Music for Good Friday

One of the hymns we'll be singing at our Good Friday service, is this wonderful text by Isaac Watts newly set by Henry Owen.

Not all the blood of beasts On Jewish altars slain

Could give the guilty conscience peace Or wash away the stain.
But Christ, the heav’nly Lamb, Takes all our sins away;

A sacrifice of nobler name And richer blood than they.

My faith would lay her hand On that dear head of Thine,

While, like a penitent, I stand, And there confess my sin.
My soul looks back to see The burdens Thou didst bear

When hanging on the cursèd tree, And hopes her guilt was there.

Not all the blood of beasts On Jewish altars slain

Could give the guilty conscience peace Or wash away the stain.
Believing, we rejoice To see the curse remove;

We bless the Lamb with cheerful voice, And sing His bleeding love.

Text: Isaac Watts, 1709; Music: Henry Owen, 2008.
© 2008 Greyfriars Press, Used by Permission.

Redefining the Music of the Church

I recently ran across an article about Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs. Here is an excerpt:

To sing a psalm is not necessarily the equivalent of singing from the book of Psalms. A psalm is a song. The term psalm, like song, can be used in a general or a specific sense. In the general usage it could include hymns, just as there are hymns included in the book of Psalms. A hymn is certainly a song.

In the specific sense, however, a psalm would contrast with a hymn. Similar to what we today call choruses, a psalm, or song, is generally simpler, shorter, more testimonial and less theological than a hymn. A hymn would usually carry a greater sense of history; a psalm, or chorus, would be more personal. The psalm is also more contemporary and has a shorter life span. The spiritual song is even more a song-of-the-moment than a psalm. The spiritual song, which consists of spontaneous melodies and words, inspired by the Holy Spirit and sung around a chord or slowly moving chord progression, has been referred to as the song of angels because of its mystical, other-worldly quality. Even as the Spirit is the believer's down payment of the future age, the spiritual song must be a foretaste of heavenly worship itself.

According to the author, a psalm is more contemporary, personal, simpler, shorter, and with a shorter life-span than hymns. Nowhere in this paradigm does there appear to be a place for the singing of actual Psalms. The book of Psalms tends to be rooted in the work of God through history, covenantal, employing rich imagery and language, theological, and with a sense of permanence—while also being personal and testimonial.

The definition of a spiritual song as spontaneous melody and words seems to have little or no Biblical precedence. It is interesting to note that when people break forth into praise in Scripture, such as Mary with the magnificat in Luke 1, they do so by quoting the Psalms and the prophets. A “new song” is literally a re-singing of the old songs. The idea that spontaneous singing is the “song of the angels because of its mystical, other-worldly quality” denies the actual words of the song mentioned in the book of Revelation sung by the heavenly hosts—which is in fact a re-singing of the Song of Moses (Rev 15). The foretaste of heavenly worship is weekly and corporately coming before the throne of God with all the great historic clouds of witnesses and singing God’s words back to Him—not stirring up mystical emotions in a transitory moment.

The author suggests that “The evangelical church must learn to sing spiritual songs; the charismatic church must rediscover hymns; and the traditional church must begin to sing a new psalm.” I would suggest that we ought to start with a more Biblical definition of terms and practice.

Advent Carol

We Sing to Thee, Immanuel
Text: Paul Gerhardt, 1656; trans by F.E. Cox, 1865
Music: Gregory Wilbur, 2004

We sing to Thee, Immanuel,
The Prince of life, salvation’s Well,
The Plant of Heaven, the Star of morn,
The Lord of Lords, the Virgin-born.
All glory, worship, thanks and praise,
That Thou art come in these our days!
Thou Heavenly Guest expected long,
We hail Thee with a joyful song.

For Thee, since first the world was made,
Men’s hearts have waited, watched and prayed;
Prophets and patriarchs, year by year,
Have longed to see Thy light appear.
O God!⎯they prayed⎯from Sion rise,
And hear Thy captive people’s cries;
At length, O Lord! salvation bring:
Then Jacob shall rejoice and sing.

Now Thou, by whom the world was made,
Art in Thy manger-cradle laid;
Maker of all things great, art small,
Naked Thyself, though clothing all.
Thou, who both heaven and earth dost sway,
In strangers’ inn art fain to stay;
And though Thy power makes angels blest,
Dost seek Thy food from human breast.

