Accidental Anthems
Back in the days of burning CD mixes for friends, I used to create mixes of potential new songs for my worship leadership team. CDs are nearly obsolete these days, but I still regularly email links to new worship songs to my team as we’re always looking for songs to add to our musical mix, which includes traditional hymns and other genres.
I remember when one autumn mix included the song “The Restoration of All Things,” written by my friend Andy Ferris. (Lead sheet available in the resources section at the end of this article.) “This song won’t work congregationally at all,” I told my team in the email. “I just wanted to share it with you because it means so much to me.” And I knew that assessment was correct. Folk songs, pop-worship, and hymns all have a sense of familiarity; you can sense, generally, where a song’s melody and arrangement is going even if it’s new to you because the form is familiar. This song didn’t really fit any familiar forms, and the melody was more complicated than usual for a group to sing.
Each of my volunteer leaders came back to me—without talking to each other about it—and told me we absolutely needed to sing “The Restoration of All Things” as a church family. I was floored. Even more shocking, the congregation locked onto it as an Advent anthem of defiant hope that they really wanted to sing together.
Not only did the song “click” during Advent, but over the last ten years it has become one of our “sonic standing stones,” an aural monument to God’s faithfulness and our enduring hope in Christ. We sing it together when we’re hurting. We sing it when we long for Christ’s return. We sing the refrain “Come, Lord Jesus!” as a prayer year-round, but particularly during Advent and Lent. As a springboard back out into the world to share the gospel and join the work of restoration that God is already doing, we sing together:
May our hands join with yours
in the work of restoration.
May our hands join with yours
in the work of your redemption.
May our hands join with yours
in the work of new creation.
—Andy Ferris, “The Restoration of All Things,” © 2011 Andy Ferris. Used by permission.
“The Restoration of All Things” became a theme song for our friend’s cancer journey; it was the soundtrack when our small-group members and their kids took turns helping to shave her head in preparation for chemotherapy. I still choke up just thinking of it. And we have dozens more stories of how the Spirit has used that song to meet us over more than a decade.
I’m glad I was wrong about that song. And I’m glad I have wise friends!
Sonic Standing Stones
Standing stones are an important image in the Old Testament. God’s people created stacks of stones to mark how God met with, cared for, or led them in their individual or collective journeys, from Jacob’s dream to Israel receiving the Ten Commandments, from the miraculous crossing of the Jordan River to renewing the covenant at Shechem. These sculptures visually testified to the story of God and God’s people and enabled that story to be passed on to others.
One reason music is so important to our faith, both individually and collectively, is that songs can become sonic standing stones—melodies, harmonies, and rhythms that allow us to remember, live, and share the story of God together.
Passing Down the Stories
I grew up in the pews of my local Baptist church, with my mom bringing hymns to life each week on the pipe organ. While my church today uses mostly contemporary music and instrumentation, those older hymns and choruses still ring in my ears and rest on my lips, even if I didn’t appreciate them in their fullness until I was an adult.
Many of those hymns, plus new ones I’ve learned from Lift Up Your Hearts and the Reformed circles I now call home, have come to be musical standing stones for me and for many in my congregation. They are not relics, but remain relevant because of how they reveal God’s glory, grace, and presence with God’s people. Hymns such as “Praise to the Lord, the Almighty,” Neander and Winkworth “Holy, Holy, Holy,” Heber and “Be Thou My Vision” Hull and Byrne are steady reminders of the journey we’ve been on and God’s faithfulness throughout.
I’m now in a context where I get to help choose songs for our church family to sing together, balancing our traditions with the “new song” God calls us to sing (Psalm 96:1). Some new songs will be timely and thus sung for a season before fading to the back of our music library. Other new songs seem timeless; they are songs that will always have a place in our life of worship together.
These songs never replace others in our musical vocabulary, but they join with the psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs that are now woven tightly into our church’s story. We add these to the canon we share with our kids, passing on the story of our life together in the shadow of God’s wings.
Songs of Adoration
Contemporary worship can sometimes fall prey to individualism, but there are some beautiful new songs of adoration that help us fix our eyes on God’s glory, character, and action.
