Hymn Singing and Hymn Writers — Mack Tomlinson

Biblical Foundations for Hymn Singing

We'll read two verses, one from Ephesians 5 and one from Colossians 3, both very familiar on the subject this morning of hymn singing and hymn writers and some application. Hymn singing, hymn writers, and some application.

Ephesians chapter 5, verses 19 and 20. Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. So we sing with our voice, but it's coming from our heart and the object, the audience, is the Lord.

Singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord. Giving thanks always for all things unto God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. And in Colossians 3, verse 16, come in the multitudes who are gathering.

Come right in, settle in. Colossians 3, verse 16, let, this is an admonition, an exhortation, and a command, so it becomes a responsibility of us individually. Let the Word of Christ dwell in you, richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

So, we're going to think about this morning, hymn singing and hymn writers, and some lessons we can learn and apply. So, hymn singing, the word hymn, the dictionary definition is somewhat secular, but with religious connotations as well.

A hymn is a song in praise, the dictionary says, of the gods, or even of heroes, or conquerors. They would sing songs to honor. You know, even when David killed Goliath, and then Israel made up a song, Saul is slain as thousands, but David is ten thousands.

So, another dictionary definition is a hymn is a sacred song, a sacred song. Augustine asked this question, what are the necessary elements in a hymn? He gives at least three. Number one, words of praise.

Number two, to be sung. Number three, addressing God. Words of praise that must be sung addressing God, so says Augustine. A couple of significant examples in the New Testament where you see the practice.

First of all, the Lord Jesus and His disciples in the upper room, the observation of the Passover meal and the Lord's Supper in Matthew 26, 30, regarding the Lord and His disciples, and when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives.

Probably a psalm, we don't know for sure, but the reference clearly is a hymn. In Acts 16, 25, Paul and Silas, it's midnight, their backs are bleeding and wounded, and fresh beatings had been administered to them.

And Luke says, they were praying and singing what? Hymns, praying and singing hymns. They weren't in the best mood, they didn't feel like it, but they weren't going anywhere, and weren't going to sleep.

Why not pray and praise God? So, I would like to know who started the hymn. Was it Silas, was it Paul? They were praying and singing hymns. About 50 years ago, some of us were around, and yeah, two or three are gathered.

The Rise and Revival of Hymn Singing

So, in the late 60s, early 70s, the charismatic movement exploded, and the earliest contemporary Christian singers started writing praise choruses. And there were some good ones, there were some great musicians and great singers who really sang to the Lord.

Everybody from Andre Crouch, to Love Song, to... I'm going to name groups that none of you have heard of, except maybe a couple. So, anyway, but it started a wave of a new trend in church music, Christian music.

And much of it was good, much of it was shallow and poor. And, but what happened was, the praise choruses and contemporary music came into being in such a powerful way, it was permanent, that hymns began to take a back seat and not be sung, except in dead liberal churches or dead Armenian churches.

So, hymns took a back seat, really to be forgotten and not used in any real significant way for years, except by the believers right in there, who never gave in to the fad of not singing. But the Reform Movement in the last 20 years, probably, has produced a revival of hymn singing, no question about it.

And it's caught on, and it's infiltrated the more the Reform Movement and contemporary singers and composers and hymn writers have become sound in doctrine, the more hymns have had a revival. Old ones to the old tunes, old hymns to new tunes, and new hymns that are phenomenal, and we sing some of those.

So, hymns now to a new generation, they're back and they're going strong. May they never die again or decline. Here's some hymn trivia before we get into really the body of the material. Here's some hymn trivia.

I will buy lunch and dinner this week to anyone who knows this one. I think I'm safe. The oldest hymn for which the author is known. In other words, there were older hymns, anonymous, we don't know the author, but the oldest hymn ever written as far as we know who the author was.

It's not Because He Lives, Bill Gaither, no. No, good guess though. Shepherd of Tender Youth by Clement of Alexandria, 200 AD. Shepherd of Tender Youth, Clement of Alexandria. First hymn in English used in public worship.