Encouraged, thus, our love grows bold
On Thee to lay our steadfast hold;
The cross which Thou didst undergo
Has vanquished death and healed our woe.
Thou art our Head: then, Lord, of Thee,
True, living members we will be;
And, in the strength Thy grace shall give,
Will live as Thou wouldst have us live.

As each short year goes quickly round,
Ou Hallelujahs shall resound;
And, when we reckon years no more,
May we in Heaven Thy Name adore!

Advent Carol

The choir at Parish Presbyterian sang this text as part of our Lessons and Carols service on December 9.

When Jordan hushed his waters still,
And silence slept on Zion’s hill;
When Salem’s shepherds through the night
Watched o’er their flocks by starry light,
Hark! From the midnight hills around,
A voice, of more than mortal sound,
In distant hallelujahs stole,
Wild murmuring o’er the raptured soul.

The swift to ev’ry startled eye,
New beams of glory gild the sky;
Heav’n bursts her azure gates,
to pour Her spirits to the midnight hour.
On wheels of light, on wings of flame,
The glorious hosts to Zion came;
High heav’n with songs of triumph rung,
While thus they smote their harps and sung:

O Zion! Lift thy raptured eye:
The long-expected hour is nigh;
The joys of nature rise again;
The Prince of Salem comes to reign.
See Mercy, from her golden urn,
Pours a rich stream on them that mourn;
Behold, she binds, with tender care,
The bleeding bosom of Despair.

He comes to cheer the trembling heart,
Bid Satan and his host depart;
Again the Daystar gilds the gloom,
Again the bowers of Eden bloom.
O Zion! Lift thy raptured eye:
The long-expected hour is nigh;
The joys of nature rise again;
The Prince of Salem comes to reign.

Text: Thomas Campbell, 1777-1844

Worship Notes 27 April 2007

This Sunday is our fifth, and final Sunday, to sing Jesus Shall Reign (Psalm 72) —our Psalm for the month of April at Parish Pres. Our Psalm for the month of May will be Call Jehovah, Your Salvation (Psalm 91) written in 1822 by James Montgomery and set to an original melody in 1996.

James Montgomery was born in 1771 in Scotland where his father was a pastor in the Moravian Church. At the age of five, the family moved to Ireland, and by the age of seven, James’ parents sent him to York to begin seminary training.

In seminary, Montgomery began to write poetry and planned to write two epics after the style of John Milton. Not called to the ministry, he worked through various apprenticeships until he eventually became the editor of the Sheffield Iris for more than thirty years. Having drifted from the church, Montgomery recommitted himself to Christianity at the age of forty-three, and began to be active in Abolition work, the Bible Society, and various missionary endeavors.

Montgomery turned his poetic gift to writing hymns and metrical Psalms—about 400 published in three volumes. In addition, he started the study of hymn writers, lectured at the Royal Institution, and continued to publish other volumes of his poetry and anti-slavery works.

He never married, and died quietly in his sleep at the age of 83. The people of Sheffield honored him with a public funeral, a statue in the cemetery, and a stained glass window in the parish church. His best known hymns include: Angels from the Realms of Glory, Shepherd of Souls Refresh and Bless (which we sang last week), Stand Up and Bless the Lord, and Hail to the Lord’s Anointed.

Easter Hymns

There are more Easter carols than there are Christmas carols--we just don't know very many of them. John of Damascus (675-749) wrote this Easter hymn, and John Mason Neale translated it from the Greek in 1862:

The day of resurrection! Earth, tell it out abroad;
The Passover of gladness, the Passover of God.
From death to life eternal, from earth unto the sky,
Our Christ hath brought us over, with hymns of victory.

Our hearts be pure from evil, that we may see aright
The Lord in rays eternal of resurrection light;
And listening to His accents, may hear, so calm and plain,
His own “All hail!” and, hearing, may raise the victor strain.

Now let the heavens be joyful! Let earth the song begin!
Let the round world keep triumph, and all that is therein!
Let all things seen and unseen their notes in gladness blend,
For Christ the Lord hath risen, our joy that hath no end.

