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 PrintableVersion Praise - 998 Psalms, Hymns and Songs for Christian WorshipPRAISE! There are several reasons why I am vitally interested in this new hymnbook. Foremost of these is my enthusiasm for congregational singing of the psalms in contemporary language. I worked for ten years with David Preston to reach the point of publishing The Book of Praises - 70 psalms for singing today. 37 of those renderings are in PRAISE! There is a rendering for every psalm and two for some. Psalm 119 is presented in eight renderings. Suspicion has been expressed by some who refuse even to open PRAISE! - and indignant contention that it is sacrilegious to modernise classical hymns! Then, too, there is anger from some quarters that compositions by the leading charismatic songwriter Graham Kendrick are included. The renowned C.H. Spurgeon had to answer objections of this kind. In the foreword of Our own hymnbook he wrote: ' A good hymn has not been rejected because of the character of its author, or the heresies of the church in whose hymnal it first occurred.' The legitimate fears of those who feel that our legacy of old hymns is about to be lost to the world of the trivial and the trite must be allayed at once. Indeed, if there are not books like PRAISE!, the young generation is likely to be wholly captivated by songbooks in which the old hymns are minimally represented. The purpose of PRAISE! is to preserve our classical hymns. It is the product of five years' intensive work by a team of evangelical churches all Reformed in theology. It takes us forward with the very best of our most treasured familiar hymns. These form the majority and represent the heart of PRAISE! including 53 by Charles Wesley, 44 by Isaac Watts, 16 by John Newton and six by Toplady. With the except of four, all materials in PRAISE! are in contemporary language. Care has been taken to modernise. The 'daring worms' of 'Great God of wonders' (246) have become 'reckless souls'. The best preservedHaving come to this point I outline six reasons why I recommend PRAISE! wholeheartedly. 1. The psalms (as stated above) are fully, accurately and poetically presented. This for me is a huge plus. 2. The best of our inheritance in hymns is preserved and that in a form which multitudes for whom English is second language will appreciate. For each person who might wince at a change in style, there are great numbers in Africa, India and developing nations where evangelicals are multiplying, who will, in the future, know these contemporary renderings in which integrity of doctrine and an eye for beauty have been preserved. 3. PRAISE! contains a valuable selection of 'premium league' contemporary hymns and compositions on a par with what we have inherited in 2,000 years of church history. 25 years ago, Grace Hymns included 16 hymns by living hymn-writers in the Church of England. PRAISE! includes an astonishing 75 by Christopher Idle, and 53 from Timothy Dudley-Smith. There are 13 by Michael Saward. There are 43 psalm renderings by David Preston. From free grace authors Andrew King, Peter Misselbrook, Nick Needham, Peter Ninnis, Paul Sayer and Jim Sayers, there are 45. Canadian Presbyterian Margaret Clarkson has 13 hymns. 4. PRAISE! gives me a wider choice than the excellent Christian Hymns or Grace (which we use in our church). When preaching we look for hymns that will support what we are opening up from the Word. We need much more choice on central themes such as the cross. Contemporary quality hymns 413, 415, 420 and 428 provide this, and the resurrection (459, 463). The need for robust hymns on the Trinity is partly met: 153, 155, 162, 165, and on the incarnation: 354, 369. Evangelicals are becoming bolder in the confirmation that macro evolution is and always has been nonsense, and that God's glory in creation is to be extolled. This is vividly expressed in 207 and 213. We need more contemporary choice for believers' baptism and now have 634, 635, 636, 638, 639 and on the Lord's supper we have excellent additions in a hymn of robust Protestant theology by Alec Motyer (655), and one by Grace Baptist pastor Malcolm MacGregor (640. Christian Hymns and Grace have no contemporary hymn on baptism or the Lord's supper. Music5. PRAISE! has grappled courageously with the question of tunes. It will be an error to look superficially at PRAISE! and conclude that it is charismatic. We take Colossians 3.16 to mean diversity in singing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs, and not that this verse refers to three parts of the Psalter. PRAISE! has definitely included songs - about 10%. 80% of this new book has traditional-style music with which most of us are familiar, while only about 20% of the tunes are new. A just complaint with charismatic music is that too many offerings have words that simply do not fit the music. Care has been taken in PRAISE! to maintain the very highest standard of fitting the music to the words. 6. PRAISE! has not compromised doctrine and in some cases is more definitive. We need a hymnbook which holds truth faithfully. Psalm 109 plainly tells forth the justice of God. The verse on hell, the burning lake is restored in 'My hope is built on nothing less' (779). Some years ago in Reformation Today I drew attention to the Keswick-type perfectionist doctrine expressed in 'When we walk with the Lord' (refrain: 'Trust and obey'). This hymn (853) has been purified. Erroll Hulse© Evangelicals Now - October 2000 |
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