Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Hymns

I've been listening to hymns in my car lately and it has been so good for my soul. When I first started to follow Christ I loved the contemporary worship songs like "Blessed Be Your Name" and "I Rest". I connected with the straightforward truth of what they were saying and I loved the repetition of the lyrics. And though I still like to rock out to a lot of those songs, hymns have become more and more of a joy to sing as I have continued to grow in my relationship with Christ. I love the richness and depth of the lyrics in hymns.

And though it's good to sing songs that have minimal, straightforward, repetitive lyrics, lately I have found myself wanting to sings songs with more "meat" to them. Which is why I like hymns so much; they are very meaty. Sometimes they are so meaty that I'm not even sure what they mean and I have to stop and think about what is being said. But when I figure out what those lines really mean, they become even more meaningful to my heart as I sing them out to the Lord at the top of my lungs (while the person in the car next to me gives me a strange look).

Don't get me wrong I still love when hymns are redone to be upbeat and loud. I'm not one for standing in my pew with my hymn book drearily singing "How Great Thou Art". But I think I would prefer to sing "In Christ Alone" rather than "He Is Good". Not because "He Is Good" is a bad song, not at all, but because my heart connects more with the truth that I sing in "In Christ Alone".

And let me let you off the hook.... you don't have to agree with me. But if you struggle with singing hymns, like I once used to, let me help you out a little. Some of the hymns I have been listening to in my car are by a band called Page CXVI and I think they have done an amazing job with the hymns they sing. Here are some of my favorites.

In Christ Alone


Come Thou Fount


Joy


If you wish to buy any of their albums you can find them here. Enjoy!