Hymns and Tears

Anyone who has been in worship with me undoubtedly has witnessed the power of hymns to make me cry. While I no longer have to leave the service two or three times each Sunday in order to regain my composure, I still struggle with tears every week. While spoken prayers, Scripture readings, and sermon illustrations have on occasion caused me to weep, the main culprit remains music. I have thought much about this experience and have tried to determine why this is so. I believe the answer is both simple and complex.

Many people who have suffered a loss of some kind (such as death of loved one, financial ruin, broken relationship, etc) face frequent battles with their own emotions. What stirs within us is sorrow, fear, anger, confusion, regret. The best musical offerings touch upon all these feelings, but remind us that God is in control of all the events that cause them. “Whate’er my God Ordains is Right”

We know we can never go back to what once was, and we are not content with the present, so the only solution is to move forward. Good hymns speak of the past, the present, and the future. “Amazing Grace”

Those of us struggling with sorrow wish that disappointment, grief, and fear would disappear. “Be Still, My Soul”

We long to have the perspective of God, that we may see all of our lives, even the difficult seasons, through God’s eyes and not our own. “Be Thou My Vision”

We need to know that though we long for Heaven more than ever before, we are still called to persevere on this present Earth for a while longer. “This is My Father’s World”

We want to be reminded that when we feel abandoned by God, we only need to look to the cross to see that Christ understands even this emotion of ours. By His work He has secured our eternal condition, so that we will never be ultimately forgotten. “O Sacred Head Now Wounded”

We desire that we would be well again, that we could accept the “new normal” of our lives, and that we might feel the joy that others experience. “It Is Well With My Soul”

SO – all this brings us back to the question at hand: why do these hymns bring tears to my eyes? I think it’s because good hymns are both simple and complex. They reveal to us the simplicity of God’s love for us. I have often wanted during this season of grief to be reassured, even as a child, that “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know.” At other times I need to be confronted and comforted by the complexity of God's providences as demonstrated by songs such as “Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise.”

As always, God meets me in my greatest need every Sunday morning, and speaks to me through heart-breaking and heart-mending music.