In this rough guide of just a few paragraphs, I list various kinds of hymnody that we do not want and then what (I hope) we do—what is biblical and best.

We do not want a hymnody based on Praise & Worship. As a formal system of thought, Praise & Worship believes that, as the cloud descended on the temple in the Old Testament, so also we can praise God until He “comes down” to inhabit the assembly’s praises today (cf. Hebrews 11:15 with Psalm 22:3b), a descent manifested through tongues, prophecy, and other ecstatic phenomena. This theology misunderstands God’s presence in worship and stems from continuationism. Ironically, though this tradition began with a heavy use of Scripture (especially the OT), it melded with contemporary worship in time, a pragmatic philosophy of worship. 

We do not want a hymnody based on Contemporary Christian Music. Pragmatic from the outset, intentionally or not, Contemporary Christian Music was “experimental,” using novelty for the sake of winning a crowd. Novelty meant the church using the world’s popular music to bring the world into the church, shifting the purpose of the assembly from edification to evangelism. Ironically, though this movement began with an emphasis on evangelizing the world, its pragmatism and church-marketing methods led to targeting certain groups. Boundaries were little to none. Its theology misused Paul’s personal method of evangelism as the mission of the church, becoming all things to all men (cf. 1 Corinthians 9:22). 

We do not want a hymnody based on Gospel Music. “Gospel music” as a category comes from musicians who wrote music intended for revivals and not for churches. These musicians also tested their music in revivals to see which ones would make for good sales in hymnals over time. This music and its hymnals crept into the churches nonetheless, as supplements or supplanting traditional hymnals altogether. Good hymnody gave way to the easy-to-sing, nondenominational, sometimes sentimental, popular camp-meeting choruses of the day. Ironically, because of gospel music’s generally conservative heritage, many churches still sing these songs, not realizing that these “traditional hymns” are actually popular hymns meant for revivals back in the day.

We do want a hymnody using the best hymns, old or new. The best hymns let the word of Christ dwell richly among us, teach and admonish us about Him, and express thanks to God from our hearts (Colossians 3:16). The Spirit guides our melodies as we are sung to the Lord (Ephesians 5:18–19). We have 2,000 years of church history, and especially since the Reformation, we have many good hymns to sing. Our own hymnal (Hymns of Grace and Glory) has many psalms and good hymns by Calvin, Luther, Watts, Wesley, Spurgeon, and many others. We have a self-published hymnal supplement with more psalms and even hymns by pastors and members of our church.