What's In A Song? (continued)
Page 4

C.H. Spurgeon once said "When I cannot understand anything in the Bible, it seems as though God had set a chair there for me, at which to kneel and worship; and that the mysteries are intended to be an altar of devotion." These mysteries are what the hymns love to dwell upon. Hymns are mini-meditations on the ironies of the Gospel that drive us to worship. They are an opportunity to meditate upon a mystery like "And can it be, that Thou my God should die for me?" until it begins to really sink into our heart.

If we ever lose our sense of wonder, we will be conformed to the culture. If we ever lose our sense of the beauty and the amazement, we will be conformed to the culture, we will be conformed to the flesh. Hymns, you see, are not only opportunities for our meditation, they were often the result of meditation. It used to be that it was the pastors who would write the hymns. Often they would write a hymn at the end of a week of meditating upon their sermon.

For instance, John Newton's hymn Amazing Grace is actually a result of his meditating all week upon 1 Chronicles 17, God's covenant with David. We even have the notes from Newton's sermon the day that he first taught his people that hymn! You might remember how David wants to build a house for God, but God tells him, "You aren't going to build me a house - I'm going to build your house! I have been traveling in a tent with my people and until they are settled, I won't be settled! David, I'm putting my house on hold because I am putting you first!" Isn't that the heart of the Gospel - that God puts us first? As David sits in that, he is blown away, and as Newton sits in that, he too canot help but cry "Amazing grace!"