Hymns for Lent
The season of Lent this year begins with Ash Wednesday on March 6th. The Hymnary.org blog for February had links to four pastors’ and church musicians’ lists of their top songs for Lent. I began to think about my top ten songs for the Lenten Season and I came up with the hymns listed below. The number preceding each title is the hymn’s number in our Celebrating Grace Hymnal. You will notice I had trouble listing just ten favorite hymns.
- What Wondrous Love Is This
- How Deep the Father’s Love for Us
- Alas, and Did My Savior Bleed
- When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
- “Man of Sorrows!” What a Name
- O Sacred Head, Now Wounded
- To God Be the Glory
- Lift High the Cross
- Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy
- Softly and Tenderly
- Just As I Am
- Jesus Paid It All
- Amazing Grace! How Sweet the Sound
All the hymns listed above could be consider ‘old standards’ with the exception of How Deep the Father’s Love for Us written in 1995 by Stuart Townsend. In looking at Lenten hymns with which I was not familiar in the Celebrating Grace Hymnal, I came across the following three hymns with meaningful texts and interesting tunes. The tune ye banks and braes is especially interesting as it is a Scottish melody made popular by the Iona Community . I plan to use these new-to-me-hymns in my daily devotions through the upcoming Lenten season to maybe discover another for my top ten Lenten hymn list.
- Lord, Who Throughout These Forty Days
Words by Claudia F. Hernaman (1873)
Music adapted from John Day’s Whole Book of Psalms, 1562
Scripture focus Matthew 4:1-11; Luke 4:1-13; Mark 1:12-13
Tune name st.flavan
540. We Cannot Measure How You Heal
Words by John L. Bell and Graham A. Maule (1989)
Music Scottish melody arranged by Michael Evers (2009)
Tune name ye banks and braes
- Forgive Our Sins as We Forgive
Words by Rosamond E. Herklots (1966)
Music from Wyeth’s Repository of Sacred Music, Part Second, 1813
Scripture focus: Matthew 6:12
Tune name morning song (Common Meter)