For those who have grown up in the church, we have been raised in a culture that follows St. Paul’s commands in Colossians 3:16 to “sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” I was raised as the daughter, granddaughter, and niece of Pentecostal ministers, and because of that, I was exposed to services full of jubilee, exuberant adoration, and passionate corporate worship. And yet, over a decade later in a Baptist setting, I find myself singing the same hymns I grew up singing in Spanish (due to being involved in the Hispanic Assemblies of God). Throughout the years, this has led me to believe that for all of the diverse and distinct traditions that Christians around the world have been brought up in, we can find many areas of overlap in the songs that we sing. More and more, I realize that the beauty of the ancient Christian tradition is that it invites Christ-followers over time and space to sing in worship to the Triune God with one voice, though in many different languages and circumstances.
One of my favorite hymns is “Be Thou My Vision” originally written as a poem by St. Dallán Forgaill, a Roman Catholic Irish Monk in the sixth century. Though translated through the years by the minds and gifts of people like Mary Elizabeth Byrne and Eleanor Henrietta Hull, its native language of Old Gaelic proves that this piece of artwork transcends countries, centuries, and cultures. In light of this, a question we may find ourselves asking is what makes traditional Christian hymns withstand the test of time? How is it that a Celtic poem such as “Be Thou My Vision”, for example, can become so widely known? How has something from such a distant time found its way into our Sunday morning worship service after so many centuries? Perhaps we need to examine the spiritual depth and messages of the authors of these historic songs to have a fuller grasp on their influence.
According to Peter Johnston’s article for Trinity Lafayette, St. Dallán is thought to have lost his eyesight before he wrote the now-famous poem turned hymn. This helps us to better understand the power of the basic theme of the song: The Lord is our vision. Considering the amount of suffering the loss of eyesight might have caused this scholar and poet, we might feel the weight of his words a little bit better when he writes “Thou my best thought, by day or by night, waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.” Knowing that someone in the midst of suffering was able to proclaim that God’s presence is sufficient ought to give us the ability to sing this hymn with confidence as we face our own unique challenges today. That no matter the circumstances, we too can sing of the abundant gift that is God’s presence.
But this isn't the only hymn we commonly sing that was first penned in a different language. “How Great Thou Art” was originally written as a Swedish poem by Carl Boberg. It was then translated into German, Russian, and finally English. Like so many other hymns, there is a story behind this beloved song. Jon Little, in his article “Behind the Song: Carl Boberg, “How Great Thou Art”, tell us that after having witnessed a tremendous, rolling storm come in over the bay in his town of Mönsterås, Boberg rushed home to open his windows to let in the fresh air and found nothing but tranquility as he heard the faint sound of church bells through the open window. Little describes to us that “With the juxtaposition between the roaring thunderstorm and such bucolic calm as background, Boberg sat down and wrote “O Store Gud”—the poem that, through a winding series of events would become “How Great Thou Art.” How incredible it is to hear that the story of one man’s encounter with the Creator of the universe caused him to reflect on His greatness, thus producing one of the most famous works of art known to Christians around the globe. This very hymn I grew up singing and tucking into my heart from a young age, although I knew it as “Cuán grande es Él.”
Another incredibly powerful hymn well known and beloved today is, “Give Me Jesus”, an African-American spiritual hymn dating back to the 17th and 18th century, where African slaves were subject to the atrocity of human slavery in the American colonies. When I sing the words “You can have all this world, but give me Jesus”, I recognize that I will never know the crushing weight of the evil and wickedness imposed upon those who first sang these words, but I can feel in my spirit the realization that all I can and must cry out to Jesus in all things. When I sing these words, I am also reminded of our Savior’s faithfulness to prevail against all darkness, and as His follower, I am to equally pursue His love of righteousness and justice for all who are made in His image.
When we consider the weight of the words of the historic hymns and traditional songs we sing, it is not difficult to imagine why they have endured through the ages. It is also inspiring to see how they have transcended many denominations, both liturgical and charismatic traditions, despite their origins. Whether we find ourselves humming to the classic tune of “This Little Light of Mine” to our children, crying out the attributes of God back to the Lord as we sing “Waymaker” by the incredibly gifted Nigerian gospel singer Osinachi Kalu Okoro Egbu, or singing the words of “How Great Thou Art” in our native language, we are deeply impacted by the gravity of the words of those who penned them. May we be encouraged by the Gospel proclaimed through hymns and spiritual songs, a Gospel that goes beyond the boundaries of cultural and linguistic barriers. At the same time, I hope you're reminded of the uniqueness and the diversity of each of the melodies we claim as our anthems. And may we be reminded that through the gifts of those around the globe, in history, and in time, we all find our belonging within the Kingdom of God. May we as God’s people offer our praises back to the One who unifies us as the Body of Christ.