God's Prophetic People - A People of Passion, Purpose And Power

God's Prophetic People

2. Hymns Definition : Hymns are different from psalms in that they are composed by people. These writers/musicians write these hymns to declare statements of faith, theology, and personal experience with the Lord and set them to different patterns of music. Hymns can vary quite a bit. Some hymns are sung about the goodness of God, some are sung about the soldiers marching on, some are heavy in nature, whereas others are quite light, but they must all conform one way or another to sound orthodox theology. Jack Hayford believes that “Hymns are songs of testimony, triumph, exultation, adoration, and celebration . . . the subject is God — His grace, His works, His purpose, His people, His power, His glory or His person.” 18 3. Spiritual Songs Definition : Spiritual songs do not take long to compose, nor do they require rehearsal. On the contrary, these are songs which have been birthed by the Holy Spirit in a spontaneous way. As the Spirit moves upon a Christian believer, the song is conceived. Then by faith the believer sings forth a new song/spiritual song. Blomgren defines spiritual songs in this way: “Songs of praise of a spontaneous or unpremeditated nature with unrehearsed melodies, sung under the impetus of the Holy Spirit.” 19 B. Biblical Songs and Hymns For the Hebrew people, music was an integral part of life. They were music-loving people. As we look throughout the Bible, we see many instances involving musical instruments. Psalm 150 lists a number of these instruments, such as: trumpet, Blomgren states that hymns are: “Song(s) of praise of human composition on Christian themes.” 17

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