Hymnal Suggestions May 14, 2007
Posted by Joe in : Family Worship Series , trackbackErin,
I have to confess that although I absolutely love resources, this isn’t my favorite part of our little series. Not sure exactly why, but just reality. I’m sure that gets everyone excited about reading this post! But either way, I just had to make that confession up front.
So hymnals. It is our conviction that every single family should have one. And not only should you have one, but you should use it on an almost daily basis. As Erin covered in her post about singing hymns, there are manifold benefits to the practice. The heart is stirred. The head is informed. The family is together singing praises to God. Truly the Lord is pleased.
My first recommendation would be to use Cyber Hymnal. www.cyberhymnal.com As the title suggests, this is an online hymnal of sorts. Although Erin and I don’t use it nearly enough, it is a wonderful resource. Not only are there thousands of hymns, but each hymn is accompanied by its tune. The music might be a little old school, but that doesn’t really matter when all you want to know is how to sing the song! So check it out. Especially if you aren’t sure about the team (or if husband and wife are arguing about how it goes–now who would do that?!), it’s a wonderful resource.
The hymnal we use is called The Trinity Hymnal. Nothing fancy here, but it has served us well.
Another hymnal that might be worth checking out is called the Family Worship Hymnal. How about that? Should serve the family worship times well!
Two other suggestions would be The Baptist Hymnal and The Celebration Hymnal.
But in the end, if you have a hymnal, it is probably quite good. The only real concern would be the theological tradition the hymnal comes from, because everyone changes a few words around to fit their theological system. For some this is a very good thing, but for others, not so good! Particularly if you love the sovereignty of God (in salvation and everywhere else), be diligent to pick a hymnal that treasures that same glorious reality well! Because it is surely worth singing about!
There are more, but I hope these suggestions help. In the end, let us raise our children with songs–daily songs to the King. May it be natural for them to walk around the house singing His praises (even before they know what they are doing). I know that hearing Abigail sing hymns brings joy to my heart. So let us labor to fill their young hearts with wonderful songs of praise!
Singing His praises with you,
Joe
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