“O Sacred Head” is a deeply moving devotional hymn about the Passion of Christ. It explores and celebrates the paradox that Jesus’ suffering is both ugly, in its external form, and also beautiful, in its salvific love. The hymn is most fitting to be sung during Lent, Holy Week, the Stations of the Cross, alongside funerals,…
Hymn Guide: God Be Merciful To Me
“God be merciful to me” is a setting of Psalm 51, David’s great hymn of repentance, forgiveness, and faith. More than most hymns and worship songs, it sets forth the stark reality of human sin and turns to God as our only hope for salvation and spiritual renewal. Composed anonymously for the 1912 Psalter, it…
Hymn Guide: Once In Royal David’s City
The moment is magic. A hush descends as the Christmas Eve service is about to begin. And then a single child’s voice breaks the silence, singing: “Once in royal David’s city…” This tradition, first started at King’s College in its annual service of Lessons and Carols, has spread throughout the Anglican world and now to…
Hymn Guide: A Mighty Fortress Is Our God
“A Mighty Fortress” is a defiant hymn of faith in Christ in spite of the world, the flesh, and the Devil. First published in 1529, with lyrics and music by Martin Luther, the hymn quickly became the anthem of the Reformation, reflecting the evangelical appeal to the gospel of Christ even above the church’s authority….
Hymn Guide: All Creatures of our God and King
“All Creatures of our God and King” is a favorite hymn of praise that exhorts all creatures to join in the great Alleluia to God. Based on Saint Francis’ “Canticle of the Sun” written around 1225, it reflects Francis’ core idea that we humans are siblings with all other creatures because God created us all….
Hymn Guide: When I Survey The Wondrous Cross
“When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” is one of the first hymns written in the English language; three hundred years later, it remains one of the finest. Isaac Watts composed and published the text in his groundbreaking 1707 work, Hymns & Spiritual Songs. Because of the emphasis on the cross, it is especially fitting for the…
My Songs Extol Thy Name: Thomas Sternhold and English Psalmody
Thomas Sternhold is the founder of English psalmody and the inventor of the metrical form at the base of English hymnody. Little known except in histories of church music, Sternhold’s contribution is now better understood, thanks to the pioneering work of scholar Beth Quitslund. Sternhold is commemorated on August 23, or at least he would…
Hymn Guide: Tell Out, My Soul
Tell Out, My Soul is an elegant and fun-to-sing paraphrase of Mary’s Song from Luke 1:46-55. Written in 1961 by Anglican Priest Timothy Dudley Smith, the hymn draws its title and opening line from the New English Bible published in the same year. The New English Bible was controversial for its use of contemporary idioms….
Hymn Guide: Be Still My Soul
Little is known about the life of Catharina von Schlegel, the 18th-century German author of “Be Still My Soul.” She was likely never married, which may have appealed to her unmarried translator, the 19th-century English hymn writer Jane Laurie Borthwick. Then there’s another striking similarity: Borthwick’s most famous hymn is “Come Labor On,” which, like…
Hymn Guide: Joyful, Joyful
“Joyful, Joyful” is a hymn so classic that it sometimes feels cliche. Presbyterian clergyman Henry van Dyke wrote the text alongside the Ode to Joy, from the finale of Beethoven’s 9th symphony. But inside this familiar topic, set to a familiar tune, there is unexpected theological substance. It does not treat joy as mere happiness….