I didn't offer a meal on this one. Behold the Glories of the Lamb, Isaac Watts, 1688. First hymn in English that was used in public worship. Youngest hymn writer. Now, we know there could have been others out in the field writing one, but it never became known.

The youngest hymn writer that's known, 15-year-old John Milton, wrote Let Us With a Gladsome Mind. Let Us With a Gladsome Mind. I don't think we sing that one. The most prolific, Abby, what does prolific mean?

Now you're going to know. Most productive. Most productive. Produce more than all others, all right? Prolific. Test her on that tomorrow. Who was that be? Most prolific hymn writer? Fanny Crosby, correct.

There were some close to her, but she wrote over 8 ,000 hymns. Sometimes when she was on a roll, she would write six or seven in one day, and they were good. One publisher had her produce three hymns per week for their work.

So she was the most prolific. We'll return to her later. Kenneth Ausbeck, church historian, said this, throughout church history, great periods of revival and movements of the Holy Spirit were marked by a great reviving of and a great renewal of congregational singing.

And so you see that when churches are truly alive to truth and the Holy Spirit is at work among them, they love singing. And their singing evidences it being from the heart. So let's look at a few of the great hymn writers in history and then have some lessons and some questions.

Isaac Watts and the Birth of English Hymnody

All right. First, Isaac Watts, 1674 -1748. Considered the father of English hymnody. At least the earliest one. There were some pretty good hymn writers in England a little bit later, right? And we'll talk about one of them.

But Watts is considered the father of English hymnody. Six hundred, I'm sorry, 6 ,000 hymns are attributed to his pen, some of which did not get published, were probably lost. Watts was the oldest of nine children.

And one day as a young man, he complained to his father about the horrible state of congregational singing. So his father said, well, Isaac, do something about it. So he did. That week, he started every Sunday for two years, he wrote a new hymn.

And those, whatever that would be, 104 weeks and two years? Good math. That body of hymns that he first wrote became a hymnal that was published as Hymns and Spiritual Songs. You can buy that today. It's reprinted.

It's in print. Hymns and Spiritual Songs were those hymns he wrote for those two years every Sunday. So you get that and you look at them, and you kind of can, it's almost an autobiography of Watts' heart.

He was young. He was writing those for two years. It's a marvelous example. Some of Watts' better known hymns. Give to our God immortal praise. We sing that once in a while. Oh God, our help in ages past.

I sing the mighty power of God. Alas, and did my Savior bleed. And joy to the world, which he did not write originally to be a Christmas hymn, but it evolved into that. And perhaps his greatest or most loved hymn, about which Charles Wesley said, I would give up all my hymns to have written this one.

What am I talking about? When I survey the wondrous cross. Let's just sing it. When I survey the wondrous cross. I guess it will be on the screen. Alright, so let's sing it to the Lord. You can stand.

Isaac Watts was a genius at several levels, really. In his childhood, he learned Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. I'm still trying to learn English. He was unable to attend Oxford and Cambridge. He was turned away.

You know why? Guess. You know? Anybody? Because he was an independent. He was not an Anglican. He was a Congregationalist, like John Owen. There's some mystery there because Watts was turned away, but John Owen, a Congregationalist, was the main academic guy at Oxford and was the leading theologian of the English world at the time.

So, a little inconsistent, but anyway. Watts was imprisoned two times for his views, like Bunyan, but not near as long. And imprisoned twice. He preached his first sermon at age 24. And at 30, he began pastoring the Mark Lane Congregational Chapel.

And he stayed there 46 years pastoring the same congregation until his death in 1748. Over 6 ,000 hymns. Watts was a lifelong bachelor, never married, but he loved children in his congregation. He would write poetry and hymns and books even for children.

And he said this about his motive. My motive and desire was not to exalt myself as a poet, but to be a servant to the churches and a helper to the lowest or simplest Christian. Good motive. Alright, next.

