The Hymns We Sing

picture from churtart.com 

We all have a favorite hymn or three. I would venture to say most of us don’t think about the theological significance of the hymns we sing. Even as a pastor, I don’t always think about all the words and what the implicitly or explicitly say when I pick hymns for Sunday morning worship. “Does the congregation know this one?” is often the first and last thought when picking most hymns. I wish it weren’t that way but it is what it is, I guess.

There is such a great depth of wisdom and soul in hymns that is often overlooked especially when the hymn becomes so familiar that we sing it without thinking about the words.  Several years ago I was given a book entitled 101 Hymn Stories, as you can guess it has stories about 101 different hymns. These stories tell of the deep heartaches, overflowing blessings, and profound understanding of God in the author’s life. It is interesting to me that out of one person’s most unfathomable grief or abundant joy can come some of the most profound and heartfelt words and thoughts. 

One of the stories that caught my attention in this book is about the hymn It Is Well With My Soul (a personal favorite of mine). The author Horatio Spafford wrote the text to this beautiful hymn in 1873. He had planned a European trip for himself and his family (wife and 4 daughters) after the death of his son, the Chicago fire of 1871, and other life changing events. When the time came to leave he was delayed but sent his wife and daughters on ahead of him. Their ship was struck and sank at sea. He received word that only his wife had survived. As he made his way to be with his wife, it is thought that when his ship passed near where it is thought his daughters had drowned he wrote the words to It Is Well With My Soul

When peace, like a river, attendeth my way,

When sorrows like sea billows roll;

Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Refrain:

It is well, with my soul,

It is well, it is well, with my soul.

Tho Satan should buffet, tho trials should come,

Let this blest assurance control,

That Christ has regarded my helpless estate,

And hath shed His own blood for my soul.

Refrain

My sin, oh, the bliss of this glorious thought!

My sin, not in part but the whole,

Is nailed to the cross, and I bear it no more,

Praise the Lord, praise the Lord, O my soul!

Refrain

And Lord, haste the day when my faith shall be sight,

The clouds be rolled back as a scroll;

The trump shall resound, and the Lord shall descend,

Even so, it is well with my soul.

Refrain

Out of the depth of his pain without an explicit “theological” thought, I would imagine, he wrote words that touch the heart of countless people who are struggling and suffering as he did. He wrote these words out of his own understanding of scripture and who God was for him in that moment.

When we can express our deepest understanding of who God is in our lives, we have become theologians in our own right. The hymns we sing are manifestations of God among us. When we sing or speak the words of those who have gone before us, we are echoing the words that are stronger than any doctrine or creed. The hymns we sing can help us explore deeper who we are as children of God, if we let the words take us to the heart of our deepest longing- to be connected to God, “whatever our lot”.

May it be well with your soul today! Now, go sing your favorite hymn (at the top of your lungs)!

______

Osbeck, Kenneth. 101 Hymn Stories. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1979. Pg126-127.

Spafford, Horatio. It Is Well With My Soul. Copyright, Public Domain.