AT LAST, it would seem, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church is to have a hymnal. The need for a suitable hymnal has been widely felt, and for several years a committee has been engaged in preparing what it hopes and believes to be a useful book of praise. At the Tenth General Assembly which met in June 1943, it was moved and carried that the Assembly elect a committee of nine to present to the following Assembly a preliminary plan for a hymnal. At the eleventh General Assembly this committee reported, and the Assembly also heard and acted upon a minority report, erecting a Committee of seven to “—make a diligent study of the teaching of the Word of God and of our subordinate standards regarding the question of the songs that may be sung in the public worship of God—". This new Committee was to report to the Twelfth General Assembly, i.e., the one meeting in 1945. At the Twelfth General Assembly the newly erected committee reported and was continued for another year. At the Thirteenth Assembly this Committee made a partial report, and at the following Assembly the partial report was completed, and a minority report was presented. Both these reports were to be submitted to the Presbyteries and sessions for study. At the Sixteenth General Assembly which met at Los Angeles in 1949 the present hymnal committee was erected, and since that time it has been laboring earnestly in the discharge of its task.
The Work of the Committee
The brief historical sketch just given will enable the reader to see immediately that the Church did not enter upon its task lightly. The writer, and some other members of the present committee have served on the various committees since 1943. When the Committee on Songs in Public Worship was in existence long hours and much discussion characterized that Committee’s work. Those therefore who have served on the present Committee have done so with the conviction that they were engaging in a work which would be of inestimable benefit to the church.
The meetings have been both interesting and profitable. The Committee, under the leadership of its chairman, the Rev. Robert S. Marsden, has held many and frequent meetings. One of its first steps was to work through the Presbyterian Hymnal of 1911. Each member had the task of studying individually each of the hymns, grading it according to both words and music. Five classifications were allowed. When the Committee met, the individual hymns were studied, and the various gradings compared. The hymn was thoroughly discussed; its words were subjected to a careful and critical examination. Were these words true to the Scripture? Every suggestion of the members was weighed carefully. The music of the hymn was played on the piano, often several times, and it also was subjected to careful scrutiny. The Committee has benefited by the criticisms of Mr. Wilfred Clelland, a professional musician, who has given expert guidance on such intricate points as the structure of music.
When the Presbyterian Hymnal had been throughly studied, the Committee had before it a basic core of good hymns which could form the nucleous of a new hymnal. The individual members were then assigned different hymnals upon which they were to report. In this way it has been possible to include just about all the great and good hymns of different books. This work has been unusually interesting and worthwhile. The present writer had the privilege. for example, of studying the German hymns and chorales, and believes that the new hymnal will have a great advantage over most hymnals because of the inclusion of a number of these hymns which are not generally known in our country. A great number of hymnals, both from this country and abroad, have been given a careful study, and the present array of hymns is, in the opinion of the writer, probably the greatest collection of hymns ever gathered together. The present writer can say in all sincerity that he knows of no collection of hymns that can equal that which was presented by the Hymnal Committee to the 1955 General Assembly.
What Kind of Hymns?
There have been two points in particular upon which the Committee has placed great stress and emphasis. In the first place the words of a hymn must be Scriptural. There is no point in teaching people to sing hymns which are doctrinally unsound. And there are many such hymns. Theological soundness is a first prerequisite. For this reason the members of the Committee have not at all hesitated to change the wording of hymns when necessary. Oftentimes a perfectly good hymn has been spoiled by the inclusion of words which present doctrine contrary to the Scriptures. The Committee has been particularly eager to exclude anything which would teach or even seem to teach that salvation is the work of man and not of God.
There is however, a second prerequisite of a good hymn. The hymn may be perfectly sound theologically, and yet not usable, because not singable. The words must be such that they can be sung, and the music must also be singable. Some hymns contain no poetry at all but merely doggerel. Such language does not conduce to worship, but often is ridiculous. The committee has paid attention to the language in which the hymns are expressed. It has also paid close attention to the music of the hymns. Now, at this point, the subjective element naturally becomes rather prominent, and there have been many discussions as to what is and what is not good music. Probably each member of the Committee has at times been outvoted, and consequently has seen hymns inserted the music of which he himself did not approve.
Now, the range of types of music which has been admitted to the hymnal is quite large. Anyone who will work carefully through the present list of hymns will note that a number of the best Gospel Songs have been included. At the same time many of the standard hymns of the church are also found therein. Likewise a number of chorals have been included. All of these are singable. Many however, are new, and people have a tendency to oppose what is new and unknown. It is of course, to be hoped that all the hymns will be used and that they will all become well-known.
What Kind of a Hymnal?
There is one characteristic which applies to the proposed hymnal which does not apply to other hymnals. That is that the hymnal presents more aspects of the truth than is generally the case. The hymns set forth the various attributes of God, His love as well as His justice. They present the different doctrines of the Faith perhaps in a greater measure than is true of other hymnals. There are few good and satisfactory missionary hymns, for example, but here is one which should become a favorite.
Extol the Lamb of God;
The sacrificial Lamb;
Redemption through His blood
Throughout the world proclaim.
Ye slaves of sin and hell,
Your liberty receive;
And safe in Jesus dwell,
And blest in Jesus live.
How clearly the doctrine of salvation by grace is presented in the words of Scheidt's hymn:
By grace I'm saved, grace free and boundless;
My soul, believe and doubt it not.
Why stagger at this word of promise?
Hath Scripture ever falsehood taught?
Nay; then this word must true remain:
By grace, thou too, shalt heaven obtain.
By grace! None dare lay claim to merit
Our works and conduct have no worth.
God in His love sent our Redeemer,
Christ Jesus, to this sinful earth;
His death did for our sins atone,
And we are saved by grace alone.
Children's hymns have also been included:
Holy Bible, Book divine,
Precious treasure, Thou art mine;
Mine to tell me whence I came;
Mine to teach me what I am.
Mine to chide me when I rove
Mine to show a Saviour's love;
Mine thou art to guide and guard;
Mine to punish or reward.
A great amount of the time of the Committee was devoted to the selection of versions of the Psalms. This is a particularly difficult task; there ate many problems involved, but the hymnal will contain a goodly proportion of versions of the Psalms.
At present the Committee is devoting its time to the classification and indexing of the hymns, a tremendous task in itself. The book is to contain selections from the Psalter for responsive reading as well as the Confession of Faith and certain other items. One final word however, needs to be spoken.
The hymnal will not belong to the Committee but to the Church. What will best serve the interests of the Church? This thought has constantly guided the Committee. The hope therefore, has been to produce a book that can be used to the greatest benefit of the Church. Doubtless, there will be some features of the hymnal that will not satisfy everyone. There is still time however, for anyone to write to the Committee. And this we earnestly request. The list of hymns has been made available. If there are suggestions which you have to make will you not kindly communicate with us in the near future? The Committee believes that it has produced the best of hymnals so far but the Committee is only human. It may very well be that there are some points on which the Committee has not done its best. For that reason we ask for your suggestions and comments.
The hymnal is to belong to the Church. We pray that it may form a suitable vehicle of praise. It contains a veritable treasury of the greatest hymns of the ages; hymns that will grow upon us the more we sing them and come to know them. Here are many many old favorites; here also are some hymns that are new. All we believe are true to the Bible; all are singable. May we use this book to the glory of that one true God Whom we delight to worship and to praise.