Worship Words: Selecting Great Hymn Texts

Simply put, great hymnody must be saturated with Scripture. This does not mean that every line has to be directly lifted from a specific passage, but one should be able to defend every line of poetry with a Bible verse or at least a biblical concept. This should guarantee that our hymns are doctrinally orthodox. Furthermore, when we learn and sing biblically robust hymns, it is an opportunity to ensure that God’s Word abides in us. This is what the apostle Paul is getting at in Colossians 3:16, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly … singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs.”