The Hymnal Advantage

One of the reasons for the diversity in church music is that no specific instructions were given in Scripture on how churches should conduct worship. We have the Psalms, which Jews sang for centuries before Jesus was born, and Jesus quoted and referenced them repeatedly. Luke records songs of Mary, Zechariah, and Simeon in his narrative of Christ’s birth. We know that singing was part of the Apostles’ lives; Matthew 26:30 tells us they sang a hymn after the Last Supper. We know the early church sang hymns as well; Paul mentions hymns in his instructions to the Corinthians on worship. Singing was there right from the start.