****My Job Description in a 34 word alliterated sentence

My Solemn Service is to Select Suitable pSalms, Spiritual Songs, and other aSSorted, Scripturally Sound Sacred Strains that Support the Shepherd's Sermons, for the Singing Saints in their Sycophancy of the Sovereign Savior on Sundays.

That's it; that's my job description.

I’m not skilled or trained in the mechanics of choral directing.  This ministry has fallen on me, not because I can; but only because I was available and willing when there was no one else to do it.  So on Sundays, I simply stand in front of the congregation, announce the song selections, and then we sing together.

But that’s really the easy part.  Selecting the music each week takes much more time and effort. On Mondays, I receive the scripture reference and outline of my pastor's sermon for the next Sunday. After I read the text and his outline, I attempt to identify keywords or teachings and then I search through the hymnbook to find appropriate music that supports and augments his message.  

If the church has a biblical mandate with clear instructions from God about what we are to do in our worship services(which it has) then, certainly, those instructions must also apply to what we do with our music. 

What instructions do we get for assembling ourselves together?  We come together primarily to be built up in the faith and equipped to do the work of the ministry.  And that comes by way of hearing the Word of God through the vehicle of preaching and teaching.  So then music, being an integral part of our worship service, is not to be performed for our enjoyment or our entertainment.

The use of music in worship was instituted and is ordained by God and He has given much instruction in His Word regarding its use.  Among other things, music should glorify God, edify (or build up) God’s people in the faith, and point others to Christ.  (Hmmm, seems like those objectives are pretty much the same as those given for the ministry of pastor/teacher.)  The Apostle Paul gives this instruction on how the church should conduct itself in wisdom; “Speaking to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord; always giving thanks for all things in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ to God, even the Father…”Ephesians 5:19-20

The first interesting thing to note is that he tells us that we are to “speak to each other” with our music.  That implies that there is something important and substantial to communicate to each other and we do that with words.  The words are important.  Words mean things.  So, just like the words from the mouth of the preacher, the words we sing and hear in our music are important in our worship. 

The Apostle then goes on to identify three kinds of music that we must use in our worship.  It is not our prerogative to insist that we only like hymns or that we will only use contemporary “praise and worship” choruses.  We have God’s written word of instruction; we are to speak to each other with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs.

Psalms are the actual words of scripture set to music.  With psalms, God is glorified with His own words sung back to Him; words that speak of His character and nature and all His superlative attributes.  And His words are higher and greater than the very best we could ever compose ourselves so they are the highest and greatest compositions that we can set to music that will focus our attention on Him for His glory. 

Then there are hymns which, by definition, are songs composed by men and primarily used to praise God.  One of the secondary benefits of the use of hymns is that much of our doctrine is written into poetic texts.  That’s a good thing if the doctrine is correct.  But there is a lot of false doctrine in Christian music too, and that is where pastors/shepherds need to be on guard so that the flock is not deceived.  But when the doctrine is correct, much of what we know and believe about our faith can be learned through our music.

Spiritual songs are what we usually think of as choruses and songs that speak of our personal relationship to Christ.  Spiritual songs contain elements of personal testimony as we share, through music, who Jesus is and what He has done for us.

Therein are the elements.  With psalms we glorify God; with hymns, we build each other up in the faith, and with spiritual songs, we point others to Christ.

Someone has said, "If the music doesn't preach to you, then there is no sense in having it."

Serve the LORD with gladness; Come before His presence with singing.
Psalm 100:2

****CHILDREN'S HYMNS

In his book, “Confronting Contemporary Christian Music,” Dr. H. T. Spence warns, “If we teach our children only by choruses without giving equal weight to the strong, meaty hymns of the faith, we may be spiritually damaging their generation.” 

Much of what we believe is either taught or supported by the songs we sing.  So, it is important that we teach and sing songs that contain correct doctrine. 

What would you think if, one Sunday morning, your music pastor or worship leader had selected only children’s songs for the entire service?

Well, that’s what I did for our church today and you might be surprised at the content.  All these hymns were originally written for children.  But there is nothing here, that resembles what we have come to expect from modern children’s music.  When we teach songs like “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam,” we not only fill our children’s heads with nonsense, we imply that they are too immature for the worship service and should be in Children’s Church where they will be taught at their own level.

Here are the brief introductory statements for the six children’s hymns that are God-centered and rich in doctrinal truth.

STAND UP AND BLESS THE LORD

James Montgomery was the Christian journalist who was imprisoned, twice, in the Castle of York, for speaking out against the oppressive government in England in the late 1700s.

In 1824, he wrote this children’s hymn for the anniversary celebration of the Red Hill Wesleyan Sunday School.

The text was based on Neh. 9:5: “Stand up and bless the Lord your God for ever and ever: and blessed be thy glorious name, which is exalted above all blessing and praise.”

STAND UP AND BLESS THE LORD is a call for God’s people to stand with courage and to boldly speak up and proclaim our faith regardless of the political climate. 

  

I SING THE MIGHTY POWER OF GOD

Isaac Watts wrote over 600 hymns.  He is known as the Father of Modern Hymnody and, like most writers of children’s hymns in earlier generations, he wrote good, substantive, and doctrinally sound words that accomplish what, I believe, Paul intended when he instructed the Church to, “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.”  Col. 3:16

One of his favorite projects was a collection of songs that he wrote and compiled all together in a hymnbook just for kids.  I SING THE MIGHTY POWER OF GOD, is the most famous of all his children’s hymns and it is one of the greatest hymns of our faith.

NOW THANK WE ALL OUR GOD

Is it possible to be thankful during extremely hard times?  Martin Rinkart was. He was the German pastor who led his community through the Thirty Years War in the 1600s, and then through a great plague, and then through another invasion where the governors impose unbearable taxation on the people.  In one year, nearly 8000 of his parishioners died.

Yet his spirit was never broken.  In the middle of those terrible times of calamities and incredible losses, he wrote a table grace for his own unclothed and undernourished children to use while praising God for all His blessings. 

NOW THANK WE ALL, OUR GOD has become one of our most loved Thanksgiving hymns.

MAY THE MIND OF CHRIST, MY SAVIOR

This children’s song was written by Kate Wilkinson after meditating on Phil. 2:5. "Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus."

To have the mind of Christ is to think His thoughts; to keep His commands; to do His will; to submit to His authority.  The song is a prayer that asks God to help us add these various aspects of the will of Christ to our lives.

There are six stanzas that were intended as daily devotional reminders; one for each day of the week leading up to Sunday.

SAVIOR, LIKE A SHEPHERD, LEAD US

We don’t know, for sure, who wrote the words to this hymn but it has been attributed to Dorothy Thrupp. 

It was originally written for children and it first appeared in a children’s hymnal that she compiled in 1836.

In some ways, it is reminiscent of Psalm 23.  SAVIOR, LIKE A SHEPHERD, LEAD US reveals how needy and dependent we are on our Good Shepherd. 

He loves us, He receives us, He cares for us, He leads us, and He protects us.

ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA!  GIVE THANKS TO THE RISEN LORD

This children’s praise song has a simple, easy to sing, melody.   It was intended to be sung responsively, by an adult on each of the five stanzas and by the children on the chorus.

In all its simplicity, ALLELUIA, ALLELUIA!  GIVE THANKS TO THE RISEN LORD, is a profound proclamation of the Gospel.  In just a few short lines, it proclaims that Jesus is Lord; He is the King of all creation.  He died on the cross for our sins; we were raised together with Him in newness of life as He rose, triumphantly, from the grave.  He is our Savior.  And He is worthy of our thanks and our praise.

****NO ONE EVER CARED FOR ME LIKE JESUS

(1 Peter 5:6)  “Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time:  Casting all your care upon Him; for He cares for you.”

There isn’t much background information available about this song but, almost every resource relates this same sad and disturbing story. 

 

Charles Frederick Weigle, a friend of Billy Sunday’s, was a poor itinerant evangelist.  He was often on the road preaching wherever he had an opportunity but his wife was not a willing accomplice.  She did not share his enthusiasm for the ministry.

 

During one of his preaching missions, his wife left him.  She took their young daughter and moved to a distant city where she thought she might find a more glamorous and exciting life.  When he returned home, he found this heartbreaking note:

“Charlie, I’ve been a fool. I’ve done without a lot of things long enough. From here on out, I’m getting all I can of what the world owes me. I know you’ll continue to be a fool for Jesus, but for me it’s goodbye!”

It was the worst time of his life; he was alone and suicidal.  He thought his work was finished and no one would care whether he was dead or alive.

In his desperation, his thoughts turned to God and he began to pray.  He begged God to forgive him and to assure him of his faith.  Then, after a long retreat, he returned to the work of the ministry.  About his heartbreaking experience he said, “A mantel of grief covered me, but God’s grace sustained me.”

About five years later, his wife was dying.  She said to someone who was at her bedside, “I wish I had my life to live over.”   She asked her daughter to look for her father and ask him to pray for her.  But it was too late.  She died before Charles could be found.

Once again, Charles sought the comfort of the Lord.  And that’s when he wrote NO ONE EVER CARED FOR ME LIKE JESUS.

The hymn is not especially deep or scholarly.  It is just the personal testimony of a man who seemed to have lost everything and had no other place to turn except to his Lord. 

****NEAR TO THE HEART OF GOD

Park University in Parkview, Missouri, was originally founded as Park College, a Presbyterian school in the late nineteenth century.  Its founder and first President was John Armstrong McAfee. He had five sons and a daughter who were eventually all involved in the work of the college.

When John died in 1890, his son Lowell served as president for 23 years. 

During that time, one of Lowell’s brothers, Dr. Cleland Boyd McAfee, served as the college chaplain and music director.  He often preached and directed the choir in the school’s weekly church services.

It was his custom to write an original hymn based on the theme of his message for every Communion Sunday.  That was an ambitious undertaking that must have produced many songs but MacAfee is known for only one published hymn.

In 1903, just one week before a Communion service, tragedy struck his family.  Two of his infant nieces succumbed to diphtheria. They died within 24 hours of each other.

Their home was quarantined to prevent the spread of the terrifying disease.   Relatives and friends from the school and church were unable to go inside to express their condolences, and the family was not permitted to leave the house to attend the funeral services.

Cleland MacAfee’s daughter recorded, “My father often told us how he sat long and late, (that week) thinking of what could be said in word and song on the coming Sunday.... So, he wrote (this) little song. The choir learned it at their regular Saturday night rehearsal, and afterward, they went to Howard McAfee’s home and sang it as they stood under the sky outside the darkened, quarantined house.  (NEAR TO THE HEART OF GOD) was sung again on Sunday morning at the communion service.”