A modern anthem we’ve begun singing as a church family is “Behold Him.” Baloche and Wong It narrates the person and work of Christ through the verses and calls us to stop and behold him during the chorus. It was written by Paul Baloche and Mitch Wong, but the version we use for a reference comes from the group Mission House. We love singing the chorus together, proclaiming Christ’s beauty and complexity as we behold him as both a lamb and roaring lion, the Alpha and Omega, the risen Savior.
It is a song of recalibration for my church family. Regardless of where we find ourselves, we proclaim using the words from Revelation: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty / Worthy, worthy, worthy to receive all praise.” This song lingers in my heart next to “Fairest Lord Jesus / Beautiful Savior.” Münster Gesangbuch
Jonathan Ogden’s “All My Love (Like a Jar of Sweet Perfume)” (SAT arrangement) was originally released as an a cappella song. We’ve sung it that way, but also with sparse accompaniment from piano, acoustic guitar, bass, and violin. Each of the three simple verses focuses on a member of the Trinity, with the refrain using imagery from Jesus’ anointing at Bethany for our response to this triune God’s glory:
Like a jar of sweet perfume
I will give my life to you,
All my love poured out on the feet of the Lord.
—Jonathan Ogden, “All My Love (Like a Jar of Sweet Perfume),” © 2016 Jonathan Ogden. Used by permission.
Aaron Strumpel’s “Mightier,” a resetting of Psalm 93, surprised us. It’s very different musically from most songs we sing. But it’s another song of reorientation, remembering that our God is:
Mightier than the thunder of great waters,
Mightier than the breakers of the sea,
It’s you who stands firm, you who is throned in majesty.
—Aaron Strumpel, “Mightier,” ©2015 Thirsty Dirt Records, Shovel Studio Records, Moda Spira Publishing, www.aaronstrumpel.com. Used by permission.
It didn’t “click” congregationally at first, but my leadership team felt we should keep singing it. And they were right. Every time we sing it now, I hear from people in the church family that naming God’s glory and might has allowed them to simply “sing out,” as the song’s bridge demands, in spite of the weight they’re feeling from their circumstances.
“Mightier” is a big one for me personally, as it has pointed me to our very present help in times of trouble. As we went through a major health crisis with our elementary-aged child, this song was a balm for my soul, an avenue for me to stand in worship even as my heart ached.
More songs of adoration that have been meaningful standing stones for us include:
“Blessed Be Your Name” Redman
“House of the Lord” Wickham
“What a Beautiful Name” Ligertwood
Songs of Renewal
Remembering God’s covenant faithfulness and renewing our covenant promises can take many forms. Many of our vital musical standing stones are songs of renewal because Christ’s death and resurrection stand at the center of these songs just as his death and resurrection stand at the center of our worship.
“In Christ Alone” Getty and Townend is a newer hymn standard in many churches now that narrates Christ’s life, death, and resurrection. It’s a staple for us too, and a great example of a sending song. Phil Wickham’s “Living Hope” has a more modern spin but a similar focus on acknowledging the beauty of our Savior and our deep need for saving. It contains confession and assurance bound together in one song—a wise feature that many of our cherished hymns and contemporary worship songs share. “Living Hope” echoes the words of Peter calling Jesus our living hope, the one who has set us free (1 Peter 1:3).
Another of my personal standing stone songs is “Forgive Us,” Bolen and Eichelberger by the band Citizens. Using the Lord’s Prayer as a lyrical springboard and having a simple, catchy melody, this song regularly comes to mind in my times of confession: “Forgive us our sins, as we forgive those who sin against us.” The communal language of “Forgive us” also steers us toward practices of confession for our communal shortcomings, a deeply important habit for us as a congregation. We often use this song to frame prayers of confession around Scripture and historical prayers of the church.
“Good and Gracious King,” Robinson et al. by the Australian worship group CityAlight, has become a major anthem for our church family. The song’s melody, arrangement, and lyrical imagery together strike me as unique in much of contemporary worship.
