Choosing A Hymn

When I went to the Worship God 06 conference last year, I was really convicted regarding how I go about choosing new congregational worship songs. To be quite honest, like most worship leaders out there, I tend to be drawn to the hot new worship songs that have great melody a powerful poetic line. I seldom take the time I should to really analyze the lyrics to see what theological messages they are sending. This is something I am definitely working on and one of the reasons I felt convicted to get going on my masters at Covenant Seminary.

Bob Kauflin recently had a great post on criteria for choosing hymns. It's interesting to me how people assume that all hymns are rich in theological content just because they are hymns. The reality is, a hymn has the same propensity for poor theology as any other song.

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Hymns aren't a category of worship song that is above critical evaluation. They aren't divinely inspired songs that we can just insert into a slot. So I've come up with a few questions we can ask when thinking about "doing a hymn."

1. What do the lyrics actually mean? Is the emphasis more on biblical truth or aesthetic beauty? Both are important, but truth trumps aesthetic considerations. Are the lyrics progressive in nature? If so, where do they begin and end? Do the lyrics take a theme and state it different ways? What specific theme or themes does the hymn address?
   
2. What do the lyrics actually say to people? Is it overly familiar? Do people understand all the words? Do people like the hymn for the sound or the truth? For instance, "Battle Hymn of the Republic" is a stirring hymn, but I don't think I'd ever use it on a Sunday morning, since it seems to mix Scriptural themes with national ones.
   
3. What context will surround the hymn? Hymns are generally weighty compositions lyrically speaking. Is there time before or after a hymn or group of hymns to reflect on the truths that you've sung?
   
4. What is the emotional effect of the hymn? Some hymns are triumphant, others reflective. Some are somber, others jubilant. Hymns can express everything from repentance to joy to God's holiness to God's mercy. Simply saying we should do a hymn is like saying we should go shopping. "For what?" should be the obvious question. Similarly, asking "why" we should sing a hymn will help us to use them more effectively.
   
5. How will the hymn be accompanied musically? The same hymn can sound very different when the accompaniment is changed from a pipe organ and piano to an electric guitar and drums. And there’s a world of variety in between those two extremes. Thank God for musicians who are taking many of the great hymns and revitalizing them through fresh musical arrangements. Passion and Indelible Grace are two that come to mind. There are many others.
   
6. Should the melody be updated? Since melodies aren’t sacred, it’s perfectly legitimate and often advisable to create a new setting for the words of a hymn. When we do this, though, the goal is to use music that emphasizes the lyrical meaning, not detracts from it.

Any church will benefit from doing more hymns. But it's always a good idea to understand why