Worst Hymn Texts

[jaigner]

Tell me what you think are the worst hymn texts. It must be a hymn, in a verse/refrain or strophic style.

Here's one of the worst, I think, from the Gaithers, and they have a lot of bad ones.

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the love and joy he brings,
But greater still the calm assurance,
This child can face uncertain days because he lives.

 

[Salty]

How sweet to hold a newborn baby,
And feel the love and joy he brings,
But greater still the calm assurance,
This child can face uncertain days because he lives.

Questions the "he" in the last line. Do you think that is referring to the baby or to Christ Jesus.

Since the "he" refers to Christ I think it is a good song, because without Christ, there is not true hope.

 

[Ruiz]

I could go on and on and on. Here are a couple of lyrics:

Like a rose
Trampled on the ground
You took the fall
And thought of me
Above all

Yes, he thinks about me above all else... Not! Too man focused

Or,check this youtube out:

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheWretchedNetwork#p/u/7/1GlUSY_HCds


Finally, I heard one recently that said, "Christ before me, Christ behind me..." I was beginning to think they were pantheistic.

There are so many more, but I thought I would stop here.

 

[rbell]

This train wreck was in the train wreck collection: Baptist Hymnal (1975 ed.).

God of Earth and Outer Space
God of earth and outer space, God of love and God of grace, Bless the astronauts who fly. As they soar beyond the sky. God who flung the stars in space, God who set the sun ablaze, Fling the spacecraft thro the air, Let man know your presence there.

God of atmosphere and air, God of life and planets bare, Use man’s courage and his skill As he seeks your holy will. God of depth and God of height, God of darkness, God of light, As man walks in outer space, Teach him how to walk in grace.
God of man’s exploring mind, God of wisdom, God of time, Launch us from complacency To a world in need of thee. God of power, God of might, God of rockets firing bright. Hearts ignite and thrust within, Love for Christ to share with men.

God of earth and outer space, God who guides the human race, Guide the lives of seeking youth In their search for heavnly truth. God who reigns below, above, God of universal love, Love that gave Nativity, Love that gave us Calvary.

That noise you hear is me gagging...

 

[FR7 Baptist]

This train wreck was in the train wreck collection: Baptist Hymnal (1975 ed.).

God of Earth and Outer Space
God of earth and outer space, God of love and God of grace, Bless the astronauts who fly. As they soar beyond the sky. God who flung the stars in space, God who set the sun ablaze, Fling the spacecraft thro the air, Let man know your presence there.

God of atmosphere and air, God of life and planets bare, Use man’s courage and his skill As he seeks your holy will. God of depth and God of height, God of darkness, God of light, As man walks in outer space, Teach him how to walk in grace.
God of man’s exploring mind, God of wisdom, God of time, Launch us from complacency To a world in need of thee. God of power, God of might, God of rockets firing bright. Hearts ignite and thrust within, Love for Christ to share with men.

God of earth and outer space, God who guides the human race, Guide the lives of seeking youth In their search for heavnly truth. God who reigns below, above, God of universal love, Love that gave Nativity, Love that gave us Calvary.

That noise you hear is me gagging...

/thread

Rbell, that just can't be topped. Wow.

 

[jaigner]

Yeah, that one is legendarily horrible.

 

[Walguy]

I always considered this one a bit of a horror show:

"There is a fountain filled with blood
drawn from Immanuel's veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
lose all their guilty stains."

I'm all for acknowledging the shedding of Christ's blood for the forgiveness of our sins, but I don't think it needed to be expressed quite so graphically and literally!

 

[Steadfast Fred]

When we walk with the Lord
in the light of his word,
what a glory he sheds on our way!
While we do his good will,
he abides with us still,
and with all who will trust and obey.​

The fourth and fifth lines imply that as long as we are walking in His will He will stay with us, but the Word of God teaches us that He will never leave us nor forsake us.

 

[Jerome]

I once witnessed a man nearly throw a fit at the singing of:

To God be the glory, great things He has done;
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

This train wreck was in the train wreck collection: Baptist Hymnal (1975 ed.).

God of Earth and Outer Space
God of earth and outer space, God of love and God of grace, Bless the astronauts who fly. As they soar beyond the sky. God who flung the stars in space, God who set the sun ablaze, Fling the spacecraft thro the air, Let man know your presence there.

God of atmosphere and air, God of life and planets bare, Use man’s courage and his skill As he seeks your holy will. God of depth and God of height, God of darkness, God of light, As man walks in outer space, Teach him how to walk in grace.
God of man’s exploring mind, God of wisdom, God of time, Launch us from complacency To a world in need of thee. God of power, God of might, God of rockets firing bright. Hearts ignite and thrust within, Love for Christ to share with men.

