• Proverbs 22:28 “Remove not the ancient landmark, which thy fathers have set.”
  Proverbs 23:10 “Remove not the old landmark…” 
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The old hymns are being attacked like never before in most of our so-called fundamental churches. Faster than you can blink, the average ministry has removed the ancient and old landmarks given to us by our Christians fore-fathers through song. Most don’t even notice and chalk it up to nothing important. But as we have methodically noticed throughout these articles, music is powerful, Satan is musical, and the enemy knows what He is doing in replacing the old hymns in our homes and churches. 

The excuses for removing and replacing or simply ignoring the old hymns are too numerous to deal with. However, we will address some of the more common ones we’ve heard and think important to address. 

• Hymns Attacked: “Most hymns are too slow. They put people to sleep. We need more upbeat congregational songs.” 
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• Hymns Defended: John 4:23 “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
  24 “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” 
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At times through the years, I have been in charge of a church’s song service. One of those times, I was pushed by leadership to not use slower hymns. Only upbeat, faster-paced hymns were acceptable. I am not against more upbeat hymns like “Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus” and “Nothing But the Blood”, but there must be balance (Ecc. 3:1, 4). The “slower” hymns are written as meditative and heart-searching songs. Christian music can uplift and excite us, but it must also teach and admonish us, and that is not necessarily going to sound nor feel upbeat and exciting.

• Col. 3:16 “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.”
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The reason why many in Christianity choose more faster-paced congregational music is for the express purpose of waking up the people in the pew. However, that is focusing on the body/the flesh which brings death (Rom. 8:6), does not please God (Rom. 8:8), and is unprofitable (Jn. 6:63).  Going back to Col. 3:16 and also including Eph. 5:19, God commanded His music to be from the heart, not the body.  You can get the bodies and even emotions stirred up in your church, but that is not “from the heart to the Lord.” (See “Note” below for why “heart” does not mean emotions.)

Modern Christianity has had plenty of time to prove that focusing on fleshly music does not bring revival. You cannot just excite your people to revival. We need the inner life of Jesus. God is only and truly worshiped through the spirit (Jn. 4:23-24). That is why, going back to Eph. 5:19, the previous verse, vs. 18, commands believers to be filled with God’s Spirit and both verses, vs. 18-19, are part of one longer sentence that ends in vs. 21.  God meant music and Spirit-fulness to go together.  You may be satisfied by seeing fellow believers physically excited and awakened by the music. They may draw nigh with their mouths, but their hearts may also be far from God (Mt. 15:8). Going back again to Col. 3:16, the believers must be “singing with grace in” their “hearts to the Lord” since grace is the only accepted way to serve God (Heb. 12:28).  We need the old hymns that focused on the soul of man to be revived! This will bring about true inner and outer excitement/joy for Jesus (Ps. 85:6)!

Note: In western culture, the heart is our emotions. In Scripture, the heart is the center of everything in one’s life: your will, your soul, your intellect, and your emotions. However, in the Bible, usually the emotions are communicated as coming forth from one’s bowels, not their heart: Gen. 43:30; I Kgs. 3:26; SoS 5:4; Is. 16:11; Jer. 4:19. There are exceptions like with Jer. 4:19 which mentions both bowels and the heart. Emotions are still connected with the heart in Scripture, the difference is that, in God’s Word, the heart is more than one’s emotions. One’s heart is the center of your will (Pro. 4:23), your actions and thoughts (Gen. 6:5; Mt. 15:19; Mk. 7:21-23), your words (Mt. 12:34; Lk. 6:45), and your soul (Rom. 10:9-10). So when you read in Eph. 5:19 and Col. 3:16 about singing with grace/making melody “in your heart”, God is emphasizing once again how the believer’s music must be spiritual not fleshly, melody not rhythm, since whatever you listen to comes forth from your heart. If your music is worldly, you will be worldly. If your music is very scriptural, you will be likewise.  To please God in song from your heart, you must put into your heart the music that pleases God.

(Please check out the rest of the articles in the Music series and Hymns Attacked/Defended series.)