Why We Sing—And Why a Hymnal
A People of Song
The people of God have always been a people of song, from the shore of the Red Sea —“I will sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously. . . . The Lord is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation” (Ex. 15:1–2) — to the heavenly throne room of the Lamb —“Great and amazing are your deeds, O Lord God the Almighty! Just and true are your ways, O King of the nations!” (Rev. 15:3).
This is the great heavenly choir we join as his people on earth. For twenty centuries the church has been singing. We sing a music that flows into every part of our lives, for the delight and honor of the Lord and our deepest well-being. Those in whom the Lord dwells, who long to make their home in his presence, sing to him as freely and fully as the birds of the sky (see Ps. 84:2–4).
Hymns, then, are the heart language of the church, used to sing truth to the Lord and to one another in every season of the soul. This has always been the way. When we look to the Psalms, the great songbook of the Bible, we find God’s blueprint for singing. The Psalms sing to the valleys of human sorrow and the heights of eternal hope. They remind us of a salvation history and a salvation song we must not forget. They teach us to lament and to rejoice. They root our lives and give wings to our witness. They map out the character of the Lord, lifting our eyes to all that he is and has done.
Our hymns hold us, inspire us, comfort us — and form us. Some of the earliest memories either of us can remember are of singing with others at church: the accompaniment begins, songbook pages rustle, and that first shared breath is drawn as old and young step into a hymn together. We are so grateful to have been raised in homes where singing to the Lord as part of God’s family was the most natural and fitting thing in the world, treasured as the highest expression of the Creator’s gift of music. But it is too risky for us to assume that deep belief in the truths of God will flow with ease to the next generation. That depth must always be mined and cherished and taught.
The Sing! Hymnal
Keith Getty, Kristyn Getty, John Martin, Dan Kreider, Douglas Sean O'Donnell
Curated by award-winning hymn writers Keith and Kristyn Getty, The Sing! Hymnal features timeless hymns to deepen corporate worship and unity among believers. With liturgical readings and a durable cover, this edition is ideal for regular church use.
A Book of Songs
This is why we have produced The Sing! Hymnal. Since the invention of the printing press in the fifteenth century, hymnals have been published to enable Christians to sing together. In those days such curations of hymns enabled an expansion of the range of music available to a local church. Today, when the internet enables any of us to find endless options to sing, of varying depth, precision, and quality, perhaps a hymnal serves more as a trustworthy selection of that which is both substantial and beautiful.
That has been our heart in putting together this hymnal. It was a daunting challenge to choose which hymns to include. There is always another hymn to discover, and hymn writers will continue to write new hymns — but at some point a book must close! A hymnal speaks to the context in which it is produced and lives. Each of the nearly five hundred hymns in this book has been selected in community and with care, to give as full and helpful a resource as possible. Each comes with an account of the story behind the song or a note on why we included it. You will also find over four hundred prayers and liturgies from every century of Christian history, either drawn directly from Scripture or written by great pastors and poets past and present.
The Arrangement of Hymns in the Hymnal
The hymnal is arranged into three main sections. The Worship Service follows the arc of the gospel in a worship service. The Christian Life aims to equip believers for faithful living “from life’s first cry to final breath.” The Life of Christ begins with Advent and Christmas, working through the church’s year to Pentecost and culminating with the return of Christ. In essence this is a curation of songs to carry through life, at church, and at home—songs that will help anchor you in the depths and give voice to your praise on the heights.
We are immeasurably grateful to the wonderful team that has helped us with this project. But the goal has never been simply to produce a hymnal. It is to enable and encourage churches, families, and individuals to do what God’s people have always done: tell of his salvation from day to day, worship him in the splendor of holiness, and find that the joy of the Lord is their strength.
This article is by Keith and Kristyn Getty and is adapted from The Sing! Hymnal.
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