Hymns

I never did like hymns. I don't know why. Growing up in Baptist churches with fairly small congregations, hymns were oftentimes sung and were revered by many of the parishioners -- but not me.

It's possible that it was just part of my childhood rebellion. There were periods of time where I would literally refuse to stand up during worship, let alone sing; and much less, sing a hymn! "Hymns are for old people," I'm sure I remarked. "They're boring and stupid," I must have said at least once. And all these years later, I finally get it. I finally understand why so many people loved - and still love - hymns.

Perhaps this isn't some scientific fact, but in my personal observations I've noticed that those who truly love hymns are typically those who have a steady walk with God and spend a lot of time reading the Bible, praying, worshiping, serving in the community, and using their gifts. You'll probably also notice that hymn-lovers are close to Jesus, and their Christianity is not abstract. 

The hymn that started it all for me was "Nearer, My God, to Thee" -- and yes, I fell in love with it because of a little film called Titanic. (Here's a link to the film version.) Having cognitively heard it for the first time as an instrumental, I was completely unaware of the lyrics and knew only the beautiful strings rendition by I Salonisti. The first time I watched Titanic was winter break 2009, believe it or not. By that time I had already gotten to know God a little bit, but I was still so far away from where I now stand. But that movie was an open door.

Two years later (last autumn) I began violin lessons. God blessed me and allowed me to progress quickly. One day I had an idea -- I remembered that my dad had an old Baptist Hymnal around somewhere. And maybe, just maybe, the first hymn that I ever loved, "Nearer, My God, To Thee", would be in there! So I finally found the hymnal and sure enough, hymn 333 was it.

Every time I played it, I fell in love just a little bit more. Finally, without even trying, I had the whole thing memorized (not that it's super long, though) and I now use it as the opener for most every time that I practice. It brings glory to God and thus joy to me. One day I finally decided to read the lyrics. They're simple, but powerful. One thing led to another and soon I was playing "Nothing But the Blood", "Jesus Paid It All" (which many of us know thanks to modern renditions), "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross", "Sweet Hour of Prayer", "Sweet Sweet Spirit" .... and the list goes on.

There is something so holy and majestic about hymns. Hymns seem to have something that many contemporary worship songs simply miss. They seem to possess the forgotten virtue of honesty. In a "big" church's Sunday morning worship, we may sing lyrics such as "I believe You're my healer"* but yet not believe that God actually heals. We may sing "I'm running to Your arms" but yet never go to God with anything. It is my personal belief that the hymn invites its singers to examine their hearts and actually earnestly mean what they're singing.

I've recently been blessed so greatly by hymns. I would most definitely recommend you pick up a hymnal (with sheet music, so you can sing along!) and start inviting the Holy Spirit into your hymn time. You won't regret it.

*There is quite a bit of controversy surrounding Hillsong's "Healer": the man who wrote the song claimed to be dying of cancer when in fact he was not; see this article for more info. (Yes, I know it's Wikipedia, but the information presented in this specific article is accurate.) Although the song was written based upon a horrid lie, it is a good worship song nonetheless.