Singing strife

I’ll confess to having unusual tastes in church music. Far and away my favorite hymn writer is Isaac Watts (“Joy to the World,” “Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed,” “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” etc.). Most of my favorite songs were written before 1900; these are songs that have stood the test of time.

It wasn’t until the last few years that I learned that Mr. Watts was actually a little controversial in his day. In his day, many churches taught that the only approved lyrics for singing in church were found in the book of Psalms. Watts found the traditional songs stale and irritating and set out to create new ones. He resolved to write at least one song a week for the church where he attended, and he produced over 700 hymns in the next few years. Hymns that many Christians refused to sing because of their unscriptural nature. Watts was accused of having left the faith, and some churches actually split over whether or not to sing his songs. One traditionalist complained, “Christian congregations have shut out divinely inspired psalms and taken in Watts’ flights of fancy!”

I’ve gained a new understanding of one of his songs, because the meaning becomes clear when you read the words in light of these fights. The words are familiar, yet take on a new meaning when you see the challenge Watts lays before his detractors:

Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord,
Join in a song with sweet accord
And thus surround the throne,
And thus surround the throne.

Let those refuse to sing,
Who never knew our God;
But children of the heavenly King,
But children of the heavenly King
May speak their joys abroad,
May speak their joys abroad.

If you love the Lord, join in this song. If you never knew God, feel free to refuse to sing. Children of the heavenly King will join in. Folks, them’s fightin’ words.

It’s a good thing people don’t squabble over such things today.