confident of where to come in. Leading in song means picking accompaniments and arrangements that support the congregation’s singing, rather than allowing them to feel naked and left out to dry.

*Ideally, you shouldn’t need to turn up a lead vocalist’s volume so loud that anyone can hear if he or she is in their best key. And what does it say about our sales-oriented approach to worship that we would care if someone is in their best key or not?

his Sunday, one of the major themes of our service is the Christian’s love for God. Psalm 116 immediately came to mind as one of the seminal passages in the Bible regarding loving God. I scoured my psalters for a suitable setting of the text and ended up with Isaac Watts’ version.

I love the Lord; he heard my cries, and pitied every groan:
Long as I live, when troubles rise, I’ll hasten to his throne.

I love the Lord; he bowed his ear, and chased my griefs away;
O let my heart no more despair, while I have breath to pray!

The text is in CM (Common Meter), which means that each verse contains four lines - 8 syllables - six syllables - 8 - 6. I searched the Metrical Index and tried to find a suitable tune. None of the CM tunes seemed to work, but a CMD tune stuck out. (CMD stands for Common Meter Doubled. Instead of 8.6.8.6., the melody is 8.6.8.6.8.6.8.6.) I set the text to Laura Taylor’s tune for “To Christ the Lord”. I find it works rather well. After raising the key a minor third and setting Watts’ lyrics, it looks like this:

I’m pleased with the pairing.

I’ll be continually updating the metrical index on this site as a reference tool. Feel free to use it to use my tunes or others’ tunes. (If you have any suggestions on how to make it more useful, please email me and let me know.)

’m currently sitting in my hotel room in Grapevine, Texas after a busy weekend.  After beginning the day on Saturday with the wedding of two good friends, I drove up here to the Metroplex so that I can attend a conference on Monday and Tuesday.  As part of my trip, I visited several churches in the D/FW area to get an idea of what their worship services look like.  Within a span of 24 hours I attended 4 services.  Here are some reflections while they are fresh in my mind. Read more »

lenn Lucke at Common Grounds posted a link today to a wonderful and challenging article by Sally Morgenthaler. She is the author of Worship Evangelism but has since changed her tune…

ast Saturday night, I found myself in downtown Orlando for a free street concert by the Gin Blossoms just outside of City Hall. The concert was great. The band sounded just like we were back in their heyday of the mid ’90s. (The Gin Blossoms broke up in the late ’90s, reunited in 2004 and released their first new album in a decade last year.) I didn’t know any of their new songs but I found myself singing along enthusiastically with the old hits that they played. Boy, did they have a lot of hits. Allison Road, Until I Fall Away, Follow You Down, ‘Til I Hear it From You, Found Out About You and, of course, Hey Jealousy, among others.

Tomorrow we can drive around this town
and let the cops chase us around.
The past is gone and something might be found to take its place.
Hey Jealousy…

Picking up their first album, New Miserable Experience, from a used CD bin in 1998 was one of the best purchases I ever made. I’ve listened to and enjoyed that album for almost a decade now. It’s no wonder that I could sing the songs word for word at the concert, though I probably haven’t listened to the album for at least 12 months.

What does this have to do with the Westminster Shorter Catechism? I’ll acknowledge that it’s a tenuous bridge at best from a ’90s rock/pop band to a statement of theology from the 17th century.

I spent Saturday afternoon importing musical settings of the catechism into my computer. At my seminary, we are required to pass a catechism test before we graduate. There are 35 questions that we are required to know verbatim. I’m using a set of CDs to help me memorize my 35 questions. After the concert, I was hit again with what a powerful medium music is for memorization. I removed all of my “normal” music from my iPod and only take the catechism songs to the gym with me. I plan on listening to nothing but the Shorter Catechism as I work out. While I’ll readily admit that the melodies are nowhere near as catchy as the Gin Blossoms and the instrumentation is simple, I’m hoping that the sheer amount of time I spend listening to these settings of the catechism will help implant the words into my mind.

As I listened to the songs today, for the first time, I was struck again by the beauty and completeness of the answers of the catechism. We have a tremendous blessing in the catechism to see the fundamentals of our faith boiled down to questions and answers. I hope that my catechism listening will do more than help me pass my test but will help to shape me in the truth of the Scriptures.

his Little Babe, a victorious poem for Christmas morning, by Robert Southwell.

This little Babe so few days old,
Is come to rifle Satan’s fold;
All hell doth at his presence quake,
Though he himself for cold do shake;
For in this weak, unarmed wise,
The gates of hell he will surprise.

With tears he fights and wins the field,
His naked breast stands for a shield;
His battering shot are babish cries,
His arrows made of weeping eyes,
His martial ensigns cold and need,
And feeble flesh his warrior’s steed.

His camp is pitched in a stall,
His bulwark but a broken wall;
The crib his trench, hay stalks his stakes,
Of shepherds he his muster makes;
And thus as sure his foe to wound,
The Angels’ trumps alarum sound.

My soul with Christ join thou in fight,
Stick to the tents that he hath pight;
Within his crib is surest ward,
This little Babe will be thy guard;
If thou wilt foil thy foes with joy,
Then flit not from the heavenly boy.

Here is a recording of a setting of the poem by Benjamin Britten.

recently used an iTunes gift certificate (thanks to my sister for my birthday present) to purchase a recently released collection of music for Advent. It’s a great album and contains a wonderful performance of what might now be my favorite Advent hymn (but I’ll write on that in a few weeks).

Immediately following an instrumental setting of “Break Forth, O Beauteous Heavenly Light” (the quartet of oboe, clarinet, horn and bassoon was a nice choice), the strings come in with the famous first notes of “And the Glory of the Lord” from Handel’s Messiah. This, in and of itself, is not a surprising thing. It is not an odd thing to hear this piece sung during Advent programs. However, this time the stirring words that first appear in the basses rang clearer than I think I’ve ever experienced them before. Most of us know this much of the text:

And the glory, the glory of the Lord
Shall be reveal-ed
And all flesh shall see it together

But we miss the crux of the song. How do we know that we will see the glory of the Lord?

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it!

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it. In Advent, we don’t only celebrate that Christ came but also that his coming represents the fulfillment of what the Lord had spoken. The promises that the Lord makes are good and true and will come to fruition. What he has said is trustworthy. He came the first time, just as he said, and he will come again, just as he said.

For the mouth of the Lord has spoken it!