Within the past year, I embarked on a journey in what, for me, was uncharted waters. I sat down and wrote a hymn. I never really imagined myself as a hymnwriter — or songwriter of any genre for that matter. And I don’t feel like my method of writing was anything special. I put pen to paper sporadically whenever words jumped to the level of my consciousness and often stopped in the middle of cooking dinner, reading a book, or driving down the road to scribble them down before they flew away again. Weeks often passed between verses, and I spent zero hours dressed in my nightshirt, burning down an enormous candle, and bent over a parchment while furiously dipping my quill in ink (which for some reason is how I imagine hymns being written). So the last thing I want to do is to write a “how-to” blog on songwriting. But what I would love to do is to share a few reasons why I couldn’t help but write a hymn.

1) God’s people sing.

From the very beginning, God’s people have responded to God working through song. God created Eve; Adam sang. God delivered Israel; Moses sang. Samuel was born; Hannah sang. Jesus was conceived; Mary sang. Paul and Silas even sing from prison. God’s people sing; it’s in our DNA.

And if singing is so central to the individual and corporate life of the believer, then songs have to be written. Not just because we need something to sing – but because singing (and particularly singing new songs) in Scripture seems to burst out of the Christian life in a response to the Lord at work. I love singing old, timeless hymns that have been sung by faithful saints and theological giants whose legacy we have inherited. But there is also something precious about a song that is birthed out of the life of our individual church.

2) The gospel is worth beholding from every angle.

The gospel is beautiful. Every word on every page of every book in every library would not be enough to exhaust the breathtaking, matchless wonder of God Himself assuming flesh and enduring a cross to rescue His creation. Even men like Luther who wrote many words on many pages needed another outlet to revel in the gospel – so they wrote hymns!

The Story never gets old. And God has given us so many ways to be preoccupied with Him. The ways of the Lord are hardwired into the world we live in. The rocks cry out, and the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Science is worth studying, literature is worth reading, math is worth solving, sports are worth playing, and songs are worth singing because Jesus Christ is a) the King of the Universe and b) not dead. Why would we not want to find every avenue possible to be obsessed with Him?

3) Biblical imagery demands it.

One of the main driving forces behind my hymn-writing was biblical imagery that was just too compelling to sit idle. If someone hands you a beautiful, pristine ribeye, you don’t take a picture of it. It demands to be seasoned, marinated, grilled, and savored. It’s like a sunset that compels you to take a photo or paint a picture.

In Revelation 5, John weeps because no one in heaven or earth has been found worthy to enact God’s plans and purposes. But when all seems lost, behold the Lion of Judah enters stage left. And John sees a Lamb who stands as if it had been slain. Now killed things don’t usually stand. But this is Jesus – slain yet standing. When all is said and done, He lives, and He stands upon the earth. His victory becomes His people’s victory. He has bought them and made them a people set apart for His own possession. And though the nations rage against the Lord and His Anointed, Jesus hold His people fast. So much so that even in the face of their accuser, the martyrs of Revelation 12 conquer by the blood of the Lamb and the word of their testimony for they loved not their lives even unto death.

This is our Story. How could we not be gripped by it? Why not sing? Why not write hymns? Why not explore every nook and cranny of God’s good world to savor and glory in the gospel every minute of every day by any means that we can? And oh, for the day when we can throw ourselves whole-heartedly and headlong into that pursuit and never exhaust the riches of God’s glorious grace! Further up and further in!

Messiah’s On His Throne

Bryce Harrison

Verse 1:

All seemed to be lost

Too great was the cost

A rescue nowhere to be found

When Christ, Satan’s bane

Came standing though slain

Armed with a sword and

Adorned with a crown.

Verse 2:

Though affection is frail

and efforts all fail

Rejoicing, this song we will sing

Our redeemer He lives

Our pardon He gives

Hidden safe in Christ the King

CHORUS

Hallelujah for Messiah’s on His throne

Come to ransom and reclaim His own

Even death has lost its sting

To our prophet, priest, and King

Eternal Word made flesh and bone

Messiah’s on His throne

Verse 3:

Bought with a price

Built up into Christ

Our Head and our cornerstone

A kingdom of priests

Giv’n riches and feasts

A people set apart as His own

Verse 4:

Though nations all rage

Like wounded beasts caged

And sorrow blankets the land

All soon will be right

And darkness made light

When in victory, the Risen King stands

Verse 5:

In life or death

‘Til that last breath

By the blood of the Lamb we endure

For chained to the grave

Both stricken and slave

The blood of the Lamb was our cure