Charles Wesley and Christ-Centered Hymns

Another phenomenal English hymn writer. Anybody take a guess? Charles Wesley. You're right, but... Charles Wesley, 1707, 1788. 81 years of life. 50 years as a Methodist. He and his brother John founded Methodism.

Well, really, Whitefield kind of did, but they got the credit because they organized it. And so, Charles Wesley, an evangelist, a powerful preacher. You read Dallimore's Life of Whitefield, and you see amazing accounts of Charles Wesley preaching.

He and his wife rode into a village. She was 7 or 8 months pregnant. And they rode on horseback into the village. They were ambushed, beaten. They pulled her off the horse, kicked her. She rode home. She lost the baby.

So, these were courageous, gospel-driven Methodists. If you've never read Ian Murray's book, John Wesley and the Men Who Followed, that's a marvelous book to read. So, Charles Wesley, 50 years as a Methodist evangelist, church planter and hymn writer.

Wrote over 6 ,500 hymns. He was a lyrical and a musical genius. The quality of his hymns, when you look at them closely, of the Christ-centeredness, and who he is, and his work of redemption, is profound to look at Wesley's hymns in that way.

He was born in Epworth, England. Charles was the 18th of 19 children. And he was converted at midnight on May 21st, 1738 at the age of 31. He wrote his first hymn the next day, which tradition says was...

You got it? I read his lips. And Can It Be. He wrote it the next day. Converted at midnight. I don't know how late he stayed up. The next day he wrote And Can It Be. More hymns came quickly all the time.

Arise, my soul, arise. Love divine, all loves excelling. You servants of God, your Master proclaim. Come, thou long-expected Jesus. Oh, for a thousand tongues to sing. Hark, the herald angels sing. And rejoice, the Lord is King.

And in one of his greatest, that's sung maybe as much as any of his hymns, Christ the Lord is risen today. Let's sing it again.

Sarah, we could have sung just a couple of those,.

But Charles Wesley would not like that. They said sing them all. All that you have, sing them. So, all right. Charles Wesley's hymns brought a new dimension that was missing at the time. Deep Christian experience.

And the expression of personal feelings with Christ and toward Christ. And he's really unsurpassed as a hymn writer in writing hymns about the person of Christ and redemption and atonement and Christian experience.

I mean, look later at his hymn, Arise My Soul, Arise. I think it's 223 in the hymn book. The depth of what he expresses there about the work of Christ and the work of the Spirit in the heart is just as rich as you could say it, really.

All right, Tom, next. John Newton. His years, 1725 to 1807. Born July 24th in London. His mother died when he was six years old. And his father, an unbeliever, was a sea captain of merchant ships. A hard and dangerous life for anyone.

John Newton, Repentance, and Amazing Grace

But his father took John into life at sea when he was 11 years old. And he was in that life for 17 years, basically. An extremely wicked life. A slave owner, a slave abuser, a captain of slave ships. And horrible experiences.

He himself became a slave in one setting. Because it was not only blacks that became slaves. There were others of different nationalities. And even Englishmen who would sink so low they could sell themselves even into slavery just to survive.

So, the initial change with John Newton. March 10th, 1748, age 23. He recorded in his journal, when the ship was in a severe storm, and it looked like they were going down, he suddenly cried, Lord have mercy on us.

And he was startled by his own prayer. It came out, because he was used to blaspheming, cursing, swearing, vile words, vile language. He was startled by his own prayer, but it came out. But, it brought a change.

He gave up profanity. He gave up gambling and drinking. He gave up mistreating slaves. Later, though, he indicated his true conversion didn't happen until a later date. And he said, I cannot consider myself to have been a true believer until a considerable time later.

Well, Newton, for a time, tried to justify his work in the slave trade. Because they were immersed in it. It was livelihood. And so, he had to process things. But he tried to, he did change things. He sought to improve conditions for the slaves that he had, or that he carried at sea.