Worship Notes 16 February 2007

Augustus Toplady (1740-1778) is probably best known for his hymn “Rock of Ages.” Originally a follower of Wesley, in 1758, he adopted Calvinist doctrine. In his early twenties he was ordained an Anglican priest after his studies in London and Dublin. In 1775, he left the Church of England and began to preach at a French Calvinist church in London. A staunch Calvinist, he wrote such books as The Doctrine of Absolute Predestination Stated and Asserted and Historic Proof of the Doctrinal Calvinism of the Church of England. He died of tuberculosis at the age of 38. Banner of Truth has a great short article on Toplady which includes a poem he wrote at the age of 15 about the nature and character of God.

Toplady wrote the following hymn in 1774 which we will sing at Parish Pres on Sunday. It beautifully weaves the themes of substitutionary atonement, imputed sin, imputed righteousness, the need for the Incarnation, and the joy of salvation in Christ.

Fountain of never ceasing grace,
Thy saints’ exhaustless theme,
Great object of immortal praise,
Essentially supreme;
We bless Thee for the glorious fruits
Thine incarnation gives;
The righteousness which grace imputes,
And faith alone receives.

Whom heaven’s angelic host adores,
Was slaughtered for our sin;
The guilt, O Lord was wholly ours,
The punishment was Thine:
Our God in the flesh, to set us free,
Was manifested here;
And meekly bare our sins, that we
His righteousness might wear.

Imputatively guilty then
Our substitute was made,
That we the blessings might obtain
For which His blood was shed:
Himself He offered on the cross,
Our sorrows to remove;
And all He suffered was for us,
And all He did was love.

In Him we have a righteousness,
By God Himself approved;
Our rock, our sure foundation this,
Which never can be moved.
Our ransom by His death He paid,
For all His people giv’n,
The law He perfectly obeyed,
That they might enter Heav’n.

As all, when Adam sinned alone,
In his transgression died,
So by the righteousness of One,
Are sinners justified,
We to Thy merit, gracious Lord,
With humblest joy submit,
Again to Paradise restored,
In Thee alone complete.

Our souls His watchful love retrieves,
Nor lets them go astray,
His righteousness to us He gives,
And takes our sins away:
We claim salvation in His right,
Adopted and forgiv’n,
His merit is our robe of light,
His death the gate of Heav’n.

Water into Wine

Yesterday at Parish Pres, the service focused on the wedding feast at Cana and the broader application of the joy and festivity that should abound in the New Covenant. I was thrilled to find this hymn by Charles Spurgeon (1866) that I set to a new arrangement of a 16th c. German melody.


Amidst us our Belovèd stands,

And bids us view His piercèd hands;

Points to the wounded feet and side,

Blest emblems of the Crucified.

What food luxurious loads the board,

When at His table sits the Lord!

The wine how rich, the bread how sweet,

When Jesus deigns the guests to meet!

If now, with eyes defiled and dim,

We see the signs, but see not Him;

O may His love the scales displace,

And bid us see Him face to face!

Our former transports we recount,

When with Him in the holy mount,

These cause our souls to thirst anew,

His marred but lovely face to view.

Thou glorious Bridegroom of our hearts,

Thy present smile a heav’n imparts!

Oh lift the veil, if veil there be,

Let every saint Thy beauties see!

The King Shall Come

Tomorrow at Parish Pres we’ll be singing the following hymn translated from the Greek. It’s a wonderful text that captures all of the essence of this season: from the first to the second advent, the anticipation of the Lord’s coming, the images of light, glory, triumph over sin, and the revealing of Christ. My favorite tune for this text is “Morning Song” from Kentucky Harmony.

The King shall come when morning dawns,
And light triumphant breaks;
When beauty gilds the eastern hills,
And life to joy awakes.

Not as of old a little child
To bear, and fight, and die,
But crowned with glory like the sun
That lights the morning sky.

O brighter than the rising morn
When He, victorious, rose,
And left the lonesome place of death,
Despite the rage of foes.

O brighter than that glorious morn
Shall this fair morning be,
When Christ, our King, in beauty comes,
And we His face shall see.

The King shall come when morning dawns,
And earth’s dark night is past;
O haste the rising of that morn,
The day that aye shall last.

And let the endless bliss begin,
By weary saints foretold,
When right shall triumph over wrong,
And truth shall be extolled.

The King shall come when morning dawns,
And light and beauty brings:
Hail, Christ the Lord! Thy people pray,
Come quickly, King of kings.

