"Hymn Humor"

“Hymn Humor”

 

Over the years church bulletins and newsletters have contained lists of hymns and songs comically appropriate to various professions and practices. Here are a few I’ve seen (or in some cases made up):

  Dentist: “Crown Him with Many Crowns”    Slow Driver: “Pass Me Not”

  Contractor: “How Firm a Foundation”          Horticulturalist: “In the Garden”

  Farmer: “Scattering Precious Seed”              Marathon Runner: The Last Mile of the Way”

  Military Leader; “Fight the Good Fight”       Credit Card Issuer: “A Charge to Keep”

  NASCAR Driver: “Speed Away”                      Cable TV Provider: “Channels Only”

  Psychologist: “All Your Anxiety”                    Procrastinator: “Why Not Now?”

  Pilot: “I’ll Fly Away”                                          Well Driller: “Deeper and Deeper”

  Attorney: “In the Hour of Trial”

And the Granddaddy of them all: The 2016 World Champion Chicago Cubs: “It Took a Miracle”

A few more anecdotes:

A camp staff member whose job was washing pots and pans (in Campese pot licker): “O for a Thousand Tongues”

Grace Seminary students used to sing when leaving the registration office with their bills: “O to Grace how great a debtor….”

When Karen was doing voice exercises her dad suggested she sing “Blessed Quietness”

And when I was speaking at a chapel service during my CPE training and Karen was trying to follow me with a video camera she said I lived up to a line from our final hymn: “Prone to Wander”

Putting the jesting aside, music (both vocal and instrumental) is a big part of biblical worship. In 1 Chronicles 15:16 “David told the leaders of the Levites to appoint their brothers as singers to sing joyful songs, accompanied by musical instruments….” (Note that some members of the priestly tribe were assigned to be musicians, suggesting it was a divine calling.) Jesus sang on at least one occasion (“After singing a hymn, they {Jesus and His disciples after the Last Supper} went out to the Mount of Olives.”—Mark 14:26, NASV). The Apostle Paul counseled his readers to “…sing psalms, hymns and spiritual songs with gratitude in your hearts to God….” (Colossians 3:16). And there’s lots of praise music in Heaven (see revelation 5).

Some of God’s people are gifted in this area but all are commanded to lift our voices, even if it’s a “…joyful noise….” (Psalm 100:1, KJV). To adapt the thought of Psalm 19:14: “May the song of my mouth…be pleasing in your sight, O Lord….”

 

Grace and Blessings!

Jim McMillan