He required slaves by his crew to be treated with kindness. That was unheard of. He, when there was a common habit of packing as many slaves in a ship as possible, they hardly had room. Newton changed that.

He provided more space and even comfort and made it easier for them. On one voyage, Newton was able to not lose one single life to death or to the sea. And that was, he was one of the few sea captains in history that's recorded to be able to do that.

He also held public worship services for his crew and for the slaves on a ship every Sunday. Well, he finally gave up the slave trade in 1754, age 29. Because his view of the slave trade totally changed.

He fully repented this full change of mind. He became an abolitionist along with his close friend, who? William Wilberforce. Wilberforce was converted and he wanted to leave his goal of politics and become a pastor.

And Newton talked him out of it. He said, you're gifted for this. Serve God where you are. And so, Wilberforce listened and stayed. And you know the rest of the story. Some of you do. I'll mention some of it in a moment.

Newton became an abolitionist, being convinced that slavery in any level is immoral and wicked. And he became completely ashamed the rest of his life or his past life. In 1785, he began preaching sermons on the subject when no political group in Britain would even touch it.

Historians credit John Newton for revealing during the time publicly because he later testified before Parliament. Historians credit Newton for revealing what came to be known about 18th century slave trade.

All right. Newton worked with Wilberforce. And for 20 years, Wilberforce courageously fought that battle. Remember, slavery was so common, it was such an industry of business that you were cutting right at the heart to take away the business of many, many wealthy families and people.

And so, God preserved Wilberforce. He could have easily been assassinated. 20 years he fought for it. And the year that John Newton died, slavery was abolished in England. The very year that Newton died.

What a great reality. Newton's hymns. How sweet the name of Jesus sounds. Let us love and sing and wonder. That one's been revived in recent years. One there is above all others. I ask the Lord that I might grow.

One you may never have heard of. Amazing grace. Newton, when he got out of the slave trade, he became a commissioner working in the district. I think approving and releasing ships that would go out. And then he heard and began to admire George Whitefield and John Wesley.

And through their influence, Newton answered a call to the ministry. Ordained in 1764 into the Church of England at age 39. Pastored two churches for 43 years. The first was where? Oh, Alney. Not Alney, Texas.

Alney, England. And there he met and became lifelong friends with who? William Cowper. English, American pronunciation, Cowper. It's Cooper in Britain. So when you go to Britain, don't say it wrong among Christians there.

The first was in Alney near Cambridge. Pastored it for 15 years. And there he became close friends and pastor and caregiver to William Cowper. Who was mentally ill and prone to, well, given to chronic severe depression.

They called it in those days what? Melancholy. They didn't know how to treat it. So often people that had this in a severe way had to be cared for either in a home or in a hospital. What they would call an asylum.

Newton was so close to Cowper. And they loved each other so much. There was a seven year period that Cowper had to be with John Newton every waking hour to maintain. Now think about the Christian love that takes.

You're having a person who's mentally weak and depressed severely. And you let them be with you every hour of every waking day for seven years. Newton did that. He and Cowper wrote hymns. Cowper was a genius of a poet.

Wrote many hymns. And you know some of them. They began to write hymns for the young people of the town in Alney. Which became a hymnal known as what? Alney Hymns. And you can get that hymnal today. And again read through it and you'll see hymns.

Majority of which Newton wrote. I think out of the 349 Newton wrote 282 of them. And they wrote it for the young people. They wrote those and they sang them. They taught them. So the second and final church was in London.

Where Newton was for 28 years. St. Mary Waldner Church, London. An Anglican church. Until he died at the age of 82. When he left Alney to go to London. He and Cowper never saw each other again. Cowper didn't go.

He stayed and died in Alney. But Newton said this. The purpose of hymns. My hymns. Is to promote the faith and comfort of sincere Christians. They weren't seeking to be known as a great musician or hymn writer.

They weren't seeking to have notoriety. They wrote for believers and for churches. And Newton's constant message was. That he was living proof that God could save the very worst. And one of his best hymns is titled.

