Wednesday, September 3, 2014

My Favorite Christian Songs

The Bible says: "Let the Word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in Psalms, and hymns, and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord." - Colossians 3:16

I like to think of these three categories of Christian songs in this way:

Psalms are paraphrases of the Psalms set to music:

 Psalm 48,  Psalm 103,  Psalm 72Psalm 51Psalm 148Psalm 32Psalm 27Psalm 125Psalm 9Psalm 90, and Psalm 1Psalm 145.

Hymns are, generally speaking, what you find in a hymn book of say 100 years ago:

  There's Power in the Blood (Medley)Be Thou My VisionO Perfect Love,  His Name is Wonderful,  Great is Thy FaithfulnessImmortal, InvisibleHoly, Holy, HolyAmazing GraceThe Old Rugged CrossAt The CrossAt The Cross (Medley),My Jesus I Love TheeStanding on the PromisesDay of Judgment, Day of WondersJust As I AmCrown Him with Many CrownsThe Church is One FoundationGuide Me O Thou Great JehovahI Know Not Why God's Wondrous GraceLittle Drummer BoyHow Deep The Father's Love For UsJesus Shall ReignWhen I Survey the Wondrous CrossWhat A Friend We Have in Jesus, Battle Hymn of the Republic (English) (Korean?)   How Great Thou ArtFor All the SaintsSilent Night (English)Silent Night (German)Tell Me the Old Old Story,  He Arose (sung in English and, I think, Japanese!)The Great Judgment MorningThis Is My Father's WorldJoy to the WorldI Love to Tell the StoryIt Is Well With My SoulI Must Tell Jesus, Savior Again, To Thy Dear Name We RaiseLike a  River GloriousTell Me The Story of JesusWhat a Friend We Have in JesusI Heard the Voice of Jesus Say,  By The Sea of CrystalHe Leadeth MeHave Thine Own Way, Lord, and Hark the Herald Angels Sing (sung in Lakota, a Native American language), Spirit of God Descend Upon My HeartO  Holy Night (Sung in Navajo, a Native American Language).

And Spiritual songs refer to much of what we call today, Contemporary Christian Music:

Please Search the Book Again,  Because He LivesMy God and I,  Meeting in the AirThere'll Be Joy in the Morning On That Day,  There is Coming a DayAwesome GodAbove All PowersHe's AliveMary Did You Know?Are You Washed in the Blood of The Lamb & I'll Fly AwayThey Baptized Jesse TaylorPlenty of Room in the FamilyIf That Isn't LoveEl ShaddaiHe Giveth More GraceIt Is No SecretThis Old HouseThere is a RedeemerThis World is Not My HomeLord I Lift Your Name on High, Days of ElijahAnd the Gift Goes OnAlabare A Mi Senor (Spanish)Please Don't Send Me to AfricaMy God Is Real,  I Saw the Light, and Jesus Take the Wheel (See my post Why Jesus Didn't Take the Wheel!).

I don't know what the Apostle Paul would think of the way I categorized Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual songs, but I have a feeling he would say "That's close enough!" I'd like to recommend to you one of the best books I've read on Worship and Christian music:

A Better Way: Rediscovering the Drama of God - Centered Worship, by Dr. Michael Horton

How I Found Christ?

 How I Found Christ? by Charles Spurgeon (1834-1892)