That it is good to sing hymns is, I think, known to every Christian; for everyone is aware not only of the example of the prophets and kings in the Old Testament who praised God with song and sound, with poetry and psaltery, but also of the common and ancient custom of the Christian church to sing Psalms. St Paul himself instituted this in 1 Corinthians 14 and exhorted the Colossians to sing spiritual songs and Psalms heartily unto the Lord so that God’s Word and Christian teaching might be instilled and implanted in many ways.
Therefore, I, too, in order to make a start and to give an incentive to those who can do better, have with the help of others compiled several hymns, so that the holy gospel which now by the grace of God has risen anew may be noised and spread abroad.
Thus opened Martin Luther’s preface to one of the very first hymn books to come out of Wittenberg 500 years ago. Little could Luther have realised, on the basis of such a modest beginning, the magnitude of the impact it would have on Christendom.
As you can read in Thomas Winger’s history of Lutheran hymnals (p. 6), Luther’s call to others to pick up the pen and write hymns did not go unheeded, and hymns and hymn books began to proliferate in the Lutheran church – and with them, congregational singing.
Even though there was opposition to the singing of anything other than Psalms in many branches of the Reformation (the Church of England did not relent on this point until the 19th century), even there the singing of metrical Psalms meant that both poets and composers set to work on crafting texts and tunes that put the Word of God in the mouths as well as ears of congregations.
While hymn-singing is as old as the Scriptures, the Lutheran Reformation restored it to a pride of place in a way that has transformed Christian worship across every denomination and tradition of the Church.
Music, and especially song, is one of God’s richest gifts to His people. Luther famously placed music as “next to theology” as the highest of God’s gifts:
I am so overwhelmed by the diversity and magnitude of its virtue and benefits that I can find neither beginning nor end for my discourse.
The combination of poetry and song proved be the most powerful means by which congregations learned the biblical doctrines of the Reformation. Indeed, writing nearly a century after the publication of the first Lutheran hymnal, a German Jesuit by the name Adam Contzen lamented that “Martin Luther had destroyed more souls with his hymns than with all his writing and preaching.” While we disagree with Contzen’s assessment of the benefits of Luther’s teaching, he was no doubt right about the power of hymns to teach and to instil the faith in the singing congregation.
Contzen was also right about something else: the powerful combination of poetry and music can be a source of
danger to Christians. It is not only the truth but also falsehood that can be propagated by well-crafted songs.
To a preface to a later hymnal, Luther added the following little rhyme:
Many false masters now new hymns indite
Be on your guard and judge them
aright.
Where God is building his church
and word,
There comes the devil with lies
and sword.
It is not an overstatement to say that what Christians sing, both at home and at church, it is a matter of sickness and health, perhaps even life and death. Our faith is being formed by what we sing; yet we are frequently motivated by more than just a desire for pure theology in our choices. A rousing or beautiful tune, a song that brings back strong memories, an emotional setting: all these and more can get our juices running – even to the detriment of theological judgement.
Indeed, many of the great hymns of the Church, beginning in the early centuries of Christianity, were written to guard Christians against false doctrines being promoted by other hymns, written by false teachers.
To guard against such dangers, the publication of hymnals – collections of hymns carefully selected, examined and approved by the church – is a great treasure as well as a wall of protection.
As we read the history of English-language Lutheran hymnals (p. 11), we give thanks to God both for the gift of singing, and for the work of those who have devoted their efforts to selecting the very best work of writers, translators, composers and arrangers from the whole span of Christian history, so that we may sing confidently not only the songs of our times, but also in unison with Christians from every century.
Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God. (Colossians 3:16)