It’s a humbling truth to state out loud that God does not need anything from us, yet has chosen to love us as our good and gracious King. This song of renewal is often on our hearts, marking our journey with Jesus as we gratefully tell of his goodness.
Another CityAlight song should be included here too: “It Was Finished Upon That Cross.” Hendroff et al. There is no greater assurance than remembering and proclaiming together the finished work of Jesus Christ on the cross. This song is an emotional lift, both musically and lyrically, but it still stops me in my tracks every time we sing the third stanza, which speaks of how Christ’s resurrection sets us free from our fear and from death itself.
More songs of renewal that have been meaningful standing stones for us include:
“I Am Not the Same” Keyes et al.
“Abide” Williams and Keyes
“Dwell (Psalm 91)” Keyes and Cates
Songs of Comfort
We need songs of comfort. It’s really hard to live as a human in this world! These songs of comfort might be ways the Spirit steadies us in overwhelming times or anchors our hearts to our hope in the restoration of all things that will come with Christ’s return.
Wendell Kimbrough’s “I’ll Not Be Shaken” is a beautiful setting of Psalm 62 that we’ve needed to sing in seasons of uncertainty. “From God alone comes my salvation; / I’ll wait and trust his steadfast love” can be sung anytime, of course, but this song has allowed us to lament, to ask questions of God, and to pray.
Many songs of comfort that have found an important place in our church’s life are rich and meaningful because they bend toward Christ’s return. “The Restoration of All Things” is one of those, but Chris Tomlin’s “I Will Rise,” Reeves et al. the Josh Garrels arrangement of “O Day of Peace,” Daw and “You’ve Already Won” Barnard and Fowler by Shane & Shane all anchor our hope in the coming new creation.
Songs of comfort can often seem melancholy, but there is comfort in celebration as well. CityAlight’s “God Is For Us” Farren et al. and the Brooke Ligertwood anthem “Who You Say I Am” Fielding and Morgan are both biblically rich affirmations for us. God’s covenant promise of love is certainly a truth that should be celebrated more often in our Reformed contexts!
More songs of comfort that have been meaningful standing stones for us include:
“Christ Is Mine Forevermore” Robinson and Thompson
“Lord, I Need You” Reeves et al.
Songs of Response
Since music so easily lingers on our lips and in our hearts throughout the week, we also need songs of response to remind us of how we are to live when we’re the church scattered beyond the walls in light of the good news we’ve just shared together through word and table. These songs are often sung versions of the blessing and the sending; they allow us to bless each other and they go with us as we serve the Lord.
The Porter’s Gate has shared some beautiful songs of response, and two of their songs are especially important for our church. “May the Peace of the Lord Go With You” Zach and Bluett is a blessing song to sing over each other. It’s a beautiful melody, and we get to sing, quite simply, “May the peace of the Lord go with you / wherever you may go.” We’ve turned to face each other while singing this song. We’ve sung it over graduates and when commissioning mission initiatives. And we’ve sung it over our city when we have worshiped at the downtown waterfront stadium.
The Porter’s Gate song “Instrument of Peace” Wardell et al. uses a familiar text known to many as the prayer of St. Francis: “Lord, make me an instrument of peace.” We sing this prayer regularly, and it’s only become more urgent for us as conflict, anxiety, and fear have increased.
More songs of response that have been meaningful standing stones for us include:
“The Blessing” Carnes et al.
“My Life Is an Offering” Sczebel and Sczebel
A Witness for Generations
One of the greatest joys in my role as a pastor of worship and arts is when one of our elementary-aged children runs past me between services singing the melody of one of our worship songs. Just like those treasured melodies were given to me in my childhood, we’re passing to our own children the witness of God’s faithfulness through generations. That kid might not know it yet, but someday they’ll realize that the lyrics stuck in their head come from the psalms or are a proclamation of Jesus’ work in his death and resurrection. Someday that chorus will rush back to them, bringing comfort in the midst of devastation.
In one sense, these are just songs. But these songs tell our story. We share them as the soundtrack of our life together as we follow Jesus. They stand as a testament to who God is and what God does—musical standing stones.