Tag Archive for: hymn

Romans 8:26 (KJV revised by ANR)

Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.

Music is the closest we can come to the groanings of Holy Spirit.

“Through the Night of Doubt and Sorrow”
by Bernhardt S. Ingemann, 1789-1862
Translated by Sabine BaringGould, 1834-1924

1. Through the night of doubt and sorrow
   Onward goes the pilgrim band,
   Singing songs of expectation,
   Marching to the Promised Land.
   Clear before us, through the darkness,
   Gleams and burns the guiding light.
   Brother clasps the hand of brother,
   Stepping fearless through the night.

2. One the light of God’s own presence,
   O’er His ransomed people shed,
   Chasing far the gloom and terror,
   Brightening all the path we tread;
   One the object of our journey,
   One the faith which never tires.
   One the earnest looking forward,
   One the hope our God inspires.

3. One the strain the lips of thousands
   Lift as from the heart of one;
   One the conflict, one the peril,
   One their march in God begun;
   One the gladness of rejoicing
   On the far eternal shore,
   Where the one almighty Father
   Reigns in love forevermore.

4. Onward, therefore, pilgrim brothers!
   Onward, with the cross our aid!
   Bear its shame and fight its battle
   Till we rest beneath its shade.
   Soon shall come the great awaking,
   Soon the rending of the tomb,
   Then the scattering of all shadows,
   And the end of toil and gloom.

Commonly sung to the tune: Ebenezer (remember last month’s article?).

There is but one reason to sing and that is to worship and there are three primary types of songs we sing. We sing to praise, we sing to proclaim, and we sing to pray. This is a hymn of proclamation usually sung during Lent.

The most important part of a hymn, (it is the very definition of a hymn) is the text. The most important aspect to the text is that it faithfully declares the Glory of God. Every aspect of the text must speak to the Biblical truth clearly, it shouldn’t be mistaken for a song for some other purpose. I have heard some songs in church where any reference to God was purely inferred and these songs could just have easily been about some lost lover.

This hymn of proclamation describes the pilgrim’s journey which begins in darkness surrounded by doubt and sorrow. In the second stanza we find a great example of how hymns can teach and reinforce Biblical truths. The idea of God ransoming his people starts early in the Old Testament and finds its culmination at the foot of the cross. The fourth stanza makes a clear statement of the importance of cross and the empty tomb.

One of the most radical transformations which the reformers Luther, Knox, and Calvin wrought was the incorporation of congregational singing. At the time of the reformation worship was done in Latin, a language which had effectively been dead for nearly 1000 years, which all but the most educated had no understanding. The music was performed by professional musicians and choirs. The congregation simply stood there for hours and watched the actions of others.

Moving worship to the vernacular and even letting the congregation sing spiritual poems set to simple tunes was such a profound change we have difficulty understanding it today. The fathers of the reformation and many since have left us thousands of hymns of praise, proclamation, and prayer.

Every Sunday your pastoral and musical staff endeavor to bring music which clearly and unabashedly proclaims God’s truth.

I would challenge you to read the text of each hymn and song we sing and consider the Biblical truths present and even more importantly, dialogue with the text. Consider the implication for your life in the truths proclaimed.