Glorious things of thee are spoken. Let's sing that one. Newton's words shortly before he died. My memory is nearly gone. But I remember two things. That I am a great sinner. And that Christ is a great savior.

Good memory. At the end. Amazing grace how sweet the sound. Finally. Francis Jane Fanny Crosbury. 1820 to 1915. The most prolific Abbey. The most prolific productive hymn writer. I guess of all time over 8 ,000 hymns.

Fanny Crosby and Hymns of Christian Hope

95 years of life. 95 years blind. Probably 85 years as a true Christian. She became one of the best known women in US history. By the end of the 19th century. Born in New York. She died in Connecticut at home.

A life long. Gospel believing. Godly. Methodist. She was all her life long. A godly. Life long. Methodist. In the days. Obviously before the 20th century. Turned when Methodism became more. Increasingly liberal.

Six weeks old. She was blinded. By poor medical treatment. Of an eye infection. At one year old. Her father died. She was raised by a godly mother and grandmother. Who grounded her in the Bible. And in the Christian faith.

She grew and flourished. As a blind girl. Who was a Christian. She had an amazing memory. And an amazing mind. Her landlord. A lady. Helped her memorize large portions of the Bible. So she knew by heart.

As a young girl. Genesis through Deuteronomy. The four Gospels. The Song of Solomon. All of Proverbs. And many songs. At 15 years old. She enrolled in the New York Institute for the Blind. There she learned to play the guitar.

And the piano. She later joined the faculty of the school. And taught English and History. She stayed at the school. Until three days before her wedding. When she married one of the teachers. A blind music teacher.

At the school. Alexander Van Alstine. And their only daughter. Frances. Died as an infant. At eight years old. Fanny began to write poetry. Her first two stanzas at eight. Oh what a happy soul. I am. Although I cannot see.

I am resolved that in this world. Content I will be. How many blessings I enjoy. That other people don't. So to weep and sigh. Because I'm blind. I cannot. And I won't. Eight years old. Her most well known hymns.

All the way my Savior leads me. To God be the glory. Pass me not oh gentle Savior. Praise Him. Praise Him. Jesus our blessed Redeemer. Tell me the story of Jesus. Now pause. When you're not a Christian.

You don't like these hymns. I grew up in a non gospel preaching. Legalistic dead church. On Sunday night. Every Sunday night. We would sing. Tell me the story of Jesus. And I had a wicked heart. I didn't care.

When I'd hear it called out. I'd say please don't tell it to me again. This is so boring. And after I became a Christian. I loved to start singing that one. Tell me the story of Jesus. Right on my heart every word.

Tell me the story most precious. Sweetest that ever was heard. And then she wrote. What a gathering. I think that's in our hymnal. I love this stanza from it. On that bright and golden morning when the Son of Man shall come.

In the radiance of His glory we shall see. Fannie writes it. I'm going to see. In the radiance of His glory we shall see. Then the changing in a moment in the twinkling of an eye. Then forever in His presence we shall be.

What a gathering. One of her greatest. Let's sing it. Blessed assurance. Let's belt it out. And all the people said Amen. I would have loved to have had an hour sitting with her over tea. She would have been like Martha Ravenhill was.

Serious minded. Tender hearted. Sweet, loving, gracious and godly. Fannie Crosby. Alright. Other unknown hymn writers. A few just to whet your appetite. And their marvelous hymns. Helen Lemmel. L-E-M-M-E-L 1864.

I got the dates wrong. Born in England. She immigrated to the U .S. when she was 12 with her family and lived in Wisconsin ultimately. She wrote this hymn. Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will what?

Grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. Only hymn really she's known for but she wrote others. George Bernard. Not George Bernard Shaw but George Bernard. 1873 to 1958. An American born in Ohio wrote The Old Rugged Cross.

It was first sung in a church in Ohio and the church the hymn became so popular D .O. Moody made it widely known and that the church where it was first sang they changed the name of it to The Old Rugged Cross Church.