Whate're My God Ordains

Since I'm re-posting blogs, I was reminded of what a wonderful hymn text this is for the New Year:

On Sunday, 22 May 2005, I had the great privilege of leading the graduation ceremony for two of my students. Following is a portion of the charge that I gave them:


Over the past several months, one hymn has recurred in my thoughts—Whate’er My God Ordains is Right—a 17th century German chorale. In God’s good providence I was reminded of this hymn before the storms of life gathered, and, as such, it provided a great source of comfort and strength. I shared this text with my class several months ago, but it is worth the repetition. As such, I offer this hymn to you as my charge:

Whate’er my God ordains is right: His holy will abideth;
I will be still whate’er He doth; And follow where He guideth;
He is my God; though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall: Wherefore to Him I leave it all.

Whate’er my God ordains is right: He never will deceive me;
He leads me by the proper path: I know He will not leave me.
I take, content, what He hath sent;
His hand can turn my griefs away, And patiently I wait His day.

As we have looked at history these previous two years, studying ancient and modern times, what a comfort it is to know that God has ordained the future as well as the past. His holy will abideth in all things, and no matter how dark the road before us, his holy will is good and for our good.

I know no other way to make sense of history than to understand it as His story: he has set the stage, prepared the actors, and written the script. All attempts to view history from other perspectives fail in their ability to explain events and ultimately lead to hopelessness. Our great hope lies in the fact that God holds history in his hand, that He is good--all of the time, and that we may follow where He guides. He indeed holds us that we shall not fall. Ultimately it is not up to us but to leave it all to Him.

As you see the trouble around you, as you fear for the future and question the stability of the world situation, know that God is in control. As you see the Church struggle to be the Church and neighbors fail to live in community, know that this life is not hopeless. Such a knowledge influences the way that you will live your life. You are called by God to subdue the earth and to take dominion over it. In everything that God has called you to do--washing dishes, mowing the grass, rearing children, learning--do it all for His glory and with a view of spreading his kingdom throughout the earth. Extend the Garden of Eden in your sphere of influence. Do not fall victim to the secular dichotomy between the spiritual and the physical. All of life is spiritual.

As Martin Luther once wrote, if I knew the Lord was returning tomorrow, I would plant a tree today. A proper understanding of God’s providential hand--not only in history but in our own lives--enables you to live your daily life in hope, not fear, and in purpose, not despair.

Whate’er my God ordains is right: His loving thought attends me;
No poison can be in the cup That my Physician sends me.
My God is true; each morn anew
I’ll trust His grace unending, My life to Him commending.

Whate’er my God ordains is right: He is my Friend and Father;
He suffers naught to do me harm, Though many storms may gather,
Now I may know both joy and woe,
Some day I shall see clearly That He hath loved me dearly.

Whate’er my God ordains is right: Though now this cup, in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart, I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew
Sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart, And pain and sorrow shall depart.

As we face the “whys” of life--pain, sorrow, and death--we should just as quickly ask about the other “whys” of life--why is there health and joy and the promise of new life? Make no mistake, there will be storms in this life⎯and we have faced some of those even this past year. But rejoice in His grace unending, the newness of each morning, and the assurance that He loves you dearly--no matter what the circumstances may be. This is where we rest securely in Romans 8:28, that all things work together for good for those who love God and are called according to his purpose. Indeed, the cup that he causes us to drink may at the time seem bitter, but the sweet comfort of His good purpose shall cause the departure of pain and sorrow.

In addition, we know that he chastens and disciplines those he loves as a father does the son in whom he delights. Once again, we rest in the arms of his mercy and grace.

Whate’er my God ordains is right: Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine, Yet I am not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall: And so to Him I leave it all.

In the words of Job, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away; Blessed be the name of the Lord.” And later Job says, “Why should I put my life in my own hand? Though God slay me, yet I will hope in him.” Indeed, we are not forsaken and our Father’s care does encompass round about us. Even in the valley of the shadow of death, His right hand holds us fast.

I consider it to be one of the great blessings of my life to have spent the last two years with you on a path of learning and to also share that journey with your families. I feel like I am the beneficiary of our discipling relationship, for you two have taught me so much. In God’s good providence we have walked together and shared life, and we will continue to do so in the future.

God is good, and he has blessed our time together. I commend you to His faithfulness, His love, and His great goodness that no matter the circumstances of the coming years, you are not forsaken and you shall not fall. His good providences and hard providences serve to remind us of His sustaining grace and provide the framework through which to live our lives to His glory.