10/18/59

Scripture: Psalm 100

Text: Psalm 100: “Make a joyful noise to the Lord, all the lands!”

For the past 4-5 years, a committee appointed by our Pilgrim Press has been at work, in regular and frequent intervals, to bring out a new Pilgrim Hymnal. At first, it was assumed that this would be a revision of the 1931 edition of the Pilgrim Hymnal. But it soon became apparent that recent developments in church life, in hymnody, in world history, made it necessary to plan the work in larger terms.

Late in 1958, announcement was made that the new hymnals would soon be ready. But it was not until early this year that Pilgrim Press was in position to receive our orders. Meanwhile the Women’s Fellowship of our church had made “new hymnals” a major project for its 1958 fund-raising activity. So money was on hand, when it became possible to order the new books. In may, after a sample copy had been received, and examined, and approved by the music committee, our order for 250 of the new Pilgrim Hymnals was placed. Late in June, the order was filled and the hymnals awaited only the resumption of our own services after the summer time, for an appropriate time to dedicate them and inaugurate their use.

Last week, a committee of the Women’s Fellowship carefully opened each book, smoothing back the pages, just as a library book is prepared, and inserting copies of our own church covenant. And so, today, we have them for use.

Today we sing hymns that are fairly familiar ones. The choir uses hymns -- some familiar and some new -- as an anthem in the second service. The organist uses hymn tunes as prelude, offertory and postlude. And the choir responses come, also, from the new Pilgrim Hymnal.

This new book contains songs which link it with the 300-year old Bay Psalm Book -- the first book ever printed in North America, published in 1640. The Pilgrim Hymnal is offered for use particularly in the Congregational Christian churches. It is not, in any cooperative sense, a hymnal of the emerging United Church of Christ, since it was begun while the steps toward merger were still in early, not-yet-decisive stages.

You will see that this new Pilgrim Hymnal contains 496 hymns plus nearly a hundred more pieces of service music. There are nearly 60 pages of verbal worship aids, including 48 Psalter readings and 28 unison readings. The Psalter readings are all from the book of Psalms, which were the hymns of the church in Jesus’ time. A dozen of the unison readings are from the New Testament, the others being taken from the Old Testament.

The hymn book has a central place in the worship of the church. Psalms were the hymns of the church before the time of Jesus Christ, and after his appearance as well. And the Psalmist invites us to “sing to the Lord a new song.” The New Testament writer, St. Paul, urges the churches to praise God “in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.” [Ephesians 5: 19]. The Reformation began in a burst of congregational singing. This is one way in which the people of each congregation take active and significant part in the services of worship.

Our hymn book, therefore, has a great deal to do with the character of our worship. This hymnal is made up of hymns that are not “cheap” and “temporary.” It has been the effort of the hymnal committee to choose hymns that are enduring in value. Some are long-known favorites of many people. Some are new enough to many of us to provide an interesting venture in learning.

If we explore the contents of this hymnal with expectant, open mind, we shall grow in wisdom and ability, like the students of any course who set their minds and hearts on learning. The resources of a book like this are well-nigh inexhaustible!

We shall take joy in the hymns which we already know and sing with familiarity. And we may also find great joy in exploring the new. I feel sure that we will not need to be apologetic to ourselves, our friends, or our children, concerning the quality of these hymns. They include a great variety of excellent tunes, carefully chosen texts, and useful responses.

In high school and college choirs, our young folk are becoming acquainted with great sacred choral literature. Therefore it is essential that we use hymns of excellent quality in our churches, from which those students come, and to which they may return. The church can ill afford to let the music in its services be inferior to that interpreted in schools and music halls. For if young people grow up to respect and admire what is given to them in the house of God, both in words and in tunes, their respect for the Christian church will be enhanced.

Some of the tunes appearing in this hymnal are comparatively new. There is a tune called “Finlay,” appearing at No. 27. It was composed by Harold W. Friedell who lived until last year. Words which are sung to this tune are Curtis Beech’s 1914 arrangement of the 100th Psalm which was this morning’s Scripture lesson. It begins: “O Be Joyful in the Lord.” We may want to explore this hymn and tune.

Some of the hymnal, and tunes, are hundreds of years old, yet still excellent in quality. The words of hymn No. 309, “Jerusalem the Golden,” are from St. Bernard of Cluny who lived 8 centuries ago. The tune, “Ewing,” however, was composed in the past century, probably less than 100 years ago.

There are a few examples of the words and music which are native to our own land, like the Negro spiritual at No. 353: “Lord I want to be a Christian,” and “We are climbing Jacob’s ladder,” No. 495. Paul E. Deitz’ words of 60 years ago -- “We would be building --- are set to the great Jean Sibelius tune, “Finlandia,” at No. 494.

The familiar Doxology, “Praise God from whom all blessings flow,” which dates about 300 years back, is set to the 400-year-old tune, “Old Hundreth,” both in the original rhythm, No. 514, which I find is used in the little church where I worship in summer vacation time, and in the more familiar altered rhythm at No. 515, to which we are accustomed in our weekly worship. “Guide me, O thou great Jehovah” is set to the stirring Welsh tune by John Hughes. Many people, young and not-so-young, love singing it as it appears at No. 93.

One of the great hymn-writers was Isaac Watts who lived some 250 years ago. So energetic and so penetrating and permanent has been his work that a dozen and a half of his hymns are still included in this new Pilgrim Hymnal. Among his hymns is No. 1, the hymn with which we opened this morning’s worship: “Our God, our help in ages past.

