Great fuel for our praises

Jim Sayers reviews The Sing! Hymnal.

I haven’t bought a hymnbook for years, but was excited to hear this one was coming, and it doesn’t disappoint. Make hymnals great again!

In the digital age, there is something about the feel of the book in your hand, and this one feels like the Jaguar of hymnbooks, with lush paper, a smart font and a layout easy on the eye. Top marks! (There is also a Rolls Royce edition with goatskin cover for $350!)

What does it give you inside? 497 hymns, while 403 liturgical readings fill what would otherwise be white space. The Introduction and Conclusion explain the Getty’s thinking, which is healthy and church-centred. The choice of hymns and songs is almost entirely congregational rather than performative (though finishing with nine pages of the Hallelujah Chorus!). There is also a brief “story” for each item, as well as Scripture and topical indexes.

Although Keith and Kristyn are from Northern Ireland, this is an American hymnal. Several traditional hymns are unknown this side of the pond, such as God of our fathers or I heard an old, old story. Other classics evoke the choir at a Billy Graham crusade: Softly and tenderly Jesus is calling or There is power in the blood. Many classic hymns, British and American, get a new life here, but at the book’s heart is the full corpus of Getty hymns, along with some great bangers from Matt Papa and Matt Boswell, and a squad of other contemporary American writers. Look out for Completely known, completely loved, Run and run, Christ is all my righteousness, and in the psalm section, O God who hears our prayers (Ps. 13) and The Lord is good (Ps. 34). There are also children’s hymns and songs (My God is so big just got bigger!) along with old classics I haven’t sung since childhood.

Some minor quibbles. What happened to verse two of And can it be? There are no guitar chords above the staves. Sovereign ruler of the skies has a new chorus that addresses God as both “thee” and “you”. Also, no Christopher Idle or Ben Slee hymns?

Overall, this is a publishing event; get your church musicians a copy, and use it as a family at home. And Keith and Kristyn will be here for Christmas, no doubt filling the Albert Hall!

THE SING! HYMNAL
Crossway/Getty Music. 1,020 pages. £21.99
ISBN 978 1 433 590 290