Expert Hymn Recommendations

Songs of Thankfulness and Praise  -  The hymn lists ways in which Jesus was made manifest as the Christ, including in his first recorded miracle at Cana as a wedding guest, when he “revealed his power divine, changing water into wine.”

Guide Me  -  The River Jordon is the symbolic dividing line between this life and the life to come; the prayer in stanza 3 is for God to help us cross over the Jordan and “land me safe on Canaan’s side,” the promised land, symbolic of eternal life.

The Glory of These Forty Days  -  Transfiguration Sunday as well as the forty days of Lent offer an opportunity to reflect not only on life of Jesus, who fasted and prayed, but also on several Old Testament saints who fasted and prayed during their lives, including Daniel, who “trained his mystic sight, delivered from the lion’s might.”

Dare to Be a Daniel (Chorus)  -  This short chorus celebrates the commitment of Daniel and his friends who obeyed God and dared to do what was right, even when threatened with death. The song challenges all to that same courage and commitment, even if we have “to stand alone” in the face of evil.

All Glory, Laud and Honor  -  The hymn of praise is addressed to Jesus, the “King of Israel and David’s Royal Son,” who entered Jerusalem with shouts of Hosanna by the crowd on the day we call Palm Sunday. This hymn expands song as we raise our voices with “the company of angels” and “with all creation” in praise of Christ, now “high exalted.”

Hail to the Lord's Anointed  -  Psalm 72 is a prayer for and description of the ideal king of Israel, characterized by righteousness and justice. It was perhaps written by David, probably used at the coronation of his son Solomon and following kings, and in this setting clearly identified as referring to Christ, “great David’s greater Son.”

¡Canta, Débora, canta!  -  A bi-lingual song celebrating this “Mother in Israel, leader of her armies” (Judges 5).

For All the Faithful Women  -  A “catalog” hymn in which the first and final stanzas frame one or more of the 9 additional stanzas celebrating women in several stories in Scripture who were faithful to God’s call, including Dorcas (Acts 9:36) in st. 10. Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006) includes every stanza.

He Leadeth Me  -  A sung testimony of the providential guiding hand of God in our lives, through both sorrow (‘scenes of deepest gloom”) and joy (‘where Eden’s bowers bloom”). The original “bowers” has been updated to “flowers” in some hymnals.

Morning Has Broken  -  A hymn delighting in creation at the break of day, when the light of the morning harks back to “the one light Eden saw play!”

Sing a Psalm of Joy  -  Psalm 81 includes remembering God’s action in bringing Israel out of slavery in Egypt (st. 6), in language that also brings to mind the opening of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:2).

Through the Red Sea Brought at Last  -  A baptism hymn that brings to mind Paul’s imagery in Romans 6 that in baptism we were buried, leaving behind “Egypt’s chains” when we were brought safely through the Red Sea, and then led by the cloud by day and fire by night.