Quite what like Amazing Grace it's right up there in people knowing it. Charles Gabriel 1856 to 1932 in Iowa born in Iowa lived there he wrote himself over 7 ,000 songs. Charles Gabriel have any of you ever heard of him?

Sarah probably has. She says she's heard of him. Not all those were hymns necessarily but he wrote these I Stand Amazed in the Presence of Jesus the Nazarene His Eye is on the Sparrow and that was popularized in the last 30 years by who?

Ethel Waters. If you've not heard Ethel Waters sing His Eye is on the Sparrow you don't know what you're missing. You can hear her online and then he wrote the hymn Since Jesus Came Into My Heart it was really popularized later but and was treated to be more of a shallow hymn but it's a hymn of union with Christ and the joy of conversion so it's not a bad hymn.

Hymns Born from Martyrdom, Trials, and Revival

Alright here's another one I Will Buy Your Lunch and Dinner and Breakfast if you can get this one written in the 6th century. See I'm playing it safe aren't I? By Dallin Forgale. Forgale an Irish the greatest Irish poet in the first 10 centuries.

His years were 530 to 598 A .D. He was martyred by pirates who came to the island where he lived. He had gone blind and he was the one who wrote Be Thou My Vision O Lord of My Heart. Now that was translated into English a couple of times from Old Irish.

We hear of Old English. We don't hear of Old Irish but it was not like Irish today and in 1905 Mary Byrne translated it first into English. But the version that's in our song books today that's known by all was put into different stanzas by Eleanor Hull in 1912.

Be Thou My Vision wrote by a forgotten Irish poet and martyr. And then this one William Featherstone was a 16 year old Canadian and revival was happening in Canada. He went to his house and he took up pen and paper and he wrote this hymn.

My Jesus I love Thee. I know Thou art mine. For Thee all the follies of sin I resign. William Featherstone was his name. So the lesson in these examples are behind our hymns. There are living people who were triumphing were in times of revival were in times of hardship.

H .G. Spafford's hymn. What's the title Lee? Come on somebody give it to me. It Is Well With My Soul. Sorry to put you on the spot. I couldn't think of it that was written after his daughters had drowned at sea and he had taken a ship to go over and his wife survived.

But on the ship the captain told him about where the other ship went down and he wrote It Is Well With My Soul. And so these marvelous hymns have a story behind them that's amazing. And then this one you ever heard of this one The Doxology written by Thomas Ken who lived 1637 to 1711 he was a Church of England Bishop now the Church of England at the time believed that only scripture should be sung and they considered it sinful and even blasphemous to write new lyrics for church singing.

Well Thomas Ken was one of the first English writers to produce hymns that were not merely psalms set to music and so he was a profoundly gifted preacher as an Anglican Bishop even sought even sought out to be heard by British royalty when he was preaching but his sermons never survived.

The Doxology was actually written for a boys school for the boys Winchester College. He wrote it for the boys to have something simple to sing in private devotions and it became for 300 years the most frequently used English song in public worship.

It was sung at Thomas Ken's funeral at sunrise the day they buried him. So we can just sing it. Sing it acapella. Let's sing it. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures air. Be praise him above he has.

Applying Hymn Singing to Private and Public Worship

In closing let's apply a little bit to our hearts. Number one more and more learn to read hymns on your own. Pray them and sing them privately. As a couple as a family as a bunch of single guys at your house sing hymns more in private in public.

I never will forget. Years ago on a heart cry trip a bunch of us were driving from Romania 10 hours into Ukraine. It was a cold van cold morning and so we had some hymnals with us. We broke them out. We started singing hymns one after another and I remember distinctly the presence of the spirit came in on that time and our hearts were full of joy and singing and men began to praise God.

Some began to cry and we sang hymns a long time. So sing the hymns. Learn the hymns. John Wesley's admonition to the Methodist congregations and the Methodist evangelists. Number one learn the words and tunes.

