Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs to Help You Worship at Home
This weekend it’s Easter and the hymns we were planning to sing in Buckna reflect the fact that it’s an important day in the church calendar.
One of the things we had planned for this period was to sing ‘Songs of Approach’ on Palm Sunday and Easter Sunday. The idea behind ‘Songs of Approach’ was that we would prepare our hearts to worship God by singing His praise.
Here’s the list of hymns we should have been singing together as a church family this weekend:
Songs of Approach:
Lord I Lift Your Name on High
Turn Your Eyes
This is a new version of an old hymn that has been written and produced by Sovereign Grace Music. We were just going to sing the new verses and not the chorus.
Morning
See, What a Morning
Man of Sorrows (old)
God’s Love is the Best Love
O To See the Dawn
Jerusalem
Evening
O Praise the Name
God’s Not Dead, He is Alive
Jesus Christ is Alive Today
Offering: At the Foot of the Cross
Rising Sun
Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)
Hymn of the Weekend
Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me), Casting Crowns
This is one of my favourite Easter hymns. The chorus is magnificent. It speaks of what Jesus has done:
“Living, He loved me, Dying, He saved me. Buried, He carried my sins far away. Rising, He justified freely forever. One day He’s coming. Oh glorious day, oh glorious day.”
We’re going to include a recording of this hymn in our service on Sunday as well.
One Hymn Explained
Man of Sorrows (old version)
Here’s the next older hymn that we want to take a moment to consider. Philip Bliss is the author of this hymn. He was converted at a revival meeting at the age of 12. After his conversion, he taught music and wrote many hymns.
One of the many qualities of Man of Sorrows is that it covers the Christian Gospel in five simple verses. It begins with Jesus’ first coming, His incarnation. The purpose of His coming was to reclaim ruined sinners.
Verses 2-4 cover Jesus’ work on our behalf. He stood condemned in our place. He sealed our pardon with His blood. He was lifted up to die, “It is finished!” was His cry.
The final verse reminds us that Jesus will come again. The final verse says:
When He comes, our glorious King,
To His kingdom us to bring,
Then anew this song we’ll sing
Hallelujah! What a Saviour!
This Easter weekend our hearts should echo the cry of the final line of each verse. “Hallelujah! What a Saviour!”Over the weekend, take some time to meditate on the truths of this hymn. A fruitful exercise would be to take a note of the themes of the hymn and then to find Scriptural references to match them.