When in Our Music God Is Glorified

When in our music God is glorified,
and adoration leaves no room for pride,
it is as though the whole creation cried:
Alleluia!

How oft, in making music, we have found
a new dimension in the world of sound,
as worship moved us to a more profound
Alleluia!

So has the church, in liturgy and song,
in faith and love, through centuries of wrong,
borne witness to the truth in ev’ry tongue:
Alleluia!

And did not Jesus sing a psalm that night
when utmost evil strove against the light?
Then let us sing, for whom he won the fight:
Alleluia!

Let ev’ry instrument be tuned for praise;
let all rejoice who have a voice to raise;
and may God give us faith to sing always:
Alleluia!

To wrap up our week of hymn reflections is “When in Our Music God Is Glorified,” suggested to me by Barbara Curtin. It was written by Fred Pratt Green, a Methodist minister and prolific hymnwriter in England.

He was asked to compose a hymn to fit the tune Engelberg, which you also might know as “We Know that Christ Is Raised.” Hymns and tunes are often paired inseparably in our imagination, but are most often not written together.

My favorite line from this hymn must be, “adoration leaves no room for pride.” How often do we seek to out-do one another in, well, everything? Including worshiping God. Including church. Including prayer. But this line reminds us that true worship of God eclipses our pride and hubris. And thank God for that!

What a perfect hymn with which to close out this small series: one more reflection on the importance of music to our lives together as people of God. “Let all rejoice who have a voice to raise, and may God give us faith to sing always.”