God of earth and outer space, God who guides the human race, Guide the lives of seeking youth In their search for heavnly truth. God who reigns below, above, God of universal love, Love that gave Nativity, Love that gave us Calvary.

That noise you hear is me gagging...

You stole my thunder. That's always my go-to hymn whenever there's a "worst hymn" thread.

 

[JohnDeereFan]

I always considered this one a bit of a horror show:

"There is a fountain filled with blood
drawn from Immanuel's veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
lose all their guilty stains."

I'm all for acknowledging the shedding of Christ's blood for the forgiveness of our sins, but I don't think it needed to be expressed quite so graphically and literally!

One of my favorites. Willie Nelson, of all people, has a terrific version of this one.

One of my favorite sermons of all time was preached by a friend of mine and was entitled "Why Don't We Sing Songs About the Blood Anymore?".

 

[Baptist Believer]

This train wreck was in the train wreck collection: Baptist Hymnal (1975 ed.).

God of Earth and Outer Space

That's Hymn #20.

In the church where I grew up, we sang that hymn once a year in July (around the anniversary of the first moon landing) because it was the favorite hymn of our minister to seniors.

 

[Baptist Believer]

Too man focused.

Yep. That's the criticism of a lot of songs in the hymnal. I definitely sound like a good argument and it has the virtue of wanted to exalt God above humankind.

However, consider the biblical Psalms - part of the inspired word of God. Here's a particularly well-known one:

The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures.
He leadeth me beside still waters.
He restoreth my soul.
He leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name's sake.
Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.
Thy rod and thy staff, they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies.
Thou annointed my head with oil.
My cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

16 references to the psalmist (David) and only 11 references to the Lord.

So is this a good hymn/psalm or not? :tongue3:

(Please forgive the King James. I memorized this as a very small child, long before anyone in our church used modern English translations.)

 

[SBCPreacher]

rbell, that was my FAVORITE hymn!!




(just kidding, of course!)

 

[ashleysdad]

I once witnessed a man nearly throw a fit at the singing of:

To God be the glory, great things He has done;
So loved He the world that He gave us His Son,
Who yielded His life an atonement for sin,
And opened the life gate that all may go in.

Just out of curiosity sake do you know what he was upset about with this song?

 

[Jerome]

Something about Calvinism.

 

[Baptist Believer]

Something about Calvinism.

Yep. You don't want to sing about Jesus opening that "life gate" for all. And you definitely don't want to introduce the word "may" to the issue.

They will or will not... there is no "may" to a Calvinist. (or a Jedi)

 

[Alcott]

As a kid in Bible School, one year we sang "All Creatures of Our God and King" every assembly, and I came to like it then. But for years I have had other thoughts about such a song. Should proclaiming the gospel apply to animals as well as to people? The words indidcate such. And then addressing the sUn and moon... sure, it's a figure of speech; to us, anyway. When Jesus addressed the wind and thunder to quiet down, that's what happened, and when he addressed a fever it was to go away and it did, and when he addressed a fig tree to curse it, it withered. Maybe, in a way, it's too bad the people didn't stop praising his entry into Jerusalem, so the stones actually would have cried out.

Maybe our langauge would be poor(er) if we were overly strict about being figurative, so I conclude it's "okay" to use such lines. But somewhere there is a point where 'poetic license' gives way to genuine praise and does not imply worship of creation or creation's personhood.

 

[annsni]

As a kid in Bible School, one year we sang "All Creatures of Our God and King" every assembly, and I came to like it then. But for years I have had other thoughts about such a song. Should proclaiming the gospel apply to animals as well as to people? The words indidcate such. And then addressing the sUn and moon... sure, it's a figure of speech; to us, anyway. When Jesus addressed the wind and thunder to quiet down, that's what happened, and when he addressed a fever it was to go away and it did, and when he addressed a fig tree to curse it, it withered. Maybe, in a way, it's too bad the people didn't stop praising his entry into Jerusalem, so the stones actually would have cried out.

Maybe our langauge would be poor(er) if we were overly strict about being figurative, so I conclude it's "okay" to use such lines. But somewhere there is a point where 'poetic license' gives way to genuine praise and does not imply worship of creation or creation's personhood.

But the song is based on Scripture.

Psalms 19:1-4, “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun.”

 

[Robert Snow]

I always considered this one a bit of a horror show:

"There is a fountain filled with blood
drawn from Immanuel's veins,
And sinners plunged beneath that flood
lose all their guilty stains."

I'm all for acknowledging the shedding of Christ's blood for the forgiveness of our sins, but I don't think it needed to be expressed quite so graphically and literally!

I always thought this was one of the best hymns. Amazing how opinions differ.