Scripture Thursday ~ The Importance of Hymns

 But I will sing of your strength,
   in the morning I will sing of your love;
for you are my fortress,
   my refuge in times of trouble.
Psalm 59:16 (NIV)

There are over one thousand scriptures in the Bible which reference music in one form or another.   Hymns were instilled in me from a very young age, they came naturally to me, and I learned very quickly.  The Lord gifted me with an ear for music, and He had future plans for me to use that gift.  

As I’ve mentioned here before, I am the pianist for our church and have played the piano since I was four years old.  The old hymns are near and dear to me.  I can remember an old pump organ in our home that I liked to play.  There was just one problem…. I couldn’t reach the pedals.  My sisters took pity on me and would pump them for me so the sound would come out while I played. 

Missionary and author, Elisabeth Elliot says this about hymns:

One of the things that I think is so important and often neglected nowadays is the learning of hymns, because it’s an easy way to learn theology. My father was not a theologian, but he was a very, very devout Christian and a writer and an editor of a Christian magazine. But we sang a hymn every single morning after breakfast. Because of that, we children learned hymns by heart without any effort whatsoever.

The old hymns are often thought of as old fashioned today and boring.  However, most are timeless pieces of Christian history that were written in times of adversity.  Many of the joyful hymns were written BECAUSE of the adversity.  They provide such comfort and encouragement just when we need it. 

Elizabeth Prentiss

Elizabeth Prentiss, who wrote the hymn  More Love to Thee, O Christ (1856) had this to say about her life.
Much of my experience of life has cost me a great price and I wish to use it for strengthening and comforting other souls. 

Blind hymn writer Fanny Crosby had NO earthly vision.  I know from studying her life and her hymns, what she lacked in physical vision with her eyes, she made up for it with the eyes of her heart.  She wrote thousands of hymns that touched people deeply, still today.

Without the blindness, some of the popular hymns below would never have been heard.

Fanny Crosby

All the way My Savior Leads Me
Blessed Assurance
He Hideth My Soul
Praise Him! Praise Him! 
Saved by Grace
To God Be The Glory
and thousands more

Eliza Hewitt memorialized Fanny's passing with a poem which was read at her funeral.  Here is a portion of it: 

Away to the country of sunshine and song,
Our songbird has taken her flight,
And she who has sung in the darkness so long
Now sings in the beautiful light;
The harp-strings here broken are sweetly restrung
To ring in a chorus sublime;
The hymns that on earth she so trustfully sung
Keep tune with eternity’s chime!

You don’t have to be musical to enjoy the old hymns or appreciate the words.  Old hymn books can often be found in thrift stores or in used book stores.  Sometimes just reading the words will minister to your soul.

Often with the hymns I’m familiar with, I’ll say them rather than sing them and the words take on new meaning with the different approach. 

If you are struggling with a burden, a load, a heavy heart, sing hymns and I guarantee you'll feel your burden lift. 

Compliments of Naomi at Windfalls of Grace

The Lord wants us to sing praises to Him.  If He didn't, he wouldn't have told us to 5 times in these two passages of scripture, as well as countless other places in the Bible. 

Sing praises to God, sing praises!
Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
For God is the King of all the earth;
Sing praises with understanding.
Psalm 47:6-7 KJV

There are some great resources online for the study of hymns.   I've listed a few below. 

Wordwise Hymns
with Robert Cottill.  He is a wealth of knowledge of many hymns, their history and biblical themes.  I highly recommend a visit.

The Cyber Hymnal
A huge database of hymns and the history behind them.  Searchable in many different ways.  You can even hear the tune to a hymn if you're not familiar with it.


Have a wonderful day.  I hope this post has encouraged you to pursue hymn singing for yourself, or with your children if you don't already.