Building a Hymnbook in Our Head

Late last night I was reading through Deuteronomy in the Bible. I would say if there is one book to really zero in on to learn how to live a successful, disciplined, and structured life, it’s Deuteronomy. A common theme and phrase repeated over and over throughout the book is “…teach this to your children and grandchildren…” We tend to take grace today, and toss the rest of it out the window! Jesus’ death fulfilled Levitical law of sacrifice, but His death didn’t nullify the Old Testament or the outline for living right and the things that God directly said, "pass this down generation after generation." God has always just wanted obedience more than sacrifice. Moreover, all the New Testament points back and references the Old Testament. Paul’s words are nothing new on the block. His messages in the Pauline letters can be traced back to ideas Moses said….it all came from GOD, the inspiration to scripture. Jesus Himself confesses He was the Word from the beginning.

A section of Deuteronomy that I was reading was speaking of idols, and it jumped out at me and impressed me. I have idol problems, and I think along with that, sometimes we try to give GOD a form. God reminded Moses to remind the people that He spoke to them from fire on a mountain. He didn’t want the people to worship fire or the mountain….likewise don’t worship or serve anything that isn’t God. I believe creation worships God, and I want to join in on singing with the stars, and galaxies, with the sun, and moon, the ocean and fish, the rivers and trees. They all obey God, and they are all sustained by God, as are we humans. “If the stars were made to worship so will I." We don't sing to the stars, uplift the stars, obey the stars, nor the mountains, or ocean. What do we teach our children and grandchildren? Teach them hymns...a praise to God, a celebration of God.

I have Robert Morgan's "Then Sings My Soul" collection of books that tells the stories behind the beloved hymns,  and I have hymnals, and many other books dissecting the art of music and worship through song to God.  I can attest that learning the hymns and music being apart of my life has kept me  anchored. Though there have been moments I've drifted away, the anchor caught me and reeled me back in. My Aunt made sure I began singing in choirs and choruses from a very young age, and it has been apart of my life since. All these years later I'm still singing in a choir, music to the Lord has never stopped pouring out of me.  Robert Morgan says this about "building hymnbooks in our heads."

"Building a hymnbook in our heads is a great and almost forgotten spiritual discipline, and it’s a secret weapon of the soul. What bothers me deeply is that we’re now in an age in which worship songs are so fleeting and the lyrics are so disposable that no lasting imprints of meaning lyrics are being etched into the groves of our brains or into the minds of our children.
Losing our mental hymnals is a loss that cannot be calculated. But worship and praise are lifelong pursuits, and mastering one hymn at a time is a wonderful adventure in setting our minds and hearts on things above."

Recently, I was able to listen to a segment where Robert Morgan listed 10 categories of hymns we should be teaching our children such as Creation, Comfort, Joy, Guidance.  But I am particularly challenged to meet the deficit of hymns speaking of Evangelism & Missions, Heaven, and the Second Coming of Christ. Maybe these areas are lacking because there is great theological debate? Categories such as Creation are so in our face and felt with the senses, scripture is full of reference to Creation. Jesus Christ is the focal point of the entire Bible.  The scriptures speaking of Heaven feels so coded, and having not been there is hard to wrap our heads around it. I have written at least 1 song of Heaven in my songwriting career, and have a line I'm working with to write another. How do we write about creatures with 6 eyes and wings?  Things we've never sensed?  

Hymns are a foundation that can be built on, they reflect scripture, and that is something worth passing down the generations.