The eighteen hymns of Isaac Watts represent one of the largest contributions to this new hymnal. Watts was the son of a nonconformist boarding-house keeper. When he was a young fellow, he was offered an education if he would study for ordination in the Church of England. But he refused. He did succeed in preparing for the ministry, and in 1702 he became pastor of the Independent Church in Mark Lane, London. In middle life, his health failed, and he was a semi-invalid the last 36 years of his 74-year life span. But he was highly productive. He wrote a work on logic which was long a textbook at Oxford. In 1728 he received the Doctor of Divinity degree at Edinburgh.

Altogether, Isaac Watts wrote about 600 hymns and paraphrases. Many of them were based on the Psalms. “Our God, our help in ages past” is clearly based on Psalm 90. This hymn is so well done that it is included in almost everyone’s list of those that must be included in any discerning hymnal. Because of the robust firmness of its faith, the family of Robert Browning asked that this hymn be sung at Browning’s funeral. For the faith it expresses is no foolish or shallow expression. It recognizes the difficulties and dangers of human life in which one turns to the strength of God.

Most of Watts’ hymns were written when he was in his twenties. He had a feeling of frustration of “preaching the gospel, and praying in Christ’s name” --- and then checking “the aroused devotions of Christians by giving out a song of the old dispensation.” So he proceeded to write hymns better suited to his evangelistic purpose. And we still use some of them because they are still good. They have become classic. And a “classic” has been defined [Riemon] as “a work of art against which the destroying hand of time has proved powerless.”

And yet, with all the effort of able committee members to use some of the classics of good authors and composers in this hymnal, it is not merely an artistic collection. C. S. Phillips has remarked that “a church, after all, is a place to help the wayfaring man or woman along the rough road of life, not an academy of fine arts. We are right to say that we must only offer our best to God; but we have no reason for supposing that God’s idea of ‘the best’ is purely, or even primarily, aesthetic.” These hymns have been chosen to meet some of the needs of every type of congregation.

Consider a little further some of the background of our hymns. So far as the English background of the hymns is concerned, the Lollards, followers of John Wycliffe, who gathered in and about Oxford in 1384, were probably the original hymn-singers of England -- excepting the choristers of the Roman Catholic church. That was 300 years before Isaac Watts attempted something better than the rimed Psalms of his day.

Then, 2 centuries ago, Charles Wesley, brother of John, appeared on the hymn-writing scene. Some say that Charles Wesley has been the greatest of English hymn writers. He produced more than 6500 hymns. Actually he was the lyric leader of the greatest revival of interest in religion that England had known. Of course his brother, John Wesley, was the peerless preacher of the new awakening. But Charles set the people singing!

During the same period, George Whitefield, another powerful force in the English revival of religion, was preaching in an atmosphere of freedom. He formed an “independent church” in London which is now Congregational. Mrs. Kingdon visited it about ten days ago on the Congregational Women’s tour. She and several of the American women spoke briefly before a gathering of 50 or 60 English Congregational women. The founder of that church, George Whitefield, brought out in 1753 his “Hymns for social worship” which passed through 36 editions.

Then there was the colonization of the new world which began before the time of the Wesleys and Whitefield. They were not long in the New England colony before they wanted a new hymnal. A committee appointed in 1636 took 4 years to prepare “The Bay Psalm Book” to which we have already referred, and which was published in 1640. Crude as it was from a literary standpoint, it had a chief place in colonial worship for a hundred years. It was printed 70 times.

Since then, major denominations of the church, which have grown up in this land, have published and revised and republished hymnals in the best tradition of their times. Many sources, other than English, have contributed to the rich resources in hymnals such as our new one.

There were important German sources. John Huss and the Bohemian Brothers, later called Moravians, gave Martin Luther the idea of using hymns to propagate the new gospel. The Moravians used chorales to a considerable extent. Luther was touched by some of them, and was so stirred that he set the 46th Psalm to the thrilling tune know as “Ein Feste Burg” “A Mighty Fortress is our God.” (No. 363). This rugged hymn became a battle hymn of the new movement. It is still a rugged, and great expression, of the faith in our time. Chorale-writing became a passion of numerous choir masters all over Germany following Luther.

Meanwhile, German musicians composed music which has tremendously enriched the hymnody of many Christian groups. It was Johann Sebastian Bach, noted organist, violinist and composer in German church history who wrote nearly 300 cantatas for his church choir, and whose music survives the testing of time. His is the music to which our hymn, “Now let every tongue adore Thee” is set (No. 24). Bach has contributed the music for 21 of the hymns which are available to us in the new Pilgrim Hymnal. We should be much the poorer without him!

Then there are the sources in Welsh hymnody which go back to the time of the Druids. The stirring Welsh tunes, like that for “Guide me, of thou great Jehovah” (No. 93) are good, not only for the Welsh churches, but for all of our churches as well.

These, then, and many others, are some of the sources of the hymns and music that make up our heritage of hymns in such a book as this new hymnal. We are grateful for it, and we look with pleasure and anticipation for an improved acquaintance with these “friends in church music,” as we sing hymns old and new from this treasury of Christian song.

Grateful for the careful thought and planning of a faithful committee of our denomination, thankful for the provision made by our Women’s Fellowship, appreciative of the opportunities for enriched worship by use of these books, let us dedicate them in prayer before we close this service.

Let us pray:

Eternal God, who hast made all Thy works to show forth Thy glory, surely Thou hast given wisdom, vision and understanding to Thy people to praise Thee in song. Through the centuries, thou hast inspired many of thy servants to bring forth the hymns by which we are now inspired to praise Thee! We bless Thee for this gift.

Now, wilt Thou graciously be pleased to accept, at our hands, these hymnals which we now dedicate to Thy service. Grant, we beseech Thee, that they may adorn our worship of Thee, and assist the praises of Thy people, to the glory of Thy holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

---------------------

Delivered in Wisconsin Rapids, October 18, 1959