Every church should sing THIS worship song

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"Let us offer to God acceptable worship."

Caleb: 00:00

There are tens of thousands of worship songs that worship leaders can choose to lead on any given Sunday. But not every worship song is created equal. In fact, I believe there are some worship songs that deserve to be sung by every congregation at least some point in time during the year. But before I reveal one of those songs, I'd like to introduce myself. My name is Kayla Peterson.

Caleb: 00:25

I'm the worship leader at King's Tree Church in Sabina, Ohio. And I created this channel because I would love to study worship with you. And if after watching this video, you'd like to study worship with me, consider subscribing this channel so that you will be notified every time I put out a video essay like this one. Comment below your thoughts on the video. And third, you can click the link in the description below to enroll in your first free Theology of Worship course, where I walk you through how to write a biblical theology of worship in five steps with only your Bible in hand.

Caleb: 01:02

Now let's get to the topic at hand. There are many characteristics to consider when you choose worship songs to lead on Sunday. You have to consider theological soundness, you ought to consider artistic value and creativity. You have to consider singability and playability. But this particular song has something that very few other worship songs have.

Caleb: 01:28

And that is its lyrics are some of the oldest Christian lyrics accessible to the church today. And the song I'm referring to is Be Thou My Vision. Be Thou My Vision was written in arguably the sixth by a Christian Irish poet named Delan Forgall. Now his poem found its way into several manuscripts throughout history, and yet it was not popularized until the early 1900s when Mary E. Byron translated it into an English poem.

Caleb: 02:07

And then Eleanor Hull took that poem and versified it. And then ultimately it was attached to a traditional Irish melody called slain. Slain which refers to the hill where St. Patrick apparently lit an Easter fire in defiance against the king in fifth century Ireland. So this song has got some history.

Caleb: 02:35

And that's actually the main reason why I think every congregation should sing it. I think that the Church ought to find ways to remember that it is not a standalone community. It is built on not just Christ and the apostles and the prophets, but also Christians over the last two thousand years who continued and pushed forward the message of the Gospel so that we could hear it today. And I think that this is of the spirit, even though it's not exactly in direct obedience to this text, but in the spirit of Hebrews twelve:one, starting, Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. And I think this is why we ought to sing old songs because songs give us an opportunity to connect with other Christians across time who also walked through trials and tribulations while remaining faithful to Jesus Christ.

Caleb: 03:59

And it just it can bolster us to continue walking and standing firm despite what we face today. This also connects with my belief that you should not just be choosing songs that are popular or that have just come out. I think that churches ought to have in their regular rotation songs of every generation. Now, there's not like a set amount that you should do or anything like that. But I think worship leaders would served better if they weren't scared to choose songs from the 2010s or the early 2000s or the late 1900s or 1980s or 1970s.

Caleb: 04:44

Like when I go to choose worship songs, I am looking anywhere and everywhere because even songs back in like the 1970s, let's say, connect us to other Christians who also walked the walk of faith. And it also connects us with those in our congregations who were walking in the faith back then, and gives us a greater understanding of their walk and who they are and what continues to help them persevere. And a lot of these songs are also enjoyable in and of themselves. And they connect to scripture in ways that songs today do not because our generation has different priorities than generations prior to us. But Beethoven My Vision specifically should have a unique place among every congregation because it is so old.

Caleb: 05:41

I mean, this thing goes way, way, way back. And I feel like the farther back a song is, the older the song is, the more relevant it becomes for the church at large, because we all stem from that. That's why I think Be Thou My Vision is so significant and that every church should consider to have it on a rotation or at least just have it on their lists as they're going to regularly. Now, I know that this, like this particular song is not controversial. I think most churches are probably already singing this song on a rotation.

Caleb: 06:23

But just because churches are singing it is not the reason to sing the song. I think that's what I really want to get across in this video. You should come to choosing your songs with more characteristics than just is this popular and is everybody singing this? Or even is this like, are the words directly relevant to what we're worried about today? I think that you should come into choosing your worship songs, starting with what have Christians sung for thousands and thousands of years, and also be looking at what songs are being sung now, and also what songs were being sung thirty years ago.

Caleb: 07:09

And I think this has a way of just enriching your congregation overall. And especially, think with the older songs like Be Thou My Vision, helping us see that we are far from alone in our daily fight of faith and can be encouraged and see and pray toward God in a way that we wouldn't pray if it was just left up to us. So with that, do you sing Be Thou My Vision in your church? And do you think that the reasons I gave in this video are good reasons to sing this song? Are there other really old hymns or songs that I didn't talk about in this video that we should sing in the church?

Caleb: 07:54

And what do you think about singing just old songs in general, like the effect that that has on our faith today? Do you agree with me or do you not agree with me? I'd love to know. As always, if you'd like to continue studying worship with me, consider subscribing to this channel. And also click the link in the description below to enroll in your first free Theology of Worship course, where I walk you through five steps to write your own biblical theology of worship with just your Bible.

Caleb: 08:26

All right, thanks for watching. I'll see you next week.