New songs for modern missional worship, rich in Christian teaching and contextualized in modern culture. Contemporary hymns, psalms, songs of lament and praise written by members of the Louisville, KY-based Sojourn Community.
1. Psalm 3 by our own Rebecca Dennison. This is the third song from our upcoming worship CD that we’ve debuted in a live Sunday worship gathering. Rebecca is one of our best writers when it comes to “text-painting,” the ability to integrate music and lyrics together in a way that makes sense by allowing the music to accurately reflect the mood of the lyrics. She’s turned this psalm into a blues piece in Em. It makes perfect sense and helps us enter into the emotions David must have been feeling as he wrote the original verses upon which this song is based:
The lying tempter would persuade
My heart to doubt Your aid
and all my swelling sins appear
much greater than Your grace.
After the service Rebecca told me how pleased she was with the job Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper did in fleshing out the musical arrangement, working off of her acapella demo. I agree.
My Maker and My King, original lyrics by the hymnist Anne Steele, adapted and fit with a new melody by Worship Arts Pastor Mike Cosper. This was our song of adoration on the Before the Throne CD. You can stream the mp3 and pull up the chord sheet here at this site on our Before the Throne page.
Psalm 51, another one by Rebecca Dennison. We recorded this one on our These Things I Remember CD. Again, you can hear the mp3 and check out the chord sheet on that album’s page, here at sojournmusic.com.
I Have To Believe, by Rita Springer — a song of stubborn, persistant hope in God’s goodness and sovereignty that invites us all to sing the affirmations found in the Bible.
Thorns, by our own Charlie Richardson, who led us in singing it this morning. Although we haven’t recorded this one yet, you can watch an archived video of Charlie and other members of our worship band performing this song last year on Louisville’s local FOX affiliate’s TV morning show (FOX in the Morning, WDRB-41).
My favorite lines from this:
You’re more constant than time / Stronger than the urge to conform to this life
In Christ Alone, by Stuart Townend and Keith Getty. Perhaps the most famous contemporary hymn, and with good reason. It would be hard to imagine a more perfect description of why our hope is anchored in Christ. The first verse lays out the “thesis” and the next three verses tell the story of Christ and His mission, from birth through the promise of eternal life and His return.
I Boast No More, one of my favorite Isaac Watts hymns (no small order, since Watts wrote over 600 hymns), with a melody by Sandra McCracken. Sandra recorded this one on her CD The Builder and the Architect, one of my favorite worship records. Of course, many people are familiar with it from hearing the Caedmon’s Call version. It’s a wonderful melody, fitting for the scripture-saturated, masterfully written poetry:
Now, for the loss, I bear His name
What was my gain, I count my loss
My former pride, I call my shame
And nail my glory to His cross
Notice how Watts set up this verse, covering the shameful things that are “mine” inside the things that are His — lines two and three end with “my loss” and “my shame,” which are framed by lines one and four, ending in “His name” and “His cross.” It’s subtle — not the kind of thing that would be noticed often, outside a poetry class. But it’s part of the genius that God gave to Isaac Watts — this ability to go so deep with his lyrics and set everything up in such a way that God’s holiness stands in stark contrast to our sinfulness, driving us to trust only in Him and His righteousness, as in the last verse:
The best obedience of my hands
dares not appear before Thy throne;
But faith can answer Thy demands
By pleading what my Lord has done.
Our two evening services differed slightly, in terms of the music set list. Dave Moisan, Lindsey Lewis, Jamie Barnes, Matt Harris, Robert James and Michael Butterworth led those attending our 5 and 7 pm services through the same group of songs with the exception of the first one, where they replaced Psalm 3 with Sing Alleluia by Steve Hindalong and Marc Byrd. This song is a great modern praise anthem built around the classic hymn “All Creatures Of Our God And King” by Francis of Assissi.
Check us out tomorrow for a discussion with worship leader Lorie King on the value of integrating hymns into contemporary worship services, and, by way of example, some history on the early years of Sojourn.