Just so you know, Hymn Nerds are occasionally known to get carried away when sharing hymns. You may feel that that’s exactly what happened here today. But don’t let my enthusiasm stop you from picking at least a hymn or two to spend a little time with. You’ll find some interesting stories about these hymns and a variety of music styles, but what I enjoy the most is that a two-fold story unfolds with each hymn—a look at God and our response to him. I pray you will be blessed by spending even a few minutes with this sampling of Christian hymns through the ages.

We start with a hymn from the Odes of Solomon, a group of songs dating back to the second century and discovered in 1909 by the English Scholar J. Rendel Harris. They were translated into English by James H. Charlesworth. In 2010 composer John Schreiner released a two-disc album called The Odes Project, put to tunes written and sung by modern musicians. Ode 37, called I Stretched Out My Hands, features Fernando Ortega.

You can read a short description of the Odes here, or a longer version by James H. Charlesworth himself here.

 

A hymn you may have heard at Christmas is Of the Father’s Love Begotten by Marcus Aurelius Clemens Prudentius, 348-413 AD. You’ll find the lyrics here, which is also where I found this interesting story about the hymn. In the early fourth century, one of the greatest controversies in the church came to a breaking point, and the Emperor Constantine called together the First Council of Nicea to establish once and for all the Church’s official stance on the nature of the Trinity. The council condemned the teaching of Arius, who believed that Jesus was not of the same nature as God the Father. The Nicene Creed was thus written as a statement of faith that God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit are all of the same nature, three and yet one. Prudentius’ hymn, “Of the Father’s Love Begotten,” addresses this belief in the Trinity in the very first line. It is very clear from his text that Christ is both human and divine, and rather than simply being made by God, he was “begotten” of the very same substance. As we sing this hymn, we both affirm and align our faith with the broader faith of the Church, and we deny any belief that says that Christ is not fully divine. This hymn, so often associated with Christmas, is thus a hymn of proclamation, calling us to sing out our faith – “every voice in concert ring, evermore and evermore!”

 

Be Thou My Vision is another old song that is sung today. Or is it? This post, written by “Pastor Steven” of Bayview Bible Church in Bayview, ID gives us the story behind this hymn and its complicated history.

 

We jump to 1738 to one of the more than 6000 hymns of Charles Wesley. You may remember that Charles (the hymn writer) was the brother of John Wesley (the preacher).I love the lyrics of And Can It Be? which Wesley wrote upon his conversion to Christ. Although he knew the Bible well, he was trying to serve the Lord in his own strength. What a transformation his conversion must have been for it to cause him to pen such a powerful hymn, boldly celebrating God’s work of redemption and freedom in Christ that he had come to know.

I like this rendition of And Can It Be? because of the wide age range and the international feeling of the singers, the sense I get that they are singing their own story, and the powerful organ and horns. Is this your story too?

 

I’m including one more hymn, Before the Throne of God Above, written in 1863 by Charitie Lees Bancroft. I first heard it sung by Kristyn Getty and assumed it was a modern hymn that she and her husband Keith had written, but I was mistaken. It turns out that for its first century or so it wasn’t a very popular song because it didn’t have a strong tune. In 1997, however, Vikki Cook of Sovereign Grace adapted some of the lyrics and gave it a wonderful new tune. I enjoyed this story behind the hymn on the Christian Music Today website. Shane and Shane have made an addition to Vikki Cook’s update with a Hallelujah section. You can hear them sing this modern-old hymn below.