5 Hymns with Lyrics Pulled Straight from Scripture
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Music can be a powerful tool that enhances our worship of and connection with the Lord. Music, whether instrumental or vocal, is woven throughout Scripture, and it’s clear God appreciates it. The Bible tells us Jesus and the disciples sang a hymn at the Last Supper (Matthew 26:30), and the entirety of psalms is a songbook, filled with God-centered poetry all mean to be sung with musical accompaniment.
A number of musicians are mentioned throughout the Bible, from King David (who was Saul’s court musician before David became king) to Solomon and Asaph. We know that God’s people celebrated victories with music and expressed lament through songs of mourning. After God parted the Red Sea in Exodus, Moses and the people praised the Lord with song, and the Bible also tells us Moses’s sister Miriam, the prophetess, led the women in song while all followed with tambourines and dancing (Exodus 15:20-21).
The Bible specifically urges us to praise the Lord with music and song. In Colossians 3:16, the apostle Paul urges the early church, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.”
And in Ephesians 5:18-19, he says, “Be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart.”
Hymns are religious songs or poems of praise to God. The word “hymn” comes from the Greek hymnos, which translates to “song of praise.” Hymns can be old or modern — that is, they do not need to be collected in a church hymn book or written in the 19th century to qualify as a hymn. Hymns are still written today, whether or not we also call them a “contemporary Christian worship song.”
Of course, not all hymns are theologically sound. Some glorify a nation, not God. Some praise Jesus but attribute actions to our savior that the Bible never says happened, which is inaccurate.
But some hymns are truly worshipful as well as theologically accurate. In fact, there some hymns with lyrics pulled straight from Scripture. Some have just a line or two from the psalms or other verses, while others quote sections verbatim.
Here, then, are five hymns with lyrics pulled straight from Scripture.
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1. Great Is Thy Faithfulness
“Great is Thy Faithfulness” was written by Thomas O. Chisholm in 1923 as a poem. He sent it to William Runyan, who set it to music, and it became popular in the early 20th-century American church. Later, Billy Graham used it on his crusades, cementing its popularity even further.
The hymn is based on Lamentations 3:22-23, which proclaims, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases, his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is thy faithfulness.”
The lyrics lift up God’s timeless, unchanging, eternal nature that we are blessed to experience even during our struggles in life. Chisholm was a Methodist minister and godly man who experienced deep suffering, both health-related and financial; he wrote this hymn out of that experience.
As the refrain cries out, echoing the passage of Lamentations, “Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; all I have needed Thy hand hath provided: great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me!”
Click here to read the full lyrics.
Listen to the hymn here.
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2. Morning Has Broken
“Morning Has Broken” was written by English author Eleanor Farjeon in 1931 and became popular worldwide after artist Cat Stevens (also known as Yusuf Islam) covered the song on his 1971 triple platinum album.
Farjeon reportedly had been asked to pen a song of praise and thanksgiving about the new day, which would be set to a light and happy Gaelic tune. The lyrics are based on the creation story in Genesis 1, as well as that of John 1. It fully echoes the theme and wording of Psalm 118:24, “This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.”
In the song, Farjeon praises the joy we have in a new morning, which reminds us of the creation of the world that God himself spoke into being.
As the hymn begins, “Morning has broken like the first morning, blackbird has spoken like the first bird. Praise for the singing! Praise for the morning! Praise for them, springing fresh from the Word!”
These words all line up scripturally with Genesis 1:3-5 and John 1:1, 14.
Later the hymn proclaims, “Mine is the morning born of the one light Eden saw play,” also reflecting these Bible verses.
Click here to see the lyrics.
Listen to the hymn here.
Photo credit: Unsplash/Janko Ferlic
3. A Shelter in the Time of Storm
“A Shelter in the Time of Storm” was written by Vernon J. Charlesworth in 1880. Charlesworth was an English pastor who penned the hymn, which ran as a poem in a London newspaper. The composer Ira D. Sankey saw the poem and set it to a new tune, and it became popular.
The theme of the hymn is that God is our rock and our fortress even in times of great distress, such as the storm referenced throughout the lyrics.
As verse four has us sing, “O Rock divine, O Refuge dear, A shelter in the time of storm; Be Thou our helper ever near, A shelter in the time of storm.”
It echoes two psalms particularly — first Psalm 46:1-3, which proclaims, “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah.” And second, Psalm 18:2 “The Lord is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer, my God, my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold.”
Click here to see the lyrics.
Listen to the hymn here.
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4. How Great Is Our God
“How Great Is Our God” was written by Chris Tomlin, Jesse Reeves and Ed Cash and released in 2006. It, too, aligns fully with Scripture – particularly a number of psalms and several verses in Revelation – as it emphasizes one mighty, glorious point: Our God is awesome.
From start to finish, the song reflects praise about the greatness and wonder of God as expressed throughout the Bible. For instance, it begins, “The splendor of a King, clothed in majesty, Let all the Earth rejoice, All the Earth rejoice. He wraps himself in light, And darkness tries to hide, And trembles at His voice, Trembles at His voice.”
These lines echo Psalm 145:5, which decree, “On the glorious splendor of your majesty, and on your wondrous works, I will meditate,” as well as Psalm 104:2 which describes God “covering yourself with light as with a garment, stretching out the heavens like a tent,” and finally John 3:20, “For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.”
One lyric, “Beginning and the end,” is a direct reference to Revelation 22:13, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end,” as well as a host of other verses lifting up the eternal nature of the Lord.
Click here to see the lyrics.
Listen to the hymn here.
Photo credit: Unsplash/John Price
5. Revelation Song
“Revelation Song” was penned by Jennie Lee Riddle in 1999 and draws heavily from Revelation. Several popular Christian artists have recorded it, including Kari Jobe and Phillips, Craig and Dean.
The song details a number of key prophecies described in the book of Revelation, including the throne of the Lord in heaven and the loud and unceasing proclamation there that “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty” (Revelation 4:8).
As the song begins, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, holy, holy is He, Sing a new song to Him who sits on heaven's mercy seat.” All of this is a direct reference to Revelation, particularly to Revelation 5:9, “And they sang a new song, saying, ‘Worthy are you to take the scroll and to open its seals, for you were slain, and by your blood you ransomed people for God from every tribe and language and people and nation.’”
Another line describes being filled with wonder at the mention of his name, lifting up the name of Jesus as “breath” and “living water” (John 7:37-39).
Click here to see the lyrics.
Listen to the hymn here.
These are just a handful of many, many other old and modern hymns that contain lyrics pulled straight from Scripture. I encourage you to listen to these and seek others you can add to your list as you combine song with worship.
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