Keep Your Hymnal Open

I still remember when I found my mom’s old guitar in our basement and had it restrung so I could teach myself to play guitar. I used an Old Mel Bay book and never moved to chords. I learned how to pick and ran with it. I plucked my way through Sparkling Stella, Red River Valley, and When the Saints Go Marching In.

And then I thought I’d try my newfound plucking skills with a hymnal.

As I plucked I read, and as I read, I sang, and as my love for hymns grew, so did my love for Christ.

How could I not love this Jesus? This Friend of sinners who first loved me. This Savior whose love was "divine, all loves excelling." This King who wore the thorns upon His brow and gently asked, "Are ye able?"

Like the sturdy dreamers who followed Him then, I answered yes, too. The sky above seemed softer blue, and something lived in every hue Christless eyes had never seen.

Although I already believed and trusted,  I took my stand beneath the cross of Jesus, and lingered, confessing the wonders I saw there.

I discovered another aspect to God’s plan for hymns.

While people love hymns, in part, because they emotionally connect them t o a simpler time, a godly grandparent, a church where they felt loved, or a special event from the past, they do something much better.

Hymns help us love Christ more deeply in the present.

A textbook may give us truth but a hymn book gives us truth in a beautiful poetic form that helps it move past our mental defenses and touch our hearts. A well-written hymn combined with an appropriate tune helps us not only understand truth but bring it home to our hearts.  It helps us linger over Christ and His gospel.

That matters because the Christian life is not merely about knowing facts about God. It's about loving Him. Remember, Jesus condensed all of God's commands down to two : love God and love your neighbor.

Over the years, I've grieved over young people who grew up surrounded by Christian truth only to walk away from it later.

Of course, only God knows the heart. But their stories remind me that it is possible to be familiar with Christian facts without truly delighting in Christ Himself.

We can know Bible stories. We can memorize verses. We can learn doctrines. All of those things are good and necessary.

But God's goal is not merely that we know about Him. His goal is that we know Him, trust Him, and love Him.

That is one reason I care so deeply about hymns.

I'm not suggesting that singing a hymn magically produces love for Christ. Only the Holy Spirit can do that. Nor am I suggesting that hymns replace Scripture. In my own life, my growing love for Christ was accompanied by a growing love for God's Word, too.

But I am convinced that hymns are one of God's gifts for helping believers meditate on truth until it sinks deeply into their hearts.

Once a child trusts in Christ, hymns can help stir the affections. Their truths and melodies stay with us long after the singing ends. They remind us of God's character, Christ's sacrifice, His promises, and His love.

In that way, hymns help us not merely learn about Christ but learn to treasure Him.

At the end of every newsletter I send, I like to write, "Until next time, keep your hymnal open."

You may wonder what that looks like.

It might mean choosing one hymn this week and reading it devotionally.

It might mean looking up the Scripture references behind a favorite hymn.

It might mean singing a hymn with your children at breakfast, during family devotions, or on the drive to church.

It might mean focusing on a single hymn for an entire month and allowing its truths to shape your prayers and meditations.

Or it might literally mean keeping your hymnal open on the kitchen table, counter, or bookshelf so you'll be reminded to turn to it whenever a few free moments present themselves.

Whatever form it takes, I want to encourage you once again to keep your hymnal open. You may discover, as I did years ago, that God uses hymns not merely to teach us about Christ but to help us treasure Him more.