Now some of us aren't gifted musically. We can't read music but we can learn the tunes get used to them cause it helps in singing the praises of God to not only be familiar with the lyrics the content, the doctrine, the devotion but to be able to follow the tune.

Well learn the words and the tunes John Wesley said. Number two he said this sing all the hymns in the meeting. Now what did he mean by that. He didn't mean sing every hymn you could. He meant every believer in a meeting sing all the hymns that are sung.

Sing them all. Don't lay out in silence. Sing them heartily to the Lord. Don't stand silent thinking or let your mind drift. All believers in the meeting sing all the hymns. He said let not weakness or weariness hinder you.

If that's a cross you have to bear to be able to sing and take up that cross and you will find it becomes a blessing. Make yourself sing. Number three. Sing heartily with good courage. John Wesley said.

Beware of singing. He said as if you were half dead or half asleep guilty. We gotta get a hold of ourselves right. The singing the praises of God. The worship of God is right alongside the ministry of the word of God and both are biblical and both are important.

Your contribution in worship as a sacrifice of praise to God is your singing from the heart. So don't lay out and don't let weakness or weariness hinder you from singing heartily and you'll find that a blessing.

He says. Don't be afraid of your voice. Don't be afraid of your voice being heard and singing his praises. Since you weren't hesitant to sing the songs of drunkards or the devil. So sing to Jesus. Sing for him.

Number four. Sarah will like this one. Sing in time. He meant don't choose the pace personally. Consciously recognize the pace that the pianist and the congregation is singing it and sing in time with the song.

Don't let your voice stand out because you're not following. Number five Wesley says above all sing spiritually. Have your eye toward God and every word you sing aim at pleasing him in your singing. See that your heart is only focused on the truth.

It's being sung and so will you please the Lord. Sing heartily to the Lord and your singing will become a sacrifice of praise for all of us. There's more ground we can be gained if we'll take advantage of using a hymnal using them in our private devotions.

Learn them, sing them to the Lord. They're full of truth they're full of theology they're full of Christian experience. They're full of encouragement to press on the upward way and thus gain new heights every day.

So I will end. Are there any questions anyone has. Well I think there's things being written today that are phenomenally good and that will be lasting. The Gettys Matt Boswell. Some of his. There's others I don't have the memory to remember them all.

But yes absolutely marvelous hymn writers today. You could name some of them that I can't think of right now. But yeah I mean you think of Isaac Watts. There's guys today whether it's Keith Getty or Matt Boswell.

Stuart Talend. Talend. You know who I'm talking about. Phenomenal in Christ alone. And what's one of his other famous ones. Yeah how great the Father's love for us. So those hymns will endure because they're so biblical they're so edifying and now they're so widely known that I think theirs will last the way those men in the past generation wrote them.

It was the same thing the same spirit inspired Watts and Wesley and Newton and others to write hymns for the church because there was a need. And that's what these writers today do. And we should thank God for them.

Isaac Watts. No. And I don't remember if the hymn book addresses I think it was just a general term. I don't know how Watts differentiated that at all. I'm sure maybe in some of his writing could find it.

One more question before we break. That was really pitiful in that hymn book. Yeah. Right. And that happens in a number of hymnals too. Not just that one. The Trinity hymnal is phenomenally better. Grace Hymns John MacArthur's church did is phenomenally better.

And so anyway point. Well taken editorial work is not always the best in hymn books. So. Well I did offer one more question. So is there a question. Or we'll close. Well thank you for your attention. Let's pray.

And we'll be dismissed to get ready for 11 o 'clock. Heavenly Father we do want to thank you with a fresh heart for the heritage of hymns. We thank you for your servants throughout the ages who were led by you and equipped by you to write hymns that have endured.

We're grateful. Thank you shepherd of Israel. Thank you Lord Jesus the head of the church for producing these marvelous glories for us to sing. Help us to take it to heart. Help us to become more of a student of hymns and more of a singer of hymns that we might be blessed.