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“What are your favorite hymns?” The woman spoke softly as she approached me after church. I was the substitute pianist, and her question was a musical ice breaker.
“Like A River Glorious”, “Be Thou My Vision”, “Holy, Holy, Holy”, and “In Christ Alone.” “What are yours?” I asked in return. She shifted from foot to foot and finally said, “There are so many I don’t have a favorite.” With my older friends I frequently ask this question because I know there is a story, and I want to know if I am to play at his/her memorial service.
Why did those hymns immediately come to mind in answer to her question? Was there a connection to my walk with Jesus?
In the 1980s an SMU student came to faith, loving music but knowing nothing about hymnology. He called, asking if he could come to my house and go through the hymnal. As we turned page after page (particularly in the gospel section) I looked at him saying, “Mike, don’t you just love this one? I remember singing this as a child?” I first thought he feared disagreeing with this older woman; but finally, he said, “I have never heard of any these. I didn’t go to church and all this is new to me. I am having a difficult time following the music and understanding some of the lyrics.” That opened my eyes!
When the Jesus Movement began in the late 1960s one of the earliest outgrowths was Jesus Music. Musicians came to Christ and brought their instrumentation, vocal arrangements, and styles with them. They shook up the church with their Christian Rocker’s Creed: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all music was created equal—that no instrument or style of music is in itself evil—that the diversity of musical expression which flows forth from man is but one evidence of the boundless creativity of our Heavenly Father.” (CCM: Top 100 Songs in Christian Music, 2004, xvii.) Imagine a hand grenade thrown into the choir loft!
The hippies tripping on LSD began the journey of following Jesus but disconnected from the traditional church. They came late to avoid hearing the old-time cadences of “I love to tell the story”, yet they were the most aggressive evangelists in a generation or two! Their new music became foundational for their faith chronicle. Larry Norman’s statement, “Why should the devil have all the good music?”, ignited a fire storm; but today’s boomers still resonate with the music that played when they first heard about the Savior.
Music is a form of time travel.
Can’t you hear a song and immediately remember a place, a relationship, even the taste of a favorite food? When I was in college and falling in love I ate with my man day after day, ordering a tuna fish sandwich. During that spring the Righteous Brothers sang plaintively “You’ve Lost That Lovin’ Feeling” or “Unchained Melody”. Because they were top 40 hits, they played repeatedly on the corner juke box. To this day I cannot take a bite of a tuna salad sandwich without hearing the far away strains of the Righteous Brothers. Christian music is not unlike that experience.
What hymns gave strength?
What praise songs expressed joy?
What choir anthems reminded you of God’s greatness?
I can sing “Wherever He Leads I’ll Go” and immediately travel back to decision points. They may not taste like tuna fish, but they are just as real.
A beautiful woman sat next to me in the choir at Northwest Bible Church. The doctors discovered a serious ailment in her throat requiring surgery: “You may never sing again, and possibly not speak.” As they rolled her into the surgical suite she sang “The Majesty and Glory of Your Name”. She told me, “Brenda, if I never speak again I want that music to be the last thing I utter here on earth.” I cannot hear that without thinking of her. She came through successfully and still sings.
How would you answer the question: “What are your favorite hymns, or praise songs, anthems, musical meditations? Why do you give this answer?” I am confident your life events are entwined. Where does music open your mind and heart to the Almighty? What reminds you of who He is? Sing that song. Sing it so others can hear how great is our God!
I am sure there were (are) moments in which Christian music brought you through darkness, gave you words of worship you didn’t have, or allowed you to sing along with your children. Those of us in our 70s can still dance around singing “I am a promise with a capital ‘P’!”, as the Gaithers taught our little ones. Or, how about the gestures to “My God is so big, so strong, and so mighty, there’s nothing my God cannot do!”
During my 18 months of separation and then divorce, I walked every morning. I sang the same hymns and praise songs at the same places on the street. It was like the museum tours which are triggered by foot pressure in front of the paintings. I knew exactly where I was by the music. It was a melodic catechism reinforcing the goodness, the sovereignty, and the protection of our great God. The music was a connection between my spirit and the Father.
Martin Luther believed in the power of music. And by the way, he wrote both the lyrics and melody to “Ein feste Burg ist unser Gott” (A Mighty Fortress is our God). It was not a drinking song he appropriated, according to some sources. One of Luther’s expressions about music beautifully captures this nexus:
“Next to the Word of God, music deserves the highest praise. She is mistress and governess of those human emotions…which as masters govern men or more often overwhelm them…For whether you wish to comfort the sad, to terrify the happy, to encourage the despairing, to humble the proud, to calm the passionate, or to appease those full of hate…what more effective means than music could you find?”
—Martin Luther, “Preface to Georg Rhau’s Symphoniae iucundae,” in Luther’s Works, vol. 53, p. 323.
Our walk with Jesus through the grace of God and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit can be memorialized through music. Spanning the decades and listening to the music is like thumbing through a picture album, evoking strong sensations of a spiritual journey. The melody of grace is the soundtrack of our lives.
We stand on solid ground when we recognize the tie between faith and music.
Scripture is replete with examples and exhortations. Jehoshaphat readied to face an imposing enemy, led by the musicians (2 Chronicles 20:21). David soothed the troubled soul of Saul as he strummed and sang. Paul instructed the Ephesians to speak to one another in “psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Ephesians 5:19, NASB). Psalm 33:3 (NASB) has great meaning for me when I play the piano: Play skillfully with a shout of joy. I remember that it isn’t an either/or, but a both/and!
All creation sings of our great God. The story is from everlasting; the words speak of His infinite awesomeness. Let’s amen Martin Luther, taking the Bible in one hand and the hymnal in the other. Let’s sing that new song He puts in our mouth—the song of salvation, sanctification, and one day glorification!
Brenda Smith
Brenda A. Smith lives in the Piney Woods of East Texas. Her work as President of the Breakfast With Fred Leadership Institute creates opportunities for Christians to “stretch and bless the next generation of leaders…to the glory of God.” She is currently a Womenary board member and a Womenary student since 2012. Observing God’s life lessons in the everyday gives her a love for illustrations which bring His truths home. Her colorful seasons of life: marriage, mothering, divorce, business, caregiving for parents, and non-profit leadership. Music, reading, writing, and most of all – family(including 9 grandchildren) are sources of joy. Encouraging women to truly see His sovereign hand even in the darkest days and trusting in His goodness is her heartbeat. 
