HYMNS IN HARD PLACES
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Did you know the first hymnbook ever published in English was banned by the government?
The terrifically titled Ghostly Psalms and Spiritual Songs was the work of Reformer Miles Coverdale in (probably) 1535, just as he was being the first to realise Tyndale’s unfinished dream of a complete English Bible translation.
But as I’ve been acquainting myself with the oldest English hymnbook, I’ve also been listening to one of our newest hymn collections: Hymns in Hard Places. This is a creative outpouring from 20schemes in Scotland, who are planting churches in some of Scotland’s poorest and neediest communities.
Even though five centuries separate these two, remarkably the same gospel priorities infuse them both. They both share a desire to raise up worshippers of God in the insignificant, downtrodden and overlooked corners of our world.
Coverdale unashamedly wrote his hymns for ordinary people: for ‘our carters and ploughmen… [and] women … spinning at the wheels.’ He wrote in English, the language of ordinary life, risking being condemned as a heretic in the process (indeed the hymnbook was banned in 1539 and only one copy has survived to the present day). He did not shy away from the challenges of 16th-century Christian experience: of battling sin, of sickness, death and persecution, producing possibly the first English metrical psalms in the process. His source material also included the Latin hymns of the Catholic Church, but he would expand and clarify the meaning of the original in his translations, that anyone might sing with both their spirits and understanding (1 Cor. 14:15).
Likewise, you cannot miss that the songsmiths at 20schemes write for real, ordinary people. All the recordings feature a congregation singing along. You do not need a PhD in poetry or theology to understand these songs. They do not skirt the stark realities of abuse, addiction, depression, poverty and the scars of sin in the lyrics, admirably resisting the ‘too unsavoury for church’ label. But, like Coverdale, their sober view of the human condition is shot through with gospel hope. There are metrical psalms, and updated old classics (I was surprised at how much I enjoyed a revamped version of Trust and Obey). Do listen to them all (my favourite is the Revelation Hymn).
Jesus said that in this world we would have trouble; there will always be someone hurting and struggling in our churches. Perhaps there’s a gem on this album that will be just the right thing for someone you know.
