The use of narrative passages of Scripture in a worship service can pose some difficulties for a music director. If the choice of music is governed by how best to support the preaching of the Word, as I believe it should be, you want the hymns or psalms you choose to relate to the passage being preached. When the sermon text is something from the epistles, the prophets, or even from the life of Christ, this work is fairly straightforward since so many hymns are taken from these parts of Scripture. If your pastor is preaching from Revelation, you might want to include Holy, Holy, Holy by Reginald Heber or Ye Servants of God by Charles Wesley, both of which paraphrase passages from the throne room scene in Revelation 5. J.M. Neale’s Christ Is Made The Sure Foundation would be a perfect choice for a sermon on Isaiah (“Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation,” Isaiah 28:16), as would the more contemporary piece In Christ Alone by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty. But what about when the book being preached through is one of the historical books from the Old Testament? How many hymns can you find about Og of Bashan?
For example, this summer my church is going through the book of Esther. Not only is this book narrative, but God is not even mentioned (while Ahasuerus, King of Persia is 175 times), and it is never referenced in the New Testament. The sermon text for the first Sunday of the series was Esther 1:1-9, which describes a sumptuous banquet given by the Persian King. I had my work cut out for me!
My solution to this conundrum was to choose hymns that went precisely opposite the scene detailed in the passage. To contrast with the imperial power on display at the beginning of the chapter, I chose the hymn Hallelujah! Praise Jehovah, a version of Psalm 146 from the 1912 Psalter which contains the line “put no confidence in princes, nor for help on man depend,” as well as the fourth verse of Be Thou My Vision which begins “Riches I heed not nor man’s empty praise.” I also included May James’ All For Jesus and the African American spiritual Give Me Jesus, both of which urge the listener to forsake earthly fortune and pleasure in favor of Christ (“You can have all this world: give me Jesus”). These fit nicely with the accompanying Scripture readings my pastor had selected from Isaiah 60 (“all nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of Your rising”) and Psalm 73 (“Whom have I in heaven but You? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides You”).
The service closed with the final stanza of Luther’s A Mighty Fortress Is Our God, which we sang a capella to emphasize the line “That Word, above all earthly powers, no thanks to them, abideth.”
This is just one approach to using music to support the preaching of the Word in a service where the text is a bit tricky. Let me know what you think in the comments!
I have very much enjoyed singing about the contrast. The music has served so well as the lifter of my head back to our Great Gift. The passages being unpacked in the sermon give me a greater appreciation for that “ah-ha” … once again…. Christ alone! It is the same message we always get and need, but there is something about this contrast that gives me both pause and appreciation.
This is really fantastic insight. What a great way to link the hymns to